[Announce] The Apostle: a sermon for the Conversion of St. Paul

[Robert Waldrop]

----- Original Message ----- 
Sermon preached by Father Prior last Sunday at our 
Lady of the Annunciation Monastery of Clear Creek, 
Oklahoma for the Feast of the Conversion of Saint 
Paul
January 25, 2008
Special Mass to gain the plenary indulgence during 
the Year of Saint Paul

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
My Dear Brothers in Saint Benedict,

As you know, by special decree of the Sovereign 
Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, the Church is 
currently celebrating a year in honor of Saint 
Paul.  On this particular day, coinciding with the 
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, as we 
participate in this Holy Mass, the faithful are 
invited to gain a special plenary indulgence, 
under the usual conditions of receiving the 
Sacrament of Penance within eight days, of 
reciting a Creed and an Our Father, as well as a 
prayer for the Holy Father. The Pope recently 
commented on the sense of this Holy Year in his 
remarks made to the Roman Curia gathered in the 
Clementine Hall near St. Peter’s:

"For us St Paul is not a figure of the past. 
Through his Letters he still speaks to us today. 
And whoever enters into conversation with him, is 
led by him towards the Crucified and Risen Christ.

"The Pauline Year is a year of pilgrimage, not 
only in the sense of an outward journey towards 
the places associated with St Paul. It is also, 
and above all, a pilgrimage of the heart, with 
Paul, towards Jesus Christ. In a word, St Paul 
teaches us also that the Church is the Body of 
Christ, that the Head and the Body are 
inseparable, and that there can be no love for 
Christ without love for His Church and her living 
community."

It could reasonably be argued that no mere mortal 
man ever influenced the world as much as Saint 
Paul.  Among the sacred authors, he is probably 
the most often quoted, more often even than the 
evangelists themselves.  His inspired writings 
continue to be the solid point of reference, not 
only for theology, for sermons and the teachings 
of spiritual authors, but also for those who must 
deal with the difficult questions of everyday 
life, such as the Church’s rules concerning 
marriage.

Before this formidable body of writings, however, 
many find themselves somewhat bewildered, 
wondering what Saint Paul really meant, especially 
in his long explanations about the Law, the nature 
of grace and freedom.  Would it not be wonderful 
to have the simple key that could unlock it all? 
As a matter of fact, in His infinite goodness God 
has provided us with such a key.  He gave it to 
us, to the whole Church, at the very moment of the 
conversion of Saul of Tarsus, later called Paul, 
as we read about it in the Acts of the Apostles.

We read that one of Christ’s disciples in 
Damascus, Ananias, was ordered by the Lord to find 
this Saul, the persecutor of the Christians, who 
had been struck blind by God coming into town, and 
to lay hands on him in order to cure him of his 
blindness.  Before the astonishment of Ananias, 
who had heard all the evil Saul was doing in 
persecuting the Christians, the Lord (in other 
words Christ Himself) said these simple words that 
describe the whole mystery of what this Saul would 
become as Paul: “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of 
mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and 
kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him 
how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 
(9:15-16)

Thus, the vocation of Saint Paul is a calling to 
become a chosen vessel.  Giving the biblical term 
translated as “vessel” a more concrete aspect, 
perhaps we could think of him as a precious cup - 
as a chalice if you will - in which is contained 
something even more precious, something of 
infinite worth.  When the Lord said that this man, 
Paul, was to carry “my name before the Gentiles 
and kings and the sons of Israel”, this was God’s 
way of expressing in biblical language the very 
mystery of God to be proclaimed.  In the Bible a 
name expresses in some manner the mystery of the 
person named.  It is the very mystery of God, 
especially with respect to the Christ, the 
Messiah, that St. Paul is called to carry before 
all nations in carrying the Lord’s Divine Name. 
Thus he must be a very special vessel indeed, a 
most precious chalice.  This is the key to Saint 
Paul: he is the precious chalice that carries 
before the whole world the name of Christ,
 the mystery of Christ, Who is God.

A chalice, at least a very fine one, will be 
studded with precious stones.  These, we might 
liken to the gifts of the Holy Ghost with which 
Saint Paul was richly endowed.  He lists them 
several times in his epistles and alludes to the 
fact that he himself received them in abundance 
from God.  Chapter twelve of the first Epistle to 
the Corinthians describes at length these 
miraculous and charismatic gifts:

Now there are diversities of graces, but the same 
Spirit; there are diversities of ministries, but 
the same Lord; And there are diversities of 
operations, but the same God, who worketh all in 
all.  And the manifestation of the Spirit is given 
to every man unto profit. (verses 4-7)

And he goes on to describe these extraordinary 
spiritual graces in great detail, showing all the 
while how they operate for the good of the whole 
Church.  However, at the end of the chapter, the 
Apostle seems to downplay this impressive 
description of the charismatic gifts, saying to us 
these intriguing words:  “But be zealous for the 
better gifts.  And I show unto you yet a more 
excellent way”.  After all, the precious stones 
are not the essential.  They lend beauty to this 
chalice that Saint Paul is, but do not constitute 
the essential vessel, the thing that carries God’s 
mystery.

In this chalice the gold cup, which constitutes 
the vessel, is more important than the gems that 
adorn it.  When we say Holy Mass, it is the cup of 
the chalice — the inside, usually plated with 
gold - which is in touch with the Precious Blood 
of Christ.  The charismatic gifts — the precious 
stones we spoke of already, are important in order 
to draw men’s attention to God, but it is the 
“gold”, the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and 
Charity, that actually unite the human soul with 
God.  These theological virtues, especially 
Charity, which lasts for all eternity, are the 
royal gold of the chalice: this is where Saint 
Paul’s preaching means to lead us.  Such is the 
“more excellent way” to which Saint Paul refers. 
This is the way of true spiritual life, of true 
mystical prayer: the way into the Heart of God.

Now a chalice is, of course, concave in shape.  It 
is, in and of itself, something empty, an 
emptiness waiting to be filled by something else. 
This concave shape of the chalice reminds us of 
humility, especially of Christ’s own humility as 
Saint Paul describes it in the Epistle to the 
Philippians:

Who being in the form of God, thought it not 
robbery to be equal with God: but emptied himself, 
taking the form of a servant, being made in the 
likeness of men, and in habit found as man.  He 
humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, 
even to the death of the cross. (2:6-8)

If Christ, the Lord of the Universe, chose to 
empty Himself in order to obey His Father in all 
humility, how much more should we little human 
beings imitate this example?  In fact the emptier 
we are of pride and human pretentions, such as the 
quest for power and fame, the more apt we are to 
carry the mystery of Christ in our heart.  Saint 
Paul was a very perfect chalice.  Imitating his 
Lord, he was empty enough to carry the Name of 
Christ before the entire world and continues to do 
so by his inspired writings.

Another characteristic of a chalice is the mark, 
the trademark that the goldsmith engraves upon it 
in order to authenticate its origin.  The 
trademark found on this chalice which Paul is 
could be none other than the Cross, to be sure. 
When an experienced eye examines a chalice the 
trademark reveals the goldsmith who made it.  When 
we examine the life of Saint Paul, we encounter 
this particular trademark that is that of the 
Master: “But God forbid that I should glory, save 
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom the 
world is crucified to me, and I to the world.” 
(Gal. 6:14)

When all is said and done, what matters most is 
the content of a chalice.  In this particular 
chalice there is found, not merely the water of 
the Old Law of Moses, nor even the wine, symbol of 
the New Testament as represented in the miracle of 
the Wedding Feast of Cana.  We have here Christ’s 
Name, that is to say His whole mystery.  The 
content is more like the consecrated wine of the 
Messianic Kingdom, the Precious Blood of Christ, 
containing not only His Blood, but His Body, soul 
and divinity as well.  Instead of an imperfect Law 
aimed at a preliminary stage of human worship, we 
have here the consummation, the grace of the Holy 
Ghost, which is the law of the New and Everlasting 
Covenant.  Saint Paul the Apostle, who celebrated 
the sacred Mysteries as priests do, offers this 
perfect sacrifice of Christ that re-consecrates 
creation, wounded by sin, and realizes the 
redemption of the world.  In this chalice is the 
true freedom that has set us free, if
 only we could understand it.

Saint Paul says little of the Mother of Christ in 
his epistles, but her mystery does appear:

But when came the fullness of time, he writes to 
the Galatians, God sent his Son, made of a woman, 
made under the law: that he might redeem them who 
were under the law: that we might receive the 
adoption of sons. (Gal 4:4-5)

Like Saint Paul, but in a far more excellent 
manner, the Blessed Virgin Mary was a chalice, an 
immaculate chalice, whose vocation was to carry 
the mystery of Christ before the world.  She 
literally carried Him in her womb for nine months 
and in her arms for many years.  The Precious 
Blood of the New and Everlasting Covenant was 
drawn from her own human blood, as was the whole 
human Body of the Messiah.  One might say that 
Saint Paul’s mission is but an extension of that 
which was Mary’s own calling, although we probably 
do not think of it in that way.  In fact, we too 
are called to be little chalices of Christ’s Name; 
we too, as priests, monks or Christ’s faithful, 
are called to carry this mystery before the world 
in our humble way, and this solemn celebration for 
the Year of Saint Paul is an excellent occasion to 
meditate on such a sublime calling.

Finally, just as the Lord Jesus had predicted to 
Ananias, Saint Paul’s life was full of suffering: 
stoning, shipwreck, floggings, and every form of 
hardship crossed his life.  But the fire of love 
in his heart was always one step ahead of the 
suffering.  Caritas Christi urget nos, for the 
charity of Christ constraineth us (II Cor. 5:14). 
Not only did this love move Saint Paul forward in 
his career, but it led him to a mystical 
identification with Christ.  And I live, now not 
I, but Christ liveth in me (Gal. 2:20).

May we learn in imitation of Our Lady and of Saint 
Paul to offer our own soul to God unceasingly as 
the priest raises the chalice of Precious Blood 
heavenward during the sacrifice of the Mass.  The 
world seems, now more than ever, bent on living as 
if God did not exist, as if the drama of human 
history gave no signs of a need for redemption, as 
if freedom were to be found in simply yielding to 
the vertigo of evil.   May God be ever praised for 
providing in the Apostle Saint Paul such a vessel 
of election, such a precious chalice to carry the 
mystery of the Holy Name that no power on earth — 
not in our day or any day - will ever completely 
wrench it from the heart of man.  Amen.