We are nearly halfway through this liturgical year as we near the last days of May. Beginning with the first Sunday in December 2007, this liturgical year has been full of the typical solemnities, feasts, memorials, and liturgical seasons of every liturgical cycle. However, this liturgical year we will celebrate four solemnities on Sundays of the year which will take the place of Sundays in Ordinary Time. They are the Feast of Saint John Lateran (the cathedral church of the Diocese of Rome) on November 9, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on September 14, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls) on November 2, and the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul this coming June 29.
Throughout the Ordinary Time of the Year we do not usually have these important feasts falling on Sundays. While they are celebrated with proper dignity when they fall during the week, the fact that they will replace the Sunday of the Year gives them much higher profile for the majority of worshipping Catholics. One of those four feasts takes on even more solemnity this year because of the designation of a special Jubilee Year of the Bimillenium of the Birth of Saint Paul. At a special Evening Prayer Service in Rome on June 29, 2007 Pope Benedict announced the Jubilee Year in honor of the two-thousandth anniversary of the birth of Saint Paul. The Holy Father declared that beginning with the Vigil of Saints Peter and Paul, June 28, 2008, continuing until the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 2009, this great Apostle to the Gentiles will be commemorated throughout the universal Church. Pope Benedict has asked for special emphasis for penitential pilgrimages, the study of the Letters of Saint Paul, the study of the Word of God, and the theology and spirituality of Saint Paul. Also he has asked that special attention be given to the cause of ecumenical cooperation and unity. A special Synod of Bishops will be hosted during this Holy Year in Rome focusing on fostering a greater appreciation of the Word of God.
Saint Paul is a person of supreme significance not only in the growth of the Church throughout the centuries, but also in the development of our Catholic theology: the theology of salvation, the understanding of the Church and the Sacraments, and moral theology to name a few specific highlights of his teachings. While his writings are frequently proclaimed as the second reading of the Mass, they are not always nor even often the subject of our liturgical preaching. Thirteen of the 27 works of the New Testament are attributed to Saint Paul. The Letters of Saint Paul are fascinating and certainly are among the earliest of the New Testament books .
Saint Paul and his conversion, his missionary travels, and his role in the building of the infant Church are highlighted in the Acts of the Apostles. Saint Paul is believed to have been martyred in Rome and buried there. In the Basilica of Saint Paul “Outside the Walls” archeologists have authenticated that his remains have been buried under the altar their for 20 centuries. Since this great Apostle, theologian, pastor, and saint of our Catholic tradition has so greatly impacted our Church this year of Jubilee is most appropriate.
I will initiate this Jubilee Year of Saint Paul with a special celebration of the Mass with the parish community dedicated to his patronage, Saint Paul parish on East 40th Street in Cleveland. At the Cathedral parish and in all the parishes throughout the Diocese I will be encouraging special study programs and courses dedicated to the Letters of Saint Paul, his life, and his theology.
As we look forward this special Jubilee Year commemorating the birth of Saint Paul let’s open our hearts and minds to new and deeper conversion to the Lord Jesus. Let us especially turn to the Word of God as it comes to us through Saint Paul’s writings. By study and a prayerful “holy reading” may our hearts burn with the faith, courage, and love of Saint Paul himself. Thus, God-willing alive in Christ and through the intercession of Saint Paul we may then carry the Good News to people of our time as credible witnesses to God’s marvelous works as St. Paul did so marvelously. May God bless us all and may Saint Paul pray for us and our efforts.