“As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens his fellow man.” (Proverbs 27:17).
The Joe Catholic blog is intended to provide Catholics and non-Catholics with resources to assist them in answering God's call to holiness. Our goal is to help people learn their faith, so they can live their faith and share their faith.
I have a personal fondness for these two saints because their lives demonstrate how God can work wonders even with the most unworthy of instruments. This gives me hope.
St. Paul - The Zealot I have had a devotion to St. Paul since I watched the ABC made-for-TV mini-series Peter and Paul, starring Anthony Hopkins as St. Paul. I have since enjoyed having the opportunity to proclaim St. Paul's writings when I read at Mass. I still imagine Hopkin's portrayal as I prepare to read.
Two things that stand out about St. Paul as an example for us. First, he was a Jewish zealot intent on destroying the early Christians. He was even complicit in the death of St. Stephen. Nevertheless, the LORD forgave Paul and used him as the great Apostle to the Gentiles.
St. Peter - The Fisherman I also love the portrayal of Peter in The Passion of the Christ. In the opening scene in the garden, Peter, as in the gospels, attacks the soldiers and cuts the ear off of one of them. Peter is portrayed as a strong (he would have to be to be a fisherman) manly man. Later we see him in his humility fall to knees and beg Our Lady for forgiveness because he had denied our Lord. I believe that scene also depicts Peter's manliness.
One other observation I would like to share about St. Peter is about him being a fishermen. It strikes me that wasn't easy work. The men were manly men who probably swore on occasion and dirt under their nails. If you've ever watched the Deadliest Catch, you probably have an idea of what I am talking about. The point I want to make about this is that, God didn't call special people to be His followers. Instead, he called ordinary people to do extraordinary things through Him and with Him.
Video from Apostleship of Prayer
To learn more, I recommend reading EWTN's entries on St. Peter and St. Paul.
Today the Church celebrates the Conversion of St. Paul. St. Paul's conversion is such a big deal that the Church sets aside a special day to reflect upon it. I can't think of another feast day on the Church calendar that celebrates any other person in such a manner.
Saul, as he was named before his conversion, was a Jewish zealot intent on persecuting Christians. Saul journeyed to Damascus "so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem" (Acts 9:1). God had a different plan for Saul. While he was traveling to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul in a flash of light. Saul "fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?' And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting' (Acts 9:4-5). Some biblical scholars dispute the accuracy of Caravaggio's famous painting which depicts Saul falling from a horse. The commentators of the Navarre Bible posit "Saul and his associates, who would probably have been mounted, would have had no difficulty in doing the journey in under a week." Personally, I like the image of Saul falling off his high horse. Isn't that what often happens to us right before we turn to God?
Saul was literally blinded by the light of the Truth. Soon after Saul encounters Ananias, who baptizes him and lays hands on Saul (a symbol of commissioning and ordination). Paul became the Lord's vessel, His instrument for good. Paul spread the Word to gentiles throughout the world and is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles.
Paul's response to God's call is an example for all of us. Pope Paul VI explains:
"The apostolate is [...] an inner voice, which makes one both restless
and serene, a voice that is both gentle and imperious, troublesome and affectio-
nate, a voice which comes unexpectedly and with great events and then, at a
particular point, exercises a strong attraction, as it were revealing to us our life
and our destiny. It speaks prophetically and almost in a tone of victory, which
eventually dispels all uncertainty, all timidity and all fear, and which facilitates--
making it easy, desirable and pleasant--the response of our whole personality,
when we pronounce that word which reveals the supreme secret of love: Yes;
Yes, Lord, tell what I must do and I will try to do it, I will do it. Like St. Paul,
thrown to the ground at the gates of Damascus: What would You have me do?
"The roots of the apostolate run deep: the apostolate is vocation, election, interior encounter with Christ, abandonment of one's personal autonomy to His will,
to His invisible presence; it is a kind of substitution of our poor, restless heart,
inconstant and at times unfaithful yet hungry for love, for His heart, the heart of
Christ which is beginning to pulsate in the one who has been chosen. And then
comes the second act in the psychological drama of the apostolate: the need to
spread, to do, to give, to speak, to pass on to others one's own treasure, one's
own fire. [...]
"The apostolate becomes a continuous expansion of one's soul, the exuberance
of a personality taken over by Christ and animated by His Spirit; it becomes a
need to hasten, to work, to do everything one can to spread the Kingdom of God,
to save other souls, to save all souls" ("Homily", 14 October 1968).
When I was about sixteen years old, ABC ran a mini-series called Peter and Paul, starring Anthony Hopkins as St. Paul. While the movie was not completely accurate in its portrayal of biblical events, it did strike a chord with me. To this day, when I proclaim a reading from St. Paul's epistles at Mass, I think of Anthony Hopkins' portrayal. Here is a clip from the movie depicting St. Paul's conversion.
