Year of St. Paul

St. Paul the Apostle

As the year of St. Paul comes to a close (6/28/2008-6/29/2009) I thought it was important to recognize his vital role in the Church. June 29th also marks the Feast Day of St. Paul and St. Peter.

St.Paul is known as 'Founder of the Christian Church'. In light of this profound title it is only fitting that this disciple would also write in Galatians 2:20 ' It is not I who live, but Christ lives in me'. St. Paul went out of his way to preach the Gospel and did not fear death. His martyrdom secured his eternity with our Beloved.

Pope Benedict XVI says, " From [St. Paul] we draw a very important lesson: what counts is to place Jesus Christ at the center of our lives, so that our identity is marked essentially by the encounter, by communion with Christ and with his Word".



Our Sunday Visitor put out a great pamphlet about St. Paul that provides a few facts about his life:

Paul was born in 8 A.D. in what is now Turkey.

Paul was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee.

Saul was his Jewish name; Paul was his Roman name.

Paul was a tentmaker by profession.

The letters, or epistles, of St. Paul make up one third of the New Testament.

They include: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Phillippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

Paul was beheaded outside the walls of Rome during the reign of Nero, probably between A.D. 65 and 67.

Paul is buried where the Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls now stands.

A Prayer to the Apostle Paul:

Glorious St. Paul,
Most zealous Apostle,
Martyr for the love of Christ,
Give us a deep faith,
A steadfast hope,
A burning love for our Lord;
So that we can proclaim with you,
"It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me".

Help us to become apostles,
Serving the Church with a pure heart,
Witnesses to her truth and beauty
Amidst the darkness of our days.
With you we praise God, our Father:
"To Him be the glory in the Church and in Christ, now and forever."

Amen

The Love Dare

By now I am sure most of us have heard about the movie ‘Fireproof’. I personally have not seen it yet (for no real reason) but it is on my list of things to do this summer. From the movie also came a book called ‘The Love Dare’.

After several opportunities to buy the book and never actually committing to owning it I have finally found myself a copy from the library sale pile. This book serves as a 40 day quest to strengthen your marriage. It is a journal based book that allows you to record thoughts, actions and outcomes. Every day begins with Scripture and there is a one or two page excerpt talking about the meaning of that Scripture. At the end of the excerpt the couple has a ‘dare’ or challenge that will serve to strengthen the marriage. While this book is not predominately Catholic it is a beautiful Christian reference for any marriage.

I look forward to getting through our 40 day quest and pray that God blesses our marriage for our valiant attempt!

Authentic love in the house

I heard some really great advice today that I wanted to share. My good friend over at www.thriftyandchicmom.com shared that instead of concentrating on my tasks such as cleaning, laundry, etc. as accomplishments I should look at the times in my day that I provide my family with authentic love. I can't believe all the time that goes by in a day when I am running around trying to get from one place to the next or to that one pile of laundry. I seem to miss out on a lot of opportunity to just engage and love my family because I am hyper focused on getting my house in order. Tomorrow I am going to try and really look at all the time I spend loving my family and acknowledge that time as time well spent!

Pro-life Checks

My good friend over at Mostly Sunny Days found some great information about pro-life checks. You can find her post here. This is a great way to support an excellent cause and gets some beautiful checks!