 We have a treasury of wisdom in the Letters of St. Paul. I have always been partial to his Letter to the Ephesians, although lately it is his Letter to the Galatians which is feeding me richly. While it is easy to get a bit distracted by the obvious pique in which Paul wrote it, we must remember that he had been upset by things he had heard about the Galatian community because he loved them. Paul was concerned about how quickly the people had been led astray by false teaching and so it is to this that he responded. At the beginning of the Letter, Paul expressed his authority as from God, and recounted how he visited Peter and James the Greater in Jerusalem and how some of the churches (in Judea) had responded with joy to his conversion and subsequent preaching. But after this beginning, Paul was sent back to Tarsus to study, pray, and wait to be called into service, a period which lasted 14 years. While his mention of that period was a passing comment, the contrast with how quickly the Galatians were tempted away from Christian teaching to his 14 years of waiting to be called by the Church poses some questions. First, how patient are we with the Lord when things seem to be moving slowly? And second, can we see long waits as times of preparation? I think we can learn something about these issues from St. Paul.  St. Paul admonished the Galatians over how they strayed: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel,” essentially a “perverted gospel.” (Gal 1:6,7) As he continued it is clear that the gospel was either watered down or that falsehoods were being sown, thus perverting the original message. He went on to say, “Am I trying to please men? If I were pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ.” Within this is an important insight. We are called to be servants of Christ, living signs of the gospel, but it is easy to get caught up in being accepted by others or to get swept away into cultural ‘values.’ The question of which gospel we are following, therefore, is a pertinent one.* If we are Christian, we follow the gospel of Christ and not that of the world. The world perverts the values of Christ and leads us to believe the attitude of ‘you be you,’ and ‘everything is okay because sin is relative, (if it even exists at all!)' It is critical that we continually ask the question as to whether we are living the teaching of Jesus or are falling into the values of the world. Let us be clear: to live the gospel means we will be challenged in many and varied ways.  Secondly, Paul had to wait 14 years before he was called by the Church into service (through Barnabas). At times he struggled with having been seemingly cast aside, but his struggle teaches an essential lesson: God’s wisdom is not ours, and so His timing is also not ours. Remember, Paul was on fire after his conversion, so waiting to engage in ministry had to be incredibly difficult. He clearly was a man of passion, which included a propensity for anger, a character flaw of which he was well aware. While sometimes his passion got the better of him, Paul always recognized it, asked forgiveness, and continued on. I am sure that eventually Paul was able to see God’s wisdom in the long wait since those years were essential to enabling development of a greater ability to listen and discern, to grow in relationship with Jesus, and subsequently to grow in a host of spiritual gifts. That is, the period of preparation to begin what would be a challenging and dangerous ministry was essential to everything he was called to do, including giving up his life. Like Paul, we all have areas of struggle, so it is important to acknowledge what they are, learn to ask forgiveness along the way, and persevere in the mission to which we have been called, no matter how long the continual process of learning takes. This often calls for great patience: patience with ourselves and patience with the mystery of God.  There is so much more in the Letter, but the most consequential teaching is found in chapter 5 in which Paul described the way to remain adhered to the Truth: discernment. He outlined how to avoid the work of the flesh (the world and its values) and to choose the fruit of the Spirit (God’s values) which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, (Gal. 5:22-23).** The way to grow in these fruits is to approach the Lord in habitual daily prayer. It is through prayer that we will grow in our relationship with God and better recognize the ways in which He gifts us. Prayer teaches us to listen and it provides the time to ask for greater wisdom in how we might make a response to Him despite the stumbling blocks the world will put in our way. It helps us to overcome the tendency we all have to want God to move at the pace we desire rather than the one He chooses. Thus, we must continually ask for patience, perseverance, and the wisdom to trust in Him. With these we can become more like St. Paul in the ability to be patient with God’s timing. God is with us in everything He asks us to do, so let us put our trust in Him.  May we learn from the patience of St. Paul! May we learn how to discern properly so as to make wise choices! And may we imitate St. Paul in persevering in our call until the time when we enter the Kingdom of God! Let us meet in the Heart of Jesus! Peace!
© Michele L. Catanese * St. Augustine wrote one of his masterpieces about this issue, The City of God. In it, he contrasted the ‘city of the world’ and its misplaced values, with the City of God, which is the ‘city’ we should be aspiring to enter. Other great spiritual writers also dealt with the contrast between the world and the Kingdom of God. One that stands out is St. Ignatius of Loyola who included a powerful meditation in his Spiritual Exercises in which the retreatant makes a choice between the Kingdom of Christ or the kingdom of Satan. While the choice seems obvious, by the time the retreatant has gotten to this meditation, the realization comes that while we might desire to choose God, we often fall into temptation. By this point, St. Ignatius has already helped the retreatant see that it is not as easy as they may have thought. It is quite an enlightening experience to do this series of Exercises. (This is always to be done in the context of a retreat with a spiritual director, I might add!) ** The italics were mine. Here is what he says to avoid: “The works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21) Images: 1. Icon; St. Paul the Apostle by Fr. William Hart McNichols. If you are interested in purchasing a copy in one of many mediums, go to fineartamerica.com/featured/st-paul-the-apostle-196-william-hart-mcnichols.html 2. My photo; North Dakota near the Badlands. 3. Painting; St. Paul Preaching in Athens, by Raphael (1515-16); Wikimedia Commons, public domain. 4. My photo; autumn in Lost Maples Natural Area, Vanderpool, TX. I chose this to represent the passage of time, but also as a reminder to pray for the people of this area of the Texas hill country who just experienced devastating and catastrophic floods. 5. Painting; Le Soliel, by Vincent van Gogh. Note: In compliance with GDPR rules, I wish to make it clear that I do not gather any information on any of my readers at any time. Comments are closed.
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