GO GENTLY AMONG MY FRIENDS by Joan Foo Mahony in Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh and Penang in Malaysia

Smitten By Faith Issue # 00057 17th February 2023

Aside from the Gospels of the New Testament, the Letters or Epistles of the Apostle Paul to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Hebrews of the ancient world which number only thirteen to fourteen letters ( less than 100 pages ! ) are perhaps the most read, most commented on, most inspiring, deeply moving and energetic writings by a missionary of the Christian Church. For that was what Saint Paul the Apostle was - the greatest missionary of the Christian faith whose immense impact on Christian theology and the development of the Christian church soon after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was key and indeed a colossal result - like the man himself.

[ Author’s note : I actually started writing this article a few weeks ago in Kuala Lumpur with a wish to publish it on the Feast Day of the Conversion of Saint Paul’s on 25^th January. However, my writing was distracted by a fire in Hong Kong and I finally only managed to finish writing the essay while traveling in the cities of Ipoh and Penang in Malaysia with my friends who were visiting from Hong Kong - the FAIRWIND group. I would like to dedicate this article to the FAIRWIND GROUP. ]

This beautiful Mosaic of St. Paul the Apostle is from St. Isaac’s Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Russia, by far the largest and most world-renowned for its stunning mosaics.

This painting of Saint Paul is a 1610-1614 painting by the famous Spanish artist El Greco from the Prado Museum in Madrid.

Born around 5-10 A.D (10 years after Jesus Christ), the Apostle Paul grew up as ‘Saul of Tarsus’, a gifted and very intelligent child brought up by observant Jewish parents who steeped the young Saul in Jewish scriptures and traditions. Paul was a multi-linguist with an incredible knowledge of the Jewish Torah and many foreign languages including Latin and Greek. Saul of Tarsus was also a Roman citizen who relentlessly persecuted the followers of Jesus Christ after his death and resurrection around 30 A.D. Paul’s belligerent reaction to the crucified Jesus as the Messiah was just the same as that of the Pharisees, the Jewish Sanhedrin and the upper echelons of Jewish society. Saul too could not accept that the crucified Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, the anointed one – the ‘King’ whom all Israelites had been were waiting from the beginning of time. So Saul of Tarsus the upright Jew felt justified in persecuting the followers of Jesus, the ‘Christians’.

Suddenly - all this changed in 33 A.D when while Saul was travelling on his way to the city of Damascus, he underwent a dramatic conversion and ‘Saul of Tarsus’ became ‘Paul the Apostle’. Thousands of books have already been written about this epochal event and I can’t possibly do it justice in just a few sentences. So I shall briefly describe what happened on the now renowned  ‘Road to Damascus’ moment. Saul was suddenly struck down from his horse by a brilliant light and he heard God’s voice calling out : “Saul Saul why are you persecuting me?” When Saul asks who is this voice ? The answer was : “ I am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou persecutest.” Saul is then blinded and when he asks what he should do next, he is told by God to go to the city ( Damascus) where he will await his fate. The now blinded Saul is then led to Damascus where after 3 days when the stricken Paul repents and he does not eat or drink, God sends the disciple Ananias to Saul and to restore his sight. In so doing, God showed Saul that he was restoring more than Saul’s physical sight; God gave Saul spiritual light and he showed this despised persecutor of Jesus that God had chosen him – a sinner - to preach the good news to the world about the Messiah – not just to his fellow Jews but most importantly to the gentiles – to the whole world. From that transformative Damascene moment, Saul of Tarsus the persecutor of Jesus Christ found salvation and became the Apostle Paul – the missionary – the preacher and erudite defender of the Christian faith bringing the message of the resurrected Jesus and God’s love and forgiveness to the world.

The Conversion of Saul is a magnificent fresco by Michelangelo which is at the Pauline Chapel at the Vatican Palace.

Peter Paul Rubens – Saul on the Road to Damascus

Today, Paul’s profound, powerful and articulate teachings – written even before the Gospel - ring out in churches every day - in every corner of the world and especially each Sunday. Paul as God’s chosen preacher and evangelist had a faith which was resolute and total. He spread the good news about Jesus the Messiah by going about fearlessly and yet, ever so gently among his friends and followers.  Paul’s mission to spread Christianity far and wide was so powerful that by the time he was martyred about 60 years later, the Christian Church was firmly rooted with a force and effect that would have been inconceivable by any stretch of the imagination.

Today, I have chosen just TWO aspects about Saint Paul which I would like to lightly write about. I am sure I cannot do justice to Paul so I hope that this essay will inspire you to read and learn more about this giant of a saint to whom the Christian church owes so much; who gave all of himself and his life to his love for God and led humanity to find God too.

PAUL’S HUMILITY IN HIS SACRED MISSION

 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.”
( Matthew 11:20)

The quote above is from the Gospel of Matthew who writes about Jesus Christ preaching love and humility to all his disciples. These words on humility were not only absolutely heeded but advanced by the Apostle Paul in his own life, words and deeds. In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he writes :

“But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children”

St. Paul ( 1 Thessalonians 2:7 )  

We see here the very personal responsibility Paul took for his followers and the people he converted. Paul loved the Thessalonians and you can see from his many Letters to them, how he certainly took such personal responsibility for their spiritual well-being. Just as a mother loves her child, Paul had a deep unselfish love for his ‘new-born’ Christians that was immeasurable. So, Paul ‘fed’ them well - with his immense writings – wholesome spiritual food !

In his instruction to the disciple Timothy, humility and gentleness come in again as Paul asks him to be like Jesus. Paul writes  :

“Gently instruct those who oppose the truth”.

St Paul ( 2 Timothy 2:25) 

Above - the ancient world of Saint Paul the Evangelist

“ Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.”

St. Paul ( 2 Timothy 4:2-4)

Paul journeyed more than 10,000 miles around the Mediterranean and Asia Minor establishing many Christian churches as his followers numbered in the thousands. Paul’s gentle letters and teachings were only about Jesus the Messiah, his greatness, his magnitude and his glory as Paul preached unceasingly the death, resurrection and divinity of Jesus Christ.

PRAYER

Paul thanked God and prayed for everything – constantly – all the time. For Paul, prayer was a direct link to God and he never stopped praying. In his prayers, Paul focused on bringing all the followers of Jesus closer to Him as he prayed for their well-being.

Above : Paul in Prayer by Rembrandt

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”

St. Paul (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

What did Paul pray for ? Paul did not pray for himself; he prayed for others; for all his followers. Above all – Paul prayed that people would love God ; that the love for Jesus would spread far and wide.

For sure, Paul must have prayed so hard for the disciples and those of his inner circle – that they may have the spiritual strength to endure and stand firm with Jesus and continue to grow in faith.

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

St. Paul ( Ephesians 3:14-21).

What is prayer ? To pray is to communicate with God and this is the same for all religions. When we pray, we begin a conversation with God. For Christians, the greatest, strongest and most powerful prayer is ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ which was taught to us by Jesus Christ himself. For Paul, constant prayer is his declaration of love to his Lord and God. Paul’s prayers acknowledge God and glorify God for who he is. In Paul’s last existing letter, he spoke about his absolute faith and commitment to God :

“ If God is for us, who is against us?…Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword ? …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,…nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

St. Paul ( Romans 8:31-39)

And, towards the end of his life in 64 A.D when, imprisoned in Rome and facing a martyr’s death, Paul must have prayed for courage to bear the suffering to follow. Already throughout Paul’s ministry he had already endured much physical suffering. Just as Jesus suffered and died on the cross for the salvation of mankind, Paul ignored his suffering and tirelessly continued to preach about Jesus the Messiah in cities spread along the Mediteranean – Cyprus, Galatia, Asia Minor, Corinth, Antioch, Greece, Jerusalem and Rome.

In Paul’s letter - 2 Timothy 4:7, when Paul knows that he will soon be put to death, Paul prays and writes his much quoted and famous lines :

“ … my departure time has arrived. I have fought the good fight; I have completed the course ; I have kept the faith.”

Paul’s faith has been sustained by love and prayer. Paul knows that just as God preserves his own creations, he will take care of us.

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