....................The Church Body of Christ...................

 

If we lose sight of the beginning, we cannot understand Paul's missionary anxiety, his untiring activity, his journeying from one end of the known world to the other, his joy in trails and persecutions.

Ultimately, what drove Paul was only his desire to once again see once more the Face that had dazzled him on the road to Damascus.

Every single step he took, every single word he uttered, and his every action expressed his desire to see Jesus once again, to recognise his face , to see him once again through the people changed by Him.

The Lord wanted to introduce Paul immediately to the great mystery of the Church, which is the body of Christ.

On the road to Damascus, Christ referrred to the persecution of Christians as persecution against Himself.By saying , "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"

Christ identified himself so closely with the disciples as to leave an indelible mark upon Paul's mind and heart.

Now together you are Christ's body:but each of you is a different part of it(First letter to the Corinthians 12:27)

Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ.

In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink(First letter to Corinthians 12:12-13).

 

 

.....................The Centre of Paul's Life....................

 

The event that occurred on the road to Damascus was a true revolution for Paul. From that moment on, the centre of his life was no longer marked by the anxiety of a Pharisee who lived in order to defend the Law of Moses and strenuous attempt to be consistent with the prescriptions of the Law.

Rather, at the centre of his existence was the regal presence of Christ, who had died and risen for him.

It was the living, Christ, the same one who had thrown Paul to the ground while he was raging against His Disciples, and therefore against Christ Himself.

 

Christ became the power capable of changing not only Paul's mission, but his whole personality .

Thus Paul,. although still the same man as before dedicated, resolute proud, tough, courageous- became capable of deep friendship, of joy, humility, tenderness, and fatherly self sacrifice.

"It is no longer I who live, but Christ who live in me"

 

...................The True Value of Things................

 

Paul weighed everything that life offered him using his friendship with Christ as a balance .

In this way all things, meetings and events were given their true value again, the value established by God.

Nothing was allowed to stand in his way, no material thing could dominate him and no one could lead him astray.

A man who belongs to God cannot be possessed by anything else.

This sense of belonging can be expressed in any circumstance of life.

It is not a question of indifference towards everything, or of a suspicious withdrawal due to a contemp of reality.

On the contrary, it is about a burning love that takes holf of improving a wedding banquet and sanctifying a fast.

True freedom consists in living relationships with things and with people in the new way introduced by Jesus.

This was the joyful novelty that Paul experienced and expressed.

Whatever you eat, whatever you drink, whatever you do at all, do it for the glory of God.(First letter to the Corinthians 10:31)

Everything God has created is good and no food is to be rejected(First letter to Timothy 4:4).

Everything is yours: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present, the future, but you are Christ's and Christ's is God's(First letter to the Corinthians 3:21-23).