Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good! The Story of Paul.

The other day I walked into the Basilica of St. Paul, Outside the Walls. It's a little different from the other patriarchal basilicas in Rome. It's kind of stark, bare, imposing. I rather like to see it as a little like the apostle itself - strong, straightforward, powerful, and to the point.

This comes one day late, but yesterday we celebrated the conversion of St. Paul. We don’t know much about his early life other than that he mad tents. The first even we hear about him is when he's actively killing Christians, specifically St. Stephen. Little did he know that we would not only undergo the same fate but would suffer the same sort of thing multiple times.

“Are they ministers of Christ? (I am talking like an insane person.) I am still more, with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, far worse beatings, and numerous brushes with death. Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings, through cold and exposure. And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches” (II Cor 11:23-28).

But before he did all this for Christ, he was knocked of his horse and struck blind. Only three days later did he recover his sight, and from that day forward he was a tireless apostle. His travels carried him all over the Mediterranean world communicating Christ’s message of faith and love.

“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.  Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (I Cor 13:1-8). 

Although you and I haven’t been shipwrecked, stoned, or received lashes, and they don’t always sound so appealing...  Although our love is often not patient, kind, and generous, we are all called to imitate St. Paul. We are called to fight with the same limitless love for Christ and to struggle spiritually just as he did to bring this faith and love to others.

“Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph 6:10ff).