St. Paul is celebrating his 2,000th anniversary this year. It’s not often that we see an anniversary with so many zeros behind it! In honor of this energetic and passionate saint, the Vatican has designated June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009 as the Pauline Jubilee year.
The Vatican has set up two websites about St. Paul. The first one, in English, is focused on the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls. If you ever have a chance to visit Rome, do not miss visiting this Basilica. It is a short drive outside of “downtown” Rome, but it is another world once you enter — absolutely spectacular.
The Basilica’s website includes a history of how the Basilica was built in its many stages, including fires that occurred. The site also includes a good summary of St. Paul’s life. The site reports that experts now believe that Paul was about 10 years younger than Jesus. Although he never personally met Jesus of Nazareth, his conversion and then his becoming an apostle of Christ have had a profound influence on our Church.
There will be many specific events scheduled during the Pauline year, including concerts, prayer services and even a plenary indulgence. All of these are described in the second website in Italian, called Anno Paolino.
In addition to being passionate about his mission as an apostle, Paul was a prolific writer as we often realize when we hear his many “letters” at Mass. Whether writing to the Philippians, the Corinthians, the Thessalonians, the Romans, or any other group, Paul helped to develop our understanding of Christ by bringing the Good News to many. To learn more about St. Paul, a good little book to read is 101 Questions and Answers on Paul
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Posted by APWeb 
