BIG C CATHOLICS

Detail, The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew , Caravaggio, 1603–1606. Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings )  One of the most beautiful texts in the whole Bible reads: “Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die I will die, and there be buried.”  People are sometimes surprised to learn that these words are not spoken between two lovers. They are the words of Ruth, to her mother-in-law, and simply mean: I will never leave you.  That hardly matters. The classical musical setting by Gounod is often heard at weddings. The Weston Priory version is sung by the monks to each other as a pledge of mutual fidelity in their monastic life. The text suits any commitment of persons to each other.  The response of Simon, Andrew, James, and John to the call of Jesus seems to have been wordless. They j

Feast Day - January 25th  St. Paul, named Saul at his circumcision, was born in Tarsus the capitol of Cilicia, of Jewish parents descended from the tribe of Benjamin. He was a Roman citizen from birth and a devout Jew trained in the Law. As he was "a young man" at the stoning of Stephen and "an old man" when writing to Philemon, about the year 63 AD, St. Paul was most likely born around the beginning of the Christian era. To complete his schooling, St. Paul was sent to Jerusalem, where he sat at the feet of the learned Gamaliel and was educated in the strict observance of the ancestral Law. Here he also acquired a good knowledge of exegesis and was taught in the practice of disputation. As a convinced and zealous Pharisee, he returned to Tarsus before the public ministry of Christ commenced in Palestine. Some time after the Resurrection of Our Lord, St. Paul returned to Palestine. His profound conviction made his zeal develop into a religious fanaticism a

Although Saint Paul shares a martyr’s feast day with Saint Peter on June 29, the Church has recognized the most momentous occurrence in this apostle’s life by also celebrating a separate feast for the conversion of St. Paul on January 25th. What makes the story of Paul’s conversion so compelling is both its swiftness and the profound change it wrought in his life. Born to a devout Jewish family in Tarsus, Saul, as he was then known, saw in this new Christian faith a direct challenge to the Judaism to which he had devoted his entire life. So incensed was he against this new religion that, for a time, Saul became one of its most violent and unforgiving persecutors, "entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment." (Acts 8:3). Acts also records that he was present at the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Saint Stephen. Then, acting on formal orders from the high priest in Jerusalem, Saul set out for Damascus to round u

Detail, The Calling of Saints Peter and Andrew , Caravaggio, 1603–1606. Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Provincial Superior, La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for today’s readings )  One of the most beautiful texts in the whole Bible reads: “Wherever you go I will go, wherever you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people and your God, my God. Where you die I will die, and there be buried.”  People are sometimes surprised to learn that these words are not spoken between two lovers. They are the words of Ruth, to her mother-in-law, and simply mean: I will never leave you.  That hardly matters. The classical musical setting by Gounod is often heard at weddings. The Weston Priory version is sung by the monks to each other as a pledge of mutual fidelity in their monastic life. The text suits any commitment of persons to each other.  The response of Simon, Andrew, James, and John to the call of Jesus seems to have

Saint Paul [named Saul prior to his conversion] was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, born in Tarsus, the capitol of Cilicia. Saul was a Roman citizen and devout Jew who strictly followed the precepts of his faith. He grew to became a violent persecutor of Christians. While traveling to Damascus Saul beheld a miraculous apparition of Our Lord. By virtue of his encounter with Christ, Saul, now Paul, went from persecutor to Apostle. Divine Providence ordained him Apostle of the Gentiles. Paul made three missionary journeys to Asia Minor and southern Europe where he won many converts for the faith. The New Testament contains fourteen of his Epistles. In the year 66, Paul was beheaded in Rome and received the crown of martyrdom. His remains are kept in the Basilica of St. Paul near the Ostian Way. The effect of his evangelization cannot be exaggerated. The Life of St. Paul St. Paul was born at Tarsus of Jewish parents who were descended from the tribe of Benjamin. He was a Roman citiz