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Bishop leads diocese into Year of St. Paul
By Ambria Hammel, ahammel@catholicsun.org
July 18, 2008
Local Catholics recently gathered with Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted at St. Paul Parish to usher in the Year of St. Paul.
The bishop celebrated Mass at the north Phoenix parish June 29, the feast day of Ss. Peter and Paul. The liturgy opened the Church’s jubilee year dedicated to the converted saint and his example.
In his homily, the bishop recounted St. Paul’s life and explained why Catholics should honor the zealous messenger. The bishop reminded churchgoers about how St. Paul traded in his plans for the people of Damascus for the one God had in store.
“The Lord showed him his spiritual blindness and opened his eyes to the truth of the Gospel,” the bishop said.
That encounter with God prompted Paul to begin converting unbelievers rather than persecuting them. His example is why Pope Benedict XVI invited the Church to honor the Apostle this year, the bishop said.
“He teaches us about conversion, which is the fundamental path to holiness of life,” the bishop said. “He never would have been remembered, would never have become a saint, had he not humbly accepted from God the grace of conversion.”
“Nothing so deeply transforms one’s life as a personal encounter with Christ,” the bishop continued. “Still, for all its magnificence, this loving encounter is not enough. We need to respond to this gift.”
The Pauline Year will run from June 28 of this year to June 29, 2009, to mark the approximately 2,000th anniversary of the saint’s birth.
The bishop designated three churches as places of pilgrimage: St. Paul Parish, Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral and Sacred Heart Parish in Prescott.
He is also establishing days throughout the year when a plenary indulgence will be granted to Catholics who make a pilgrimage to one of these churches.
The first days were on the Vigil and Solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul. There will also be a chance to receive a plenary indulgence on the same feast day next year, June 28-29, 2009.
Catholics can also receive the indulgence this Jan. 25, 2009, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The next month, an indulgence may be obtained on Feb. 10.
The next opportunity is April 19, 2009 — Divine Mercy Sunday, followed by two days in June.
The pope told those gathered for an evening prayer service in the Rome Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls the same thing June 28.
“He lived and worked for Christ; he suffered and died for Him,” the pope said. “How current is his example today.”
Christianity is only effective and credible if Christians are willing to “pay personally for their faith in Christ,” the pope said.
Ryan Hanning, diocesan director of adult evangelization, said sharing Christ with the world animated St. Paul, as it should for Christians today.
“As Catholics, we are called to share our faith as well, and in Paul we find a model who creatively brought Christ into every situation, through prayer, teaching, witnessing, and simply living his faith,” Hanning said.
Bishop Olmsted said this dedication to evangelization came to St. Paul because of his strong love of God, which also gave him great hope
The Year of St. Paul is a time to renew hope, the bishop said.
“All around us are things that could make us despair, events of great tragedy and sorrow, situations of injustice and sin,” the bishop said.
“We cannot close our eyes to these realities and the suffering that they engender,” he said, “But we shall never be an instrument of peace without being grounded in hope.”
Mission to China
Before the final blessing, Bishop Olmsted commissioned four young adults bound for China this month. The missionaries will network with their evangelical peers in an exchange of culture and faith.
“I’m just looking forward to seeing what the Lord’s doing in China,” said Kellie Taylor, one of the missionaries and a youth coordinator at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish.
She also acknowledged the example St. Paul has set for the young missionaries.
“The part that stands out to me the most about Paul’s life is his unwillingness to allow his past to prevent him from doing great things,” Taylor said.
“He could have easily made excuses that he wasn’t good enough because of who he had been, but instead, he moved forward with confidence and boldness and lived to become one of the greatest saints of our Church,” she said.
Two young adults from the diocese have already spent the last year or so in China laying the groundwork.
“We’ve all sort of had this burden on our hearts for so long,” Kristin Niedbala said of the mission.
The St. Timothy parishioner and three others from various East Valley parishes will travel with Adore Ministries and Youth Arise International to study and pray in places throughout China while spreading the faith.
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