Paul 101
Posted by Rebecca Teti in Faith on Monday, October 27, 2008 10:18 AM
The close of the Synod on the Word of God (closing mass depicted at left) and the news that The Holy Father will visit Africa next year eclipsed swift translation of last week’s Audience.
Here’s the latest papal catechesis on St. Paul.
After two introductory lessons, the Pope has meditated thus far on Paul’s conversion. Last Wednesday he turned to Paul’s actual teaching, opening with his Christology.
I see three main ideas in this pithy little lecture.
1. Christ is the center of all things—for Paul, but also in reality.
Christ is for the Apostle the standard to evaluate events and things, the purpose of every effort that he makes to announce the Gospel, the great passion that sustains his steps along the paths of the world. And he is a living Christ, concrete: The Christ, Paul says, “who loved me and gave himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). This person who loves me, with whom I can speak, who listens and responds to me, this is really the principle for understanding the world and for finding the way in history.
2. Christ is the Wisdom to which the Old Testament refers. This is the portion I enjoyed most only because, while we know Christ is the fulfillment of everything promised in the Old Law, I’ve never seen the parallel between Christ and Wisdom drawn out as fully.
The same wisdom texts that speak of the eternal pre-existence of Wisdom also speak of its descent, of the abasement of this Wisdom, which has made for itself a tent among men. Thus we can already feel resonate the words from the Gospel of John that speak of the tent of the flesh of the Lord. A tent was created in the Old Testament: Here is indicated the temple, worship according to the “Torah”; but from the point of view of the New Testament, we can understand that this was only a pre-figuration of the much more real and significant tent: the tent of the flesh of Christ.
And we already see in the books of the Old Testament that this abasement of Wisdom, its descent into flesh, also implies the possibility of being rejected. St. Paul, developing his Christology, refers precisely to this wisdom perspective: He recognizes in Jesus the eternal Wisdom existing from all time, the Wisdom that descends and creates a tent among us, and thus he can describe Christ as “the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
3. Paul’s Christology is eloquently summed up in the 6-verse “hymn” from Philippians 2: 5-11. The Pope breaks these verses into three stanzas: Christ’s pre-existence from all eternity, his “radical self-abasement,” and his ultimate exaltation. From this portion of the talk comes also the “take-away” message:
It is evident that this second stanza contrasts with the pretension of Adam, who wanted to make himself God, and it contrasts as well with the actions of the builders of the Tower of Babel, who wanted to construct for themselves a bridge to heaven and make themselves divine. But this initiative of pride ended with self-destruction: In this way, one doesn’t arrive to heaven, to true happiness, to God. The gesture of the Son of God is exactly the contrary: not pride, but humility, which is the fulfillment of love, and love is divine. The initiative of abasement, of the radical humility of Christ, which contrasts with human pride, is really the expression of divine love; from it follows this elevation to heaven to which God attracts us with his love.
And therefore:
Christ is the recapitulation of everything, he takes up everything and guides us to God. And thus is implied a movement of descent and ascent, inviting us to participate in his humility, that is, in his love for neighbor, so as to thus be participants in his glorification, making ourselves with him into sons in the Son. Let us pray that the Lord helps us to conform ourselves to is humility, to his love, to thus be participants in his divinization.
Previous Sessions:
Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
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