Paul's Personal Relationship with Christ

According to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul in his first attempt at preaching, wanted to demonstrate that Jesus is the Christ (Acts 9:22) and he tried to dialogue with his listeners to help them understand this (Acts 9:29). He shifted from the impositional style of preaching typical of the Pharisaic school to a preaching style characterized by the attempt to "show" others the good he had found. He had not yet reached the level of communicating with others in an authoritative way on the basis of own personal experiences. After spending a period of time in the desert "listening" to the word of God, Paul's way of understanding and living that Word underwent a complete change. He began to interpret the Scriptures in the light of Christ and saw that the crucified and risen Christ is the Light that illuminates everything that came before him and everything that came after him. This Jesus is not a theory to be proven to others but a Person who must be accepted in all his uniqueness. Paul's life thus became Christocentric in orientation.

He underwent this change of mentality when he experienced Christ in a personal way. This experience is narrated in the third chapter of the Letter to the Philippians, above all vv. 7-11. Paul says he was faultless in living the Law in an upright way. This feeling of righteousness came from himself, not from God. It came from himself because he lived the Law according to his personal interpretation of it. In Christ, he came to understand that the "Absolute" he believed he had found was only a product of his human ideas. He had taken human rules to be the Word of God and had imposed them on others as such. Paul confesses that after having spent his youth tenaciously pursuing the Hebrew religious ideal and living under its security, he suddenly found himself, at about the age of thirty, beginning a new life, one without any "security"--indeed, a life that would demand that he dedicate himself to the Word without reserve. As an adult, he became aware of the fact that he had encased himself in a "suit of armor" that prevented him from entering into genuine communication with himself, with God, and with others. He lived on the plane of possessing," not on the plane of "being." Looking back on his life through the eyes of a Christian, Paul seems to laugh at himself and say: Look at what a disguise I fashioned for myself! Look at whom I had become!

As a Christian, Paul wanted to attain a condition of uprightness (=realization) that sprang from his faith in Jesus. He wanted his life to be determined by his relationship with Jesus (his faith in him, which is to say: acceptance of him), thus permitting Jesus to express himself in his life (faith in Jesus). Paul wanted to attain conformity with Christ: he wanted others to look at him (Paul) and be able to see how Jesus had lived while he was on earth (trusting totally in the Father) (cf. Phil. 3:7-11; Gal. 2:20). This personal relationship with Christ opened new horizons to Paul: he came to understand that the true Law is the "law of the Spirit."

(By Sr. Filippa Castronovo, FSP; International Encounter on Jesus Master, WTL, 1998).

At the Center: Jesus Master | Prayer to Jesus Master | Why St. Paul | Getting to Know Paul the Apostle
Mary, as Mother, Teacher and Queen | Apostolic Spirituality and Holiness | Communicating Christ