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Encounter With Christ: The Road to Christianity
“It means that also for us, Christianity is not a new philosophy
or new morality. We are Christians only if we encounter Christ.
Of course he does not show himself to us in that irresistible, luminous
way, as he did with Paul to make him Apostle of the Gentiles.”
Pope Benedict XVI uttered these words in September 3 during today's
general audience in Paul VI Hall. The catechesis focused on St.
Paul's experience of Christ on the road to Damascus, which the Holy
Father called the "decisive moment of Paul's life." It
was a continuation of the Pope’s series of catecheses on the
thought and person of St. Paul, as the Church is marking the Pauline
Jubilee Year.
Below is a copy of the Pope’s message translated by Zenit.
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Dear Brothers and Sisters:
Today's catechesis will be dedicated to the experience St. Paul
had on the road to Damascus, commonly called his conversion. Precisely
on the road to Damascus, in the first 30 years of the first century,
and following a period in which he persecuted the Church, the decisive
moment of Paul's life took place. Much has been written about it
and, of course, from many points of view. The fact is that a complete
turnabout took place there, a total change of perspective. Henceforth,
unexpectedly, he began to consider as "loss" and "rubbish"
all that before was for him the highest ideal, almost the raison
d'etre of his existence (Philippians 3:7-8). What happened?
In this respect, we have two sources. The first type, the most well-known,
are the accounts owed to Luke's pen, who on three occasions narrates
the event in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 9:1-19; 22:3-21; 26:4-23).
The average reader, perhaps, might be tempted to pause too long
on certain details, such as the light from the sky, the fall to
the ground, the voice that called, the new state of blindness, the
curing when something like scales fall from his eyes and the fasting.
However, all these details point to the heart of the event: The
Risen Christ appeared as a splendid light and addressed Saul, transforming
his thinking and his very life. The splendor of the Risen One left
him blind; presenting also externally what the interior reality
was, his blindness in regard to the truth, to the light, which is
Christ. And then, his definitive "yes" to Christ in baptism
reopens his eyes, and makes him truly see.
In the early Church, baptism was also called "illumination,"
because this sacrament gives light, makes one truly see. All that
is indicated theologically was realized in Paul also physically:
Once cured of his interior blindness, he sees well. Hence, St. Paul
was not transformed by a thought but by an event, by the irresistible
presence of the Risen One, whom he could never again doubt, so strong
had been the evidence of the event, of that encounter. The latter
changed Paul's life fundamentally. In this connection, one can and
must speak of a conversion. This meeting is the center of St. Luke's
account, who quite possibly used an account born, probably, in the
community of Damascus. The local coloring suggests this by the presence
of Ananias and the names, both of the street as well as of the owner
of the house where Paul stayed (Cf. Acts 9:11).
The second type of source on the conversion is made up of St. Paul's
letters themselves. He never spoke in detail about this event; I
think he assumed that everyone knew the essentials of his story.
All knew that from being a persecutor, he was transformed into a
fervent apostle of Christ. And this did not happen at the end of
his own reflection but of an intense event, of an encounter with
the Risen One. Although not mentioning details, he refers to this
most important event, that is, that he is also a witness of the
resurrection of Jesus, the revelation of which he has received directly
from Jesus himself, together with the mission of apostle.
The clearest text on this aspect is found in his account of what
constitutes the center of the history of salvation: the death and
resurrection of Jesus and the apparitions to witnesses (cf. 1 Corinthians
15). With words of very ancient tradition, which he also received
from the Church of Jerusalem, he says that Jesus died crucified,
was buried, and after his resurrection appeared first to Cephas,
that is, Peter, then to the Twelve, and afterwards to 500 brothers
who were still alive at that time, then to James, and then to all
the apostles.
And to this account, received from tradition, he adds: "Last
of all ... he appeared also to me" (1 Corinthians 15:8). Thus
he clarifies that this is the foundation of his apostolate and of
his new life. There are also other texts in which the same reference
appears: "Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received
grace and apostleship (cf. Romans 1:5); and elsewhere: "Have
I not seen Jesus our Lord?" (1 Corinthians 9:1), words with
which he alludes to something that all know. Finally, the most complete
text is found in Galatians 1:15-17: "But when he who had set
me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace,
was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach
him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor
did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but
I went away into Arabia; and again I returned to Damascus."
In this "self-apology" he underlines decidedly that he
is also a true witness of the Risen One, that he has a mission received
directly from the Risen One.
We can see that the two sources, the Acts of the Apostles and the
Letters of St. Paul, converge in a fundamental point: The Risen
One spoke with Paul, called him to the apostolate, made him a true
apostle, a witness of the resurrection, with the specific charge
to proclaim the Gospel to the pagans, to the Greco-Roman world.
And, at the same time, Paul learned that, despite the immediateness
of his relationship with the Risen One, he must enter the communion
of the Church, be baptized, and live in harmony with the other apostles.
Only in this communion with all will he be able to be a true apostle,
as he wrote explicitly in the First Letter to the Corinthians: "Whether
then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed" (15:11).
There is only one proclamation of the Risen One, because Christ
is only one.
As we see in these passages, Paul never interprets this moment as
an event of conversion. Why? There are many theories, but the reason
is very obvious. This change of his life, this transformation of
his whole being was not the result of a psychological process, of
a maturation or intellectual and moral evolution, but it came from
outside: It was not the result of his thinking but of the encounter
with Jesus Christ. In this sense it was not simply a conversion,
a maturing of his "I," rather, it was death and resurrection
for himself: a life of his died and a new one was born with the
Risen Christ.
In no other way can this renewal of Paul be explained. All psychological
analyses cannot clarify or resolve the problem. Only the event,
the intense encounter with Christ is the key to understand what
happened: death and resurrection, renewal on the part of him who
revealed himself and spoke with him. It is in this more profound
sense that we can and must speak of conversion. This meeting was
a real renewal that changed all his parameters. One can now say
that what before was essential and fundamental for him, now has
become "rubbish" for him; there is no longer "gain"
but loss, because now only life in Christ is what counts.
However, we must not think that Paul locked himself blindly in an
event. In reality, the opposite occurred, because the risen Christ
is the light of truth, the light of God himself. This enlarged his
heart, and opened it to all. At that moment, he did not lose all
that was good and true in his life, in his heritage, but understood
in a new way the wisdom, truth, and depth of the law and the prophets;
he appropriated them in a new way. At the same time, his reason
opened to the wisdom of the pagans. Having opened himself to Christ
with all his heart, he became able to engage in a wider dialogue
with all, he made himself everything to all. Hence he could really
be the apostle to the pagans.
Let us now look at our situation. What does this mean for us? It
means that also for us, Christianity is not a new philosophy or
new morality. We are Christians only if we encounter Christ. Of
course he does not show himself to us in that irresistible, luminous
way, as he did with Paul to make him Apostle of the Gentiles.
However, we can also encounter Christ in the reading of sacred Scripture,
in prayer, in the liturgical life of the Church. We can touch Christ's
heart and feel him touch ours. Only in this personal relationship
with Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One do we really
become Christians. And in this way, our reason opens, the whole
of Christ's wisdom opens and all the richness of the truth. Therefore,
let us pray to the Lord to enlighten us, so that, in our world,
he will grant us the encounter with his presence, and thus give
us a lively faith, an open heart, and great charity for all, capable
of renewing the world.
[The Holy Father then greeted the pilgrims in several languages.
In English, he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today's catechesis focuses on Saint Paul's conversion. In the
Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke recounts for us the dramatic episode
on the road to Damascus which transformed Paul from a fierce persecutor
of the Church into a zealous evangelizer. In his own letters, Paul
describes his experience not so much in terms of a conversion, but
as a call to apostleship and a commission to preach the Gospel.
In the first instance, this was an encounter not with concepts or
ideas but with the person of Jesus himself. In fact, Paul met not
only the historical Jesus of the past, but the living Christ who
revealed himself as the one Saviour and Lord. Similarly, the ultimate
source of our own conversion lies neither in esoteric philosophical
theories nor abstract moral codes, but in Christ and his Gospel.
He alone defines our identity as Christians, since in him we discover
the ultimate meaning of our lives. Paul, because Christ had made
him his own (cf. Phil 3:12), could not help but preach the Good
News he had received (cf. 1 Cor 9:16). So it is with us. Transfixed
by the greatness of our Saviour, we - like Saint Paul - cannot help
but speak of him to others. May we always do so with joyful conviction!
I welcome all the English-speaking visitors present at today's
Audience including the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit
and a group of Maltese altar boys currently serving in Saint Peter's
Basilica. May your visit to Rome strengthen your commitment to share
the Good News of Jesus Christ. Upon all of you, I invoke God's abundant
blessings of joy and peace.
Copyright 2008 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana]
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“Jesus’
Baptism”