O glorious St. Paul, after persecuting the Church you became, by God's grace, Her most zealous Apostle. To carry the knowledge of Jesus, our Divine Savior, to the uttermost parts of the earth.
You joyfully endured prison, scourgings, stonings, and a shipwreck, as well as all manner of persecutions, culminating in the shedding of the last drop of your blood for Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Obtain for us the grace to labor strenuously to bring the Faith to others and to accept any trials and tribulations that may come our way. Help us to be inspired by your Epistles and to partake of your indomitable love for Jesus, so that after we have finished our course we may join you in praising Him in heaven for all eternity.
Amen.
The Tenth Crusade
1 comment:
"To be an apostle means to be a channel of grace to bring sinners back to God’s friendship through their faith in Jesus Christ. Over the centuries, the most zealous apostles have been converted sinners. To name just three: St. Paul, St. Augustine, St. Ignatius. Paul had been the hater of Christians and had them murdered for claiming that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Augustine was a genius whose lechery took years to wake up to the fact that he, Augustine, had a free will with which to control his sexual passions. Ignatius was a selfish soldier who had an illegitimate child and was reeking of pride when the Lord wounded him in battle and forced him to spend months in a hospital bed.
Certainly the devil had not planned for Paul, Augustine and Ignatius to become giants of zeal for the conversion of sinners. But the devil is part of the providence of God. Those seduced by Satan to become leading sinners, once converted, become leading converters of those estranged from God’s love.
Pope Saint Gregory the Great tells us that, “No sacrifice is more acceptable to God than zeal for souls.” Converted sinners, once ensnared by the devil, will stop at nothing to give themselves, heart and soul, time and effort, even life and death, to share with others the joy of being reunited with their loving God."
John Hardon SJ
Good to know, huh? You are a true apostle Carol :)
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