St Paul: Allocutio by Brother Paul- 25 June 2008

Who was St Paul? He is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles. His work is his name: he was the spiritual father of the gentile Christians - and that includes every one of us. And so we owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

It is interesting to note that St Paul is the patron saint of the lay apostolate. Let us examine why this is so.
He was a tent-maker. He did not abandon this livelihood after his conversion to Christianity. Along with his vocation as an Apostle, he was also a worker who earned his living. In Corinthians, he states this fact very clearly and very proudly: that though he had the right to material support from the churches he founded, he does not accept such support.

He thus identifies himself with the life of the layman and with his daily toil to earn a living. In fact, he instructs the faithful to work hard to earn their bread and he orders that those believers who (in anticipation of the imminent second coming of Jesus) consider work futile, not be given food. St Paul thus teaches us the value of honest work.

Also St Paul was not exclusive in his dealings and habits:

To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

~ 1 Corinthians 20-23

And thus as the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul approaches, let us look to these, our great generals, for inspiration. Let their zeal for souls and their love for God be examples for us to emulate in our Legionary lives.