Blogging the St Paul Lectures - #1

Michael Sedlar attended the first of St Denis's lecture series on the letters of St Paul, and took copious notes for the rest of us to look at. Thanks, Mike!

Here are Mike's notes:
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Session 1 was held on Tuesday, July 1 from 7:15 to 9:00 pm. Msgr. Jim presided.

There was a GREAT turnout of over 100 parishoners. Babysitting and refreshments were provided.

Msgr. Jim provided several references including:
1. Session Schedule. Identifies the topics for each of the 9 sessions in the series.
2. Notes for Session 1 which details what was covered in this first session.
3. "To Whom it May Concern; Letters from Paul" by William Parker
4. "Editorial--In Pursuit of Paul" from Our Sunday Visitor with St Paul crossword puzzle
5. "Introducing St. Paul the Apostle, His Life and Mission" from St Anthony Messenger
6. Prayer to St. Paul

Msgr. described the Life of the Early Church and the life of Paul by guiding us through the Acts of the Apostles which is the second book of the New Testament that was written by Luke. See the Notes attachment for details.

Paul was responsible for spreading the Word to most of the major cities of the Roman Empire. Peter and Paul both worked miracles in these early days of the Church. Thirteen letters in the Bible are credited to St. Paul. Of these 7 were most likely written by Paul, 3 were written by disciples and 3 were written by someone who knew Paul. The book of Hebrews was also most likely written by someone who knew Paul.

Luke wrote Acts to "Theophilus" which is constructed from the Greek words Theos (meaning God) and Philos (meaning love).

Msgr. also provided some suggestions for the Year of St Paul:
1. work the St Paul crossword puzzle
2. read and study all thirteen of Paul's letters
3. read a book on Paul
4. make a pilgrimage to the old world or to a Church named after Paul
5. pray to St Paul (use the official prayer)
6. earn indulgences

Msgr. also discussed the First Letter to the Thessolonians. See the notes for details.

The next Session will be on Tuesday July 08 hosted by Fr. Sebastian.