Fr. Michael Williams

In celebration of the 2000th anniversary of Saint Paul’s birth, Pope Benedict has declared June 2008-June 2009 the year of St. Paul. St. Paul is truly one of Church’s greatest saints, yet he is also one of the Church’s great prodigal sons. He made that journey of the heart, from sinner to saint; a journey we are all called to make.

One of Paul’s co-workers, St Luke, reports in the Acts of the Apostles, that Paul had been a great persecutor of the Church. St Luke tells us that Paul, ‘approved of the killing’ of the first Christian martyr- Stephen; that Paul ‘began doing great harm to the Church; he went from house to house arresting both men and women and sending them to prison’. In the reading from his letter to Timothy Paul freely and humbly admits to his sinfulness when he says, ‘I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith’. In a sense Paul was the Richard Dawkins of his day, persecuting the Church with false arguments.

But following his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul ‘came to his senses’ (like the prodigal son in the parable). Paul had a change of heart; he realised his mistake in attacking Christ and His Body, the Church. Paul’s sinful and hardened heart changed into a heart of love for Christ and love for neighbour. Paul realised his changed heart was a total gift of God; although he knew had had to co-operate with the graces offered to him. Paul would write to the Christians at Ephesus, ‘it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit’. Paul had experienced the free gift of salvation, and he was keen to tell other people salvation is a gift from God. Pope John Paul II would say in his pontificate, that not to accept this gift of mercy is the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit, mentioned by Jesus in Luke chapter 12. God’s offer of grace and salvation is available to all who want it. Christ has paid the price for our salvation. All we need to do is accept it and live accordingly. To acknowledge oneself as a sinner and in need of God’s mercy is the way to salvation.

To remain in the mire of sin with no repentance is the road to hell. The prodigal son could have stayed feeding the pigs, locked in misery. But the humble choice he made was to say sorry and return to the Father. In Dante’s ‘Inferno’, Dante meets politicians, priests, married people, single people, all cut off from God eternally because they failed to repent; they did not want to return to the Father’s kingdom, but were content to remain in the mire. Their hearts remain hardened in sin; they did not ‘come to their senses’. That is always an option.

Whilst at the Youth 2000 Retreat at Walsingham in August I was struck by the many young people who were seeking an alternative from the hedonism that is constantly proposed to them by the media and contemporary society. Many availed themselves of the sacrament of confession. Each evening 15-20 priests would hear the confessions of many young people who had gathered for the weekend retreat. Many of these young people had been caught up in the maze of life, and lost sight of God, but wanted to return to the Father’s house. The retreat made me realise that people are thirsting for God’s grace. As that other great sinner who became a great saint, Augustine, once said, ‘Thou hast formed us for Thyself Lord, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee?’ Only in the Father’s will can we find true peace and joy. That is the lesson the prodigal son.

‘Human life is in some way a constant returning to our Father’s house. We return through contrition, through the conversion of heart which means a desire to change, a firm decision to improve our life, which is expressed in sacrifice and self-giving. We return to our father’s house by means of the sacrament of confession, by confessing our sins’ (J. Escriva)

On this Home Mission Sunday we are called to let others know about the gift of redemption from Christ, just like St Paul did, and countless others have. To know the Father’s love is to want others to know it too.