La Vida Loca of St. Paul!

[Jamie]

Who was St. Paul? Where did he come from, and what did he know? What
was the deal with his conversion on the road to Damascus?

Where did he learn to do midrash, and from whom....and how did that
help him? And what about pagan philosophy, how much did he know about
that before we read about him preaching the Gospel to the Greeks at
the Areopagus? What does it mean that he got so much space in the New
Testament Scriptures?

How long did it take him to walk across Asia Minor? How many times did
he go to Jerusalem? What was that walk like, and how long could a
person walk in a day and how far? This was a 'vida loca,' no doubt,
and he is the Apostle, as St. Thomas calls him...yet he received his
commission directly from Jesus?? "That's crazy!," some say. So...let's
dig in to the life of this man.

Friends, these are the types of questions we are going to try to
answer together starting a week from this Monday. The series will
consist of skimming 50 pages of the 250-page book "Paul: His Story
(Paperback)"
by Jerome Murphy-O'Connor (Author), a contemporary Pauline scholar.
Fr. M-O is going to take us back to that time, and sketch out what
life was like back then, how men and women fared, and how Paul
became...well, St. Paul!

The series is going to be fun and educational. It will begin on
November 3, a Monday, at 7 pm at St Cyril's.

If you don't have time to read or skim the 50-pages for each week, no
worries. Just come and listen...you are going to learn either way.

Our fellow ministry member, Jeff Bobby, who started Theology on Tap,
manager at Barnes and Noble, and 'all around cool guy' :-), has
generously offered to order about 15 copies of the book for us. They
arrive at his store on Broadway by this Wednesday. If you want a used
one, you might try the internet...not so sure the shipping costs will
result in savings...give it a try if you like. The price at B&N will
come to about $22-$26 with tax. This is a fairly scholarly book, so it
will do well to keep it in your personal library.

Keep an eye out for a Young Adults flier this Sunday!

The ministry we are growing is linked together in terms of emphases.
The lectio is our prayer together. This series on Paul is for
education. Our next series will be on St. Paul's letters, and we'll go
directly to the Scriptures.... In other words, reading his bio is
'teeing us up' to get a better read on his letters. We also do fun
socializing where don't just talk shop, but just have fun. And the
last thing is the charity we do to 'build up the Church.'

Peace, happy reading, and see you soon!
Jamie