On Paul's Letter to Galatians and Phillipians (Session 1)

Basil, Priscilla, and I attended the talk by Fr Ambrose Vaz. I attended because I thought it would be good and the following day I was on holiday due to Vesak Day.

I thought I would get a session which is full of pure knowledge, but Fr Ambrose Vaz talked by relating to our life experiences too. And I found it interesting in that way.

So here the story goes:

Fr Ambrose Vaz used this session as introductory session. He covered about background of St Paul. St Paul had gone through various cultures which were Greek, Jews, and Roman. But these backgrounds and experiences would help St Paul in his mission. His Jewish background would help him to prove his credibility of Jewish teachings. His Roman background would help him in dealing with Romans, how he knew the situations of Romans controlling the areas and people in those areas.

The same goes in our lives. Our backgrounds, our experiences will not go on waste. These backgrounds and experiences will help us in our life and support us in the plan that God has for each one of us. I sometimes think why I was born this way, why I was born in certain area, why I am here now, why I am not somewhere else. Now I need to convince myself that everything has a part to play in the plan God has in store in me.

Then we moved on to the conversion story of St Paul. Fr Ambrose Vaz covered three points about conversion: zeal for God / God fearing people, enlightenment, and commissioning. It is not enough just to have zeal for God, just like St Paul in the beginning of his life. Cos we can go astray even though we fear God because we think we are doing what God wants. While in fact, we might be interfering God's plan or going against Him.

So we need to be enlightened too, just like St Paul experienced on his way to Damascus. St Paul often cited in his letter how his fellow Jews had the same kind of zeal but they were not enlightened.

After that, St Paul knew Jesus more. But it did not stop there. He continued by proclaiming Jesus to others. This is the commissioning part. Once we know God and Jesus and converted, we need to tell others too. So the conversion story should cover these three points.

More on the story of St Paul fallen on the ground. Have we ever fallen on the ground too? Not literally, but it is more towards our dreams, our plans. We have high hopes and suddenly our plans crash or fall to ground.

Then God said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" If we want to apply this verse to our lives: have we ever gone against God, have we ever interfered God's plan? When we think we are doing what is good, but actually we are not. There are moments when we fall to ground, to stop first and need to listen to God.

During this conversion period, Paul was feeling hopeless and facing uncertainty. He could not see, he was blind. Before that he was in control, but now God was in control of his plan instead. The same goes for us, conversion experience often has uncertainties, hopelessness, confusion, worries. That is when we start to give God the control of our lives because we can't do anything, we feel hopeless.

And just like St Paul was blind during that period, we are blind too, we have no sense of direction. So we need to give God the chance to direct us and control us.

During this times of blindness and darkness, Paul was praying. That is what we are supposed to do too. When we were undergoing period of hopelessness, confusion, and darkness in our lives, we should be praying.

Then comes Ananias in the story. The Lord told him to cure Saul. But Ananias did not directly go to Saul's place. Instead, he gave his evaluation of Saul to God. Sometimes we are like Ananias too, when we give our judgments, prejudice, human evaluation. When we resist and do not really trust God for what He wants.

Then God told Ananias about the plan for Saul. Hmmm, maybe Ananias agreed to go after he heard that Saul must suffer for Him. So in a way it is a hidden agenda of Ananias. If he did not go to heal Saul, Saul will not suffer and he will only stay at home and keep praying after all the harm Saul has inflicted to the Christians. So he decided to go and meet Saul. [FYI, this paragraph is a just a speculation and for humor purpose...]

If Ananias still did not want to go to Saul's place, maybe God can still find other person to heal Saul and continue with the plan. But in a way, it will be a stumbling block to His plan. Have I been too a stumbling block to God's plan?

And have I been Ananias to others? When Ananias helped to cure Saul's eyes, in a similar situation, have we been God's instruments to heal other people wounds? To listen to our brothers and sisters?

And who have been Ananias in my life? Who are the people that has helped me to see God more clearly in my life? To help, to heal, to give new sight and direction in my life.

After Paul was healed, he moved on and he had the courage to admit he was wrong in persecuting Christians. Do I also have the courage to admit when I am wrong?

In Acts 9:20, Paul was proclaiming Jesus and in verse 22 same chapter, he moved even further to prove Jesus, to convince the others.

Everything starts with romance, just like St Paul started his conversion experience by the blinding light of God. But then he met with disappointment, suspicion, and solitude as described in Acts 9:26.

Barnabas came to rescue in Acts 9:27. Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, put his reputation on the line, stood up, and asked for the others to give Paul a chance. He supported Paul, even though there might be possibility that Paul might harm the apostles due to his reputation.

Have I been Barnabas to others? Have I encouraged other people, stood up for other people, and given other people chance?

And who have been Barnabas in my life? Who are the people in my life that has trusted me, believed in me, encouraged me, and stood up for me, given me chance once again?

That ended the introduction to Paul's life.

And we moved on to the discussion about Paul's letter. They are mainly situational, which address certain needs for the communities which Paul was writing the letters to. For example, the letters to Thessalonians addresses the second coming of Jesus.

In the bible, Paul's letters are arranged according to the length, not chronology. That's why letter to Romans is put first right after Acts of the Apostles, because it is the longest. Then letters of St Paul are grouped into two: those addressed to communities and to individuals. The ones to the communities are put first followed by those for individuals, from the longest to the shortest.

The letters usually consist of following elements: opening formula, thanksgiving, message, and conclusions + final greetings. Maybe except letters to Galatians, where Paul seems to forget about thanksgiving, because the situation of the community there seems to be really worrying that they were leaving God, and that's why Paul was stern and rebuking the people in the letter. But in the end, he also mentioned some of the good points too.

Paul often mentioned in his letter as being called by God. This is important point, because it is related to the mission of prophets.When the people could not believe in the prophets, the prophets would explain that their actions were based on that God has called them.

It is also important to us to always remember that we are called by God. The moment we forget about this, we are lost! Imagine ourselves invited by someone to come to his/her house. When we reach there and we forget that we have been invited, we would feel uneasy and unwanted. That's why it is important to alway remember that God has called us, even though the situation we face now might be discouraging or difficult to deal with.

Paul also mentioned himself as set apart for Gospel, and sent by Christ (apostle). Another point he mentioned that he was servant / slave.

In our life, we will always be slave, either slave of God, or slave of Devil. Slave in the sense of availability. Are we available to Christ? Or to Devil? Jesus himself mentioned, you can't be the servant of two masters.

This is all I can remember and all I can type from my notes...

PS: The sessions are on every Thursday, 8pm. The sessions left are: 14, 28 May & 4, 11 Jun. Just drop by when you are free...