Saint Paul, first century

June 29

At first, Saint Paul did not like Christians. He helped put them in jail. One day, while on the road to Damascus, Paul heard Jesus say, “Why do you persecute me?” Paul realized that he had done wrong. That very minute, Paul was converted to Christianity. He was blinded at his conversion, but regained his sight when he went where Jesus told him to go to be healed. He stopped hurting Christians. Instead, he went everywhere telling people about Jesus. He started many churches. When he was traveling, he wrote letters back to the churches. In those letters, he used Scripture to teach about God. He gave people advice on how to love Jesus. Now we read his letters at Mass. They are called “Epistles.”

Saint Paul was a Roman citizen and a tentmaker by trade. He was born with the Jewish name of Saul, but his Latin name was Paul. Paul experienced many miracles, including a rescue from jail after he was arrested for preaching the Gospel. He is the patron of missions, theologians, and Gentile Christians.

Discuss: If you were writing a letter about Jesus, what would you write?

Activity
Loving Jesus
Verbal/Linguistic, Visual/Spatial

Explain that Saint Paul was a good writer; he often wrote about how to love Jesus.

• Help your child compose a five-step “letter” on how to show love to Jesus.
• Have him/her write the steps on a small poster board and decorate it, leaving some room at the bottom for additional steps.
• Display the poster board where your child and other family members will see it often.
• Encourage the rest of the family to write in additional steps as they think of them.