Bernardita Dianzon, FSP, 13/06/2016
No other writing in the New Testament abounds with so many names of concrete persons—friends, supporters and collaborators in the mission—than the letters of Paul. They are a unique body of writings that break away from contemporary Greco-Roman epistolary conventions by their personal touch and intimate tone,which do not, however, diminish the impact of their writer’s apostolic authority.
Bernardita Dianzon, FSP, 30/05/2016
The very first narrative of the institution of the Eucharist in the New Testament is offered to us, not by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, but by the Apostle Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians:For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said,
Bernardita Dianzon, FSP, 16/05/2016
We take it for granted that we have only four accounts of the gospel in the New Testament—Matthew, For I received from the Lord what I also handedon to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, The fact is, Paul was the very first to articulate the gospel for the early Church. ….
Bernardita Dianzon, FSP, 02/05/2016
Paul's harsh statements about “the law”(shorthand for Jewish observances) in the Letter to the Galatians are a unique response to a very particular situation Paul never meant them to be read and interpreted apart from the controversy in that local Church, much less applied across-the-board as a kind of universal proclamation.
Bernardita Dianzon, FSP, 18/04/2016
Although it is true that we are already redeemed, to say that “Christ died for us in order that we might live” is only half the story. God has done his part in Christ, now we have to do our part, also in Christ. We need to die with him in order to live with him. The paradox of Christian salvation is that though Christ shares our death in order that we may share his life, the believer can only share that life if he/she, in turn, is willing to share Christ’s death.
The story is told of a state banquet at Buckingham Palace given by Queen Victoria. It was very splendid, very lavish and chokingly stiff and formal.
The French writer René Girard has given the best explanation of the origins of sacrifice. Almost all human conflict is the resultof people modelling themselves (albeit unconsciously) on others and then entering into rivalry with others. All human conflict is about desiring what others desire–money, land, prestige, a spouse, a friend, power, etc. Every human society is threatened by this desire which becomes rivalry which leads to conflict.
Bernardita Dianzon, FSP, 07/03/2016
God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes 5:9). How many people distance themselves from religion because they cannot outgrow the idea of a god, who, like a policeman, is always on the watch for offenses and ready to inflict the severest punishment? Has Paul’s use of the expression “wrath of God” contributed to the formation of this distorted image of God?
Anne Flanagan, FSP, 22/02/2016
Early Christians would be mystified by the reputation St Paul has in some contemporary circles as a bit of a misogynist. Modern readers may chafe at passages in Paul's letters that seem to threaten hard-won benefits for women in society, but early Christian sources agree in presenting Paul and his teaching as welcome to women. This means that when it comes to St Paul and women, we have to go on more than what we read in the Bible.
. . . [I]t’s become known . . . to everyone else that I’m in chains for Christ....
Philippians 1:13
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