The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1915-06-19

:
In the intellectual order such is st.
Pauls letter to the Ephesians. But
all his letters from time to time catch
the same grand rhythm. Now, these
letters are read in the church from
Sunday to Sunday. Filled with the
great thoughts of the mans writings
and dazzled by the halo of the Saint,
flesh and blood walking the earth, or
if we do, we fail to realize all that
that means.
But now we are studying the first
chapter of Church History and there
fore must know the man, who was a
large part of it; we purpose to study
Scripture and, therefore if we can, we
should know the human author of it.
Surely he, who put himself into every
line that he wrote, will not dislike our
effort to know him. One thing only
we wish to bear in mind. He was not
conscious of sin and we shall not seek
to find any in him.
1t seems that God is not averse to
hot-headed people as such. For one
thing, they are generally franker,
purer, more sacrificing of themselves
and of their means than others; for
another, in their righteous Indignation
they resemble Him, Who denounced
the "whited sepulchers;" and in their
whole-hearted kindness again they
resemble Him, Who would not "break
the bruised reed nor quench the smok-
ing flax" Moses, Elias, Mathathias,
David in his warrior days before he
became an affable and luxurious
prince, were beloved of God. They
all had tempers and their high dud-
geon spelled death. There are people,
who enraged faint away and revived,
on recalling the cause of their wrath,
| faint away again. Not one of all
these in temper exceeded st. Paul.
The history of his life, the style of
his writing, his marked kindness and
intense yearning to make amends, the
graphic words of his own confession,
make it as clear as the noontide sun,
that his great infirmity was a quick
temper, aye, one of the quickest. Now,
| if this is so, if with his conversion,
| the natural bent of st. Paul was not
miraculously healed, if he, like all
other human persons, save one, did
not enjoy that freedom from struggle
| that flows from an immaculate concep-
ton, we should know it. The knowl-
edge will at least help us to under
stand the strange role he took on in
L III GIoriC 1ro
| to others ito settle Hoti's business"
let us study the man.
His History.
ST. Paul is first seen on the stage
of Scripture like young lion ravish-
ing the flock (Acts VID, he is last
seen, in a losing contest for his life,
like an old lion at bay e Tim. IV).
The whole interval between these two
acts is pretty we'll interspersed with
skirmishes and pitched battles, some
of which are limited at, while others
are presented in the full glare of the
footlights. From one extreme to the
.other his love changed and his hate
changed, but the onset of his temper
throughout remained the same. A re
| ligious Hotspur, when he thought
bargain was being struck in matters
religious, he was ever ready ito cavi
to the ninth part of hair" There
was no dignity so high or friendship
so deep, that, if it brushed agains'
that silver in the flesh, which, as We
shall see, he called his temper, die
not wound him to the quick and evoke
an instantaneous response. He public
ly rebuked Peter, whom he sincerely
revered, always giving him his Official
title; he broke with Barnabas, whom
he tenderly loved and gratefully re
membered to the end. No one loved
Ibis converts more than he. But, when
by their wrong-doing they put him in a
heat, he threatened to come to them
with a rod. There was one, who par
ticularly stirred up his anger. Be-
lieving like all Jews that corporal all
ments are possibly from demons, in
order to cure that mans soul, Paul
determined in solemn convocation to
consign him body and bones to the
devil. When he went into a fight, he
went in like a catapult. Pope Leo in
| writing on Scripture informs us that
the inspired writer employs the apt
! word. Here are some of the words
describing the mannerism of the man
of Tarsus. saul made havoc of the
Church.. -. Saul as yet breath
: ing out threatenings and slaughter
went to the high priest" when
; Cephas came to Antioch / withstood
i him to the face" The dissension
which arose between Paul and Barna.
7 bas is called a "paroxysm.' Time NO
I doubt made changes in the body OF
Paul, which, as he graphically says
''he caught and threw to the ground
I and cuffed into a slave" but it made
J little change in his temper. Here are
, two gems from his last letter. "Demas
hath left me, loving this world
Alexander, the coppersmith, hath
done me much evil: the Lord will re
ward him according to his works.
i But the fash is spent, and at once
) 1.-THE Christian, adds: May it not be
laid to their charge" G. Tim. w.
His style.
A mans style of writing denotes the
: tension under which he works. This
t can be seen from the appellations with
which he sears his enemies. The only
: enemies, whom ST. Paul accounted his
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