Enlarging the Tent for the Journey

If we can name one person who was zealously persecuting Christians but became one of the Church’s ardent servants, that would be St. Paul. He was a Jew who lived in the Roman city of Tarsus, in modern-day Turkey, and received the Hebrew name, Saul. After Jesus’ crucifixion, Saul was a zealous persecutor of the early Christians, he was present and consented to the stoning of St. Stephen, the first saint of the Church. The Road to Damascus experience eventually led him to be converted and baptized as Paul, a fervent disciple of Christ.

The Church commemorates his conversion because of his importance to Christianity. This decisive moment in Paul’s life was also celebrated in San Pablo Parish. The momentous event started with a mass celebration at 6 in the morning presided by Fr. Ritsche J. Gamaya, followed by the 9:00 a.m. mass presided by Fr. Allan T. Rodriguez, Parish Priest and assisted by Rev. John Patrick P. Pelonio and the 12-noon mass presided by Msgr. Edgar P. Labagala. Everyone was in a festive mood, undaunted by the gloomy weather to celebrate the 40th parochial fiesta. The parishioners took their joy outside as they played, sang, and danced together. The successful event was carried out because of the effort made by the Parish Pastoral Council, the Parish Office, different ministries, and the dedicated Gagmayng Kristohanong Katilingban (GKK) servant leaders who longed for this awaited celebration.

This year’s theme: “San Pablo, magtutudlo sa pagkasinodong simbahan” was aptly connected to the working document for the synod’s continental stage titled, “Enlarge the Space of your Tent.” St. Paul was also known as a tentmaker, the passage most often connected to this is in the 18th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. We are reminded of St. Paul’s “…willingness to die to self out of love, finding oneself again in and through relationship with Christ and one’s neighbour” (Working Document for the Continental Stage, page 16, no. 28). Rev. John in his homily shared Saul’s second chance when God turned his life around one hundred and eighty degrees. Fr. Allan also briefly explained the theme before his final blessing, “si San Pablo maantigo magusab sa iyang panglantaw tungod kay konkreto niyang nasinati ang nabanhaw nga Jesus.” In a separate discussion he added, “Paul persecuted the Christians because Jesus did not meet his and the Jews’ expectations. The picture in their mind was far different because they were expecting someone who will deal with the enemies of Israel, a heroic Messiah. It was very clear to Paul and the Jews that Jesus was not the promised Messiah because He died on the cross. However, St. Paul’s ‘Damascus hour’ led him to change his perspective and his radical transformation was proof of the Lord’s resurrection because he too was a witness, ‘last of all he appeared also to me – even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time’ (1 Co 15:8).”

St. Paul’s approach to enlarging the space of the tent was always to engage the people in conversation. He went where people were and evangelized. He welcomed the lost, the least, and the last to the journey. “Paul personally founded more than a dozen Christian communities during his missionary travels, but the members of those communities then went forth to find many more, making Paul not only a spiritual father to many early Christians but also a spiritual grandfather to countless others” (My Catholic Life, The Conversion of St. Paul).

Are you ready to view the horizon from a vantage point? Are you ready to build a tent large enough for the others to join the journey? (Karen V. Sison | Photos: San Pablo Parish FB Page)