More on Saint Paul

Last Wednesday - I'll try to keep up with these in the future - His Holiness concluded his reflections on the life of Saint Paul, a figure he says was marked with a "spirited determination."

"History shows us that one reaches Christ normally through the Church!," said the Holy Father. The same is true for Paul, though in a roundabout way: he discovered Christ while persecuting the Church. "Paul converted then, at the same time, to Christ and the Church."

Pope Benedict XVI devoted most of his address to Saint Paul's understanding of the Church, most notably as the "body of Christ" (cf. I Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12; 5:30; Colossians 1:24).

The Holy Father noted:

With all this Paul leads us to understand that not only is there a belonging of the Church to Christ, but also a certain form of equivalence and identification of the Church with Christ himself. It is from here, therefore, that the greatness and nobility of the Church derives, that is, of all of us who are part of it: Our being members of Christ, is almost as an extension of his personal presence in the world. And from here follows, naturally, our duty to really live in conformity with Christ.

Think about that the next time you want to whop the shopper who places their cart right between you and the items you are clearly investigating!