JOURNEY WITH ST. PAUL:

  AT-HOME ACTIVITY

PAUL’S JOURNEY BEGINS…ON THE ROAD FROM JERUSALEM TO DAMASCUS

1. To see why Paul was on that road to Damascus, read Acts 9:1-20.  The distance from Jerusalem to Damascus was about 135 miles, several days journey on horseback. Take a look at a Map of Israel at time of Jesus and find Jerusalem (middle to lower left) and Damascus (upper right). Look at the rivers and mountains Paul would have traveled.

a. JERUSALEM

For a current look at the old city of Jerusalem, which gives a flavor of what it was like in the time of Paul, click here. The World Heritage Tour has some wonderful panoramas that can be viewed.

b. DAMASCUS

Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the entire world. For the World Heritage panoramic tour of the areas of ancient Damascus, click here.

2. After Paul became a Christian he spent time in various places, first learning about Jesus, then preaching about him, and at times facing a lot of opposition to what he was doing. Click here to take a look at Paul's earliest journeys.

Question for Reflection: What gave Paul the courage and strength to go from persecuting Christians to being one of the Church’s most vocal defenders?  Adults: Think about a time or event in your life that changed you or marked you, that you can remember today as vividly as when it happened.  Teens: Is there anything that people do sincerely and wholeheartedly but in the end hurt rather than help people?   Children: Why do you think Jesus wanted Paul to change what he was doing?

Write on the back of the ship labeled “Jerusalem and Damascus” Jesus' word to Paul on that road to Damascus: "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting" and then continue your journey with St. Paul.

PAUL: ANTIOCH AND TARSUS

1. Before Paul began his great missionary journeys he spent some years in Tarsus, his home town, and Antioch, the place where followers of Jesus were first called “Christians”.  To read about this see Acts 11:19-26.

2.  Click here to get a sense of where Tarsus and Antioch were located from a current aerial map. You might want to look our map of the Mediterranean area before doing so. Get a sense of where these two cities are, so that once the map link opens, you can move it eastward to Europe and the Middle East. Take a look at all the geographical features that Paul would have dealt with in his travels. Zoom in on the appropriate area one step at at time to get a sense of the geography that Paul had to travel through.

3. Tarsus was Paul’s city of birth, a Roman city, and so Paul was a citizen of the Roman empire.  Here is a link to some of the more famous artistic images of Paul ( Saul was his Jewish name, Paul his Roman name). Click on several of the images of St. Paul and look at them and think about what characteristics of Paul the artist was trying to capture. .For a brief video overview of Paul's life click here. After viewing the images and the video, go to the reflection question below.

Question for Reflection: What do you think Paul was like as a person? Think about what he might have been like as a dinner guest or in conversation? Which image of St. Paul do you like and why? On the back of the ship marked "Tarsus and Antioch", write down one quality you think Paul had and which you admire, and then continue your journey with St. Paul.

GALATIA

1. Who were the Galatians? Click here and read the first three paragraphs . Why was Paul in Galatia?  Read Galatians 4:12-14. Can you think of something in your own life that didn't work out as you planned but ended up a real blessing?

2. This letter gives Paul's most detailed account of his conversion in his own words. Read Galatians 1:11-2:10. Notice how he is very defensive about his own independent role as an apostle.

3. For St. Paul, to be baptized is to be living "in Christ". Read Galatians 3:26-29.  Then answer the question below.

Question for Reflection: After reading Galatians 3.26-29 think about today’s world. Where is there too much division and conflict today that Christ would want to heal? In Paul's day it was between free people and slaves, Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews), males and females. What about today? Write something on the back of the ship marked “Galatia” and continue your journey with St. Paul.

COLOSSAE AND EPHESUS

1.  These two communities were located about  100 miles apart.  Two letters attributed to St. Paul are written to these communities. Because of their similar themes, they were probably written around the same time. To read about Paul's time in Ephesus read Acts of the Apostles 19:1-12.

a. COLOSSAE

• To read what happened to this ancient city, click here.
• Onesimus is mentioned in Colossians 4:9 and in Paul's Letter to Philemon. Read the Letter to Philemon and think about how amazing the Christian gospel must have been for especially the lowly.  One could be a slave like Onesimus and yet a co-worker with the apostles and so to be treated with the dignity and respect of a "brother or sister in the Lord."

 

b. EPHESUS

• In Christian tradition, Mary the mother of Jesus lived for many years in Ephesus.  To view the traditional site, click here.
• The beginning of the letter to the Ephesians has a typical Paul greeting to one of his Churches. Read Ephesians 1:1-2. Notice that the "saints" (or "holy ones") refer to the Christians who are alive and part of the community of faith, not to deceased saints.

Question for Reflection: Think about St. Paul's greeting "grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus" compared to our typical "Hi, how are you?"  Write that greeting on the back of the ship marked "Ephesus and Colossae" and continue the journey with St. Paul.

PHILIPPI

1.  Take a look at ancient Philippi and read about its history before and during the time of Paul.

2.  Read Philippians 1:3-11 to see what love and affection Paul had for that community of Christians. He is probably writing them from his imprisonment in Rome, trying to encourage them.

3.  The most famous passage from the letter to the Philippians is chapter 2, verses 1-11.  Read this passage and then go to the Reflection Question below.

Question for Reflection: Try to name one concrete behavior or situation you will work on either as an individual or as a family by looking out "not for one's own interests but for the interests of everyone else."  Write that behavior or situation on the back of the ship marked "Philipi" and continue the journey with St. Paul. 

THESSALONICA

1. To read about this city click here.

2. Two letters were written to the Christians in Thessalonica.  The first is considered the earliest letter we have of St. Paul and the earliest book written in the New Testament.

3. Meditate on the 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 by reading that passage slowly, out loud.  Then read it again, even slower, stopping after each phrase and letting the words sink in. Finally, read it a third time slowly and spend a couple of minutes in silent prayer, letting the words of St. Paul speak to your heart.

Question for Reflection: Each person shares one phrase from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 which caught their attention.  Write at least one of those phrases on the back of the ship marked "Thessalonica" and continue your journey with St. Paul.

CORINTH AND ATHENS

1. Back in St. Paul's time Athens was no longer the center of Greek politics and culture.  Rome had transferred that distinction to Corinth. But it was still the city of the philosophers and scholars and Paul tries to convince them of the Christian faith but was not very successful. Read about his encounter in Athens in Acts 17:16-33.

2.  Corinth was one of the most notorious cities in the Roman empire, in the time of St. Paul.  Explore some of the images of ancient Corinth, especially the remnant of the synagogue there, where Paul probably preached about Jesus Christ. Click on Strabo to read what the city was like from the writings of an author who lived near the time of Christ.

3.  Two of St. Paul’s longest letters were addressed to the Christians in Corinth.  They cover many topics, but clearly there is a lot of turmoil going on. Read  1 Corinthians 1:10-12. And then look at Paul's response to such division in 1 Corinthians 1:23-29--focusing on the cross of Christ and boasting only in that and never in our own status.

4. Perhaps the most famous passage in all of Paul's writings is addressed to the Christians at Corinth. Read  St. Paul's ode to Christian love in 1 Corinthians 13 and then look at the question below.

Question for Reflection: St. Paul is not talking about romantic love but of Christ's love put into concrete practice. He mentions what love is and is not.  After reading Paul's ideas, add your own. Finish the sentences "Love is..." and "Love is not..." with your own adjectives. Write some of them on the back of the ship marked "Corinth and Athens" and continue your journey with St. Paul.

ROME

1. Paul was buried just outside the walls of Rome at the time. Christians erected a shrine at that spot and today there stands the basilica St. Paul Outside the Walls. Explore some of that history at the Vatican's website on St. Paul Outside the Walls.    While at that website, you can also click on the tab "St. Paul" for a very good overview of all that we are exploring here. To read about recent excavations of what the Vatican believes to be the actual tomb of St. Paul, click here.

2. Because St. Paul was a citizen of the Roman empire, when he was arrested, he had the prerogative to appeal to Rome and be tried in Rome.  Read Acts 25:8-12 to hear Paul's appeal.

3.  The letter to the Romans is filled with many theological topics.  Read Romans 8:28-39 and then go to the reflection question below.

Question for Reflection:  Discuss how God make all things work for the good, even when life doesn't go as we planned.  Think about situations that are challenging for you as a family or individual now. Write on the ship marked "Rome", "Nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord".  End by praying the Holy Year Prayer in honor of St. Paul:

"Glorious St. Paul, most zealous Apostle,
Martyr for the love of Christ,
Give us a deep faith, a steadfast hope,
A burning love for our Lord, so that we can proclaim with you:
'It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.'
Help us to become apostles, serving the Church with a pure heart,
With whom we praise God, our Father,
'To Him be the glory,
in Christ and in his Church,
now and forever.' Amen. "

If this is your last city to visit, bring the ships with the cities you have visited to the parish office so they can be placed on the large map of St. Paul's journeys. If you have more cities to visit, then continue the journey with St. Paul.