On the pathways of Sts. Paul and John

Saint Paul, “Apostle to the Gentiles,” traveled 10,000 miles by land and more by sea to spread the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire. Saint John was the sole apostle present at Jesus’ crucifixion; it was there that Christ entrusted care of His mother to “the Beloved Disciple.” Paul and John played pivotal roles in the formation and expansion of the early Church. 

The late Scripture expert Albert McShane contrasted the ministry of the two: John was called by Jesus at the start of Christ’s three-year ministry, Paul after it was over. John was a fisherman, Paul a scholar. John preached to the Jews, Paul to the Gentiles. John was exiled to the island of Patmos; Paul was imprisoned in Rome. John is traditionally credited with writing the distinctive fourth Gospel, three epistles, and the Book of Revelation. Paul is traditionally credited with writing more than half of the New Testament.

The two are worthy examples for Legatus members to learn from, said internationally acclaimed author-speaker Father Leo Patalinghug, who is leading a Legatus-sponsored private yacht cruise and pilgrimage in the footsteps of John and Paul. The pilgrimage will feature stops in the Greek Isles, including Patmos; the Turkish coast, including Ephesus; and the ancient Greek cities of Athens and Corinth — all of which figure strongly in the books of the New Testament. The trip departs by air from New York to Athens on July 24 and returns Aug. 3. 

“Saint Paul is a true ambassador, which is very connected to the whole Legatus mission,” Patalinghug said. “Paul was the true legate of the Gospel outside of Rome and Jerusalem — in other words, to the world.”

PAUL’S MISSION 

About half of the Acts of the Apostles is about Paul, who was a Jew (his Hebrew name was Saul) and a Roman citizen. Born in Tarsus (in modern-day Turkey) about A.D. 5, Paul was a former Pharisee and persecutor of the early Christians. He underwent a radical conversion when the Risen Christ appeared to him in a blinding light on the road to Damascus, after which he became a zealous missionary for Christ. 

Paul undertook three arduous missionary journeys that took him through Israel, Greece, Syria, Turkey, and other places not found on today’s maps. He evangelized by preaching, by establishing churches, and through his pastoral letters for which he is renowned.

In Athens, Paul preached about Jesus at the synagogue and the marketplace. Noting the natural religiosity of the people who worshiped many gods, including “an unknown god,” he proclaimed at the Areopagus (High Court) that Jesus, although “unknown” to them, is the true God. While some rejected the gospel message, others, including Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, became Christian that day. From Athens, Paul went to Corinth. Opposed by the Jews there, he focused on reaching Gentiles. 

“Paul teaches us how to be bold and gentle,” Patalinghug said. “How to be incredibly committed to the faith but also flexible in teaching Christianity to a hostile environment. He is an incredibly good example for Legatus members.”

Scholars credit Paul’s missionary efforts as the reason Christianity spread so far so quickly. He endured being hungry, humiliated, beaten, stoned, imprisoned, and shipwrecked. 

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith,” Paul wrote as he anticipated his death (2 Tim 4:7). Tradition maintains he was beheaded under the emperor Nero about A.D. 64.

JOHN THE REVELATOR

Saint John, his brother James, and Peter were the disciples closest to Jesus and privileged witnesses to key events in Christ’s ministry. John sat next to Jesus at the Last Supper and rested his head upon His breast.

“Saint John is the revelator,” Patalinghug said, referring to the apostle’s apocalyptic Book of Revelation as well as his eponymous Gospel, which reveals God as a “divine family.” “His prophecy (in Revelation) should scare heaven into us. It should put the fear of God into every Christian.”

Tradition holds that John wrote Revelation while in exile on Patmos, where he had been banished after narrowly escaping martyrdom. Tradition also suggests that sometime after the Council of Jerusalem, about A.D. 50, John took Jesus’ mother Mary to Ephesus, where he built her a home. The Cave of the Revelation and Mary’s home are among the sites pilgrims may visit on the Legatus tour.

“Legatus members are urged to have a relationship with the Blessed Mother,” noted Patalinghug, who holds a degree in Mariology and has led pilgrimages for 25 years. John, he said, models “how to be an adopted son of the Virgin Mary.” 

The history of Ephesus, an ancient Greek city now part of Turkey, is marked by the evangelism of both John and Paul. Ephesus is where John wrote the fourth Gospel, according to tradition, and where he led the local church until he died in his 90s around A.D. 100. Paul ministered in Ephesus for three years, and one of his letters is addressed to the Ephesians. 

John was the only apostle not to die a martyr’s death.

“Little children, love one another,” was the sole message John preached in his frail, final years, according to an anecdote shared by St. Jerome, who lived in the fourth and fifth centuries. Asked why he shared no other lesson, John would reply, “Because it is the word of the Lord, and if you keep it, you do enough.”

TO CORINTH, WITH LOVE

Corinth was among the most prosperous cities of Greece thanks to the commerce brought by its harbors in both the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. Destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C., Julius Caesar rebuilt the city in 46 B.C. By the time St. Paul visited Corinth nearly a century later in A.D. 51, Corinth was again flourishing as a center of luxury and wealth as well as natural beauty. Its large Jewish community coexisted with a considerable pagan presence and considerable moral decadence.

In Corinth, Paul met Aquila and Priscilla, a Jewish couple and fellow tent-makers, whom Paul lived and worked with (Acts 18:1-3). Paul would preach in the synagogue and win many converts, including synagogue leader Crispus and his household (Acts 13:8). Others, annoyed by Paul’s success, opposed Paul so vehemently that he finally left the synagogue. Soon Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia to join Paul in his ministry, and Paul continued his missionary travels to preach to the Gentiles in earnest.

In 18 months at Corinth, Paul had formed a large community of Christians. The converts were many, though clearly not without difficulties. Corinth’s continuing moral depravity constantly threatened the Christian community. Paul’s two epistles to the Corinthians exhort them to unity and brotherly love and rebuke their failings. It is in his first letter to Corinth that he wrote his memorable essay on love (“Love is patient, love is kind….”), closing with his profound and oft-quoted statement: “So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13).