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 Why did
Father Isaac Hecker name
the society of priests
he founded the "Paulists?"
After all, we could have
been the "Heckerites"!
Our identity has been
linked from the start
not with our founder but
with one of the earliest
Christian saints. Why
did Father Hecker and
his four companions
choose St. Paul as their
namesake, patron, and
model? Paul possessed at
least three
characteristics that
clearly resonated with
Father Hecker's own
experience:
CONVERSION: As
Saul, Paul was a person
called to conversion.
The vision of Jesus he
encountered on the road
to Damascus shattered
the single-minded
clarity that had ordered
his direction. He
required the guidance of
a Christian named
Ananias to help him
understand the strange
new thoughts and
yearnings that had
entered his heart.
However reluctant and
fearful Ananias may have
been, he welcomed Paul
and confirmed his faith
in the Christ he had
once persecuted. A
convert himself, Father
Hecker was familiar with
the restless yearnings
and stirring that can
lead a person to faith.
He sought to provide
seekers of his own time
with the hospitality and
invitation to conversion
with which Ananias had
greeted the blinded
Saul.
DISCIPLESHIP:
Paul was a disciple.
Conversion became for
him a lifetime of
learning to live in the
light of Christ. This is
no easy task for any
Christian, nor was it
for Paul. His letters
reveal his gratitude for
the friends who walked
the journey with him,
and for the support and
challenge a community of
believers provided. It
seems clear from his
familiarity with the
hymns and common prayers
of his day that he
expressed and
strengthened his
discipleship through
prayer and worship. His
intense outer activity
was fueled by a fire
within. Father Hecker no
doubt read Paul's
letters and discovered a
kindred spirit whose
words evoked his own
desire to live a
spiritual life while
deeply involved in a
world of action. Hecker
urged the Paulists to
be, before all else,
persons of prayer.
APOSTLESHIP: Paul
was an apostle. After
his baptism he spent
nearly every conscious
moment sharing the good
news, using whatever
means of travel and
communication that were
available to him. His
life showed ingenuity,
courage and perseverance
in the face of
frustration and
hardship. Even his
failures, imprisonments
and exiles became
opportunities to bring
the message of Christ to
someone who had not yet
heard it. Father Hecker
must have mined the life
of Paul for lessons of
consolation and
inspiration as he faced
his own triumphs, trials
and disappointments.
During his long years of
illness, Father Hecker
gained the wisdom that
Paul achieved in prison:
that faithfulness is the
greatest testimony to
the gift of faith.
Paulists today live in
the spirit of Paul and
Hecker when we continue
to seek every means we
can imagine to bring the
Gospel to a
spirit-starved world.
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