Jesus' Mission, Ascension, and the Legacy of Saint Paul

Meeting 5: The Mission of Jesus

Jesus was very clear about his mission. The mission of Jesus was to establish the kingdom of heaven on earth and reveal how much the Father in heaven loves us; free from sin and death to give new life to the children of God. However, this mission was not understood or accepted by all. Many who listened led him to death on the cross. The resurrection marks the success of the mission of Jesus.

The resurrected Jesus gathers the Apostles to continue his mission: all men carry the Father's love and the new life He gives us.

After sending the apostles to preach, he ascended to heaven.

The mission of the apostles is to continue the work he had started.

Since then, the church continues to fulfill the mandate of Jesus, and the bishops and priests sent all of us who are baptized to realize this desire of Jesus.

Meeting 8: Who Was Saint Paul?

St. Paul was born with the name Saul between the year five and year 10 in Tarsus.

Son of Hebrews, as a teenager he was sent to Jerusalem, where he studied under Rabbi Gamaliel. Here, he joined the group of the Pharisees.

Paul was a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth, though presumably, they did not meet in life. After the death of Jesus, around the year 30, groups of followers of Jesus began to form. The then Saul of Tarsus was an active persecutor of these communities. In the year 36, he converted to Christianity. According to the book of Acts, it was thanks to an appearance of Christ, toward the city of Damascus.

Jesus said to Paul himself: "I am Jesus whom you persecute. But rise and stand upright, because I have allowed you to make you see a minister and witness to what you saw and what I will show you yet..." (Acts 26:15-18).

St. Paul carried out his mission of preaching the way of salvation by apostolic journeys, founding and strengthening Christian communities in various provinces of the Roman Empire through which he passed: Galatia, Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia, among others.

He wrote letters to entire communities and unique people. The New Testament has transmitted 14 letters that have their origin in the preaching of Paul: Letter to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, a letter to the Galatians, Letter to the Ephesians, Letter to the Philippians, a letter to the Colossians, two Letters to the Thessalonians, two letters to Timothy, a letter to Titus, a Letter to Philemon and to the Hebrews. Although not easy to date, we can say that most of these letters were written during the decade so far this year 50 to 60 AD.

The missionary journeys of St. Paul were: the 1st between 45 and 48, the 2nd from 50 to 52, and the 3rd from 53 to 58.