Fr. Terence Moore receives the Jesuit Father Frank Parrish Person of Faith Award

Bussell said Paul was the son of a craftsman/merchant and a Pharisee. His father taught him the sacred language of the Bible. In school, he learned the "Septuagint" translation of the Bible, and Paul’s family spoke Greek in their home. His education was focused on religion, in the Rabbinnical tradition he would have been introduced to the reading of the Torah (the law) at the age of 5. At age 10, he would have been taught the Mishnah, which is to take what you have read in the Torah and speak it from memory.

At age 15, Paul was sent to a temple college in Jerusalem to study under Hillel’s nephew Gamaliel to study Halakah and the Haggada. For us that means courses in canon law, moral theology, dogmatic theology and church history. It is suggested that Saint Stephen may have attended the same school in Jerusalem as Paul, and they may have been classmates.

Then at age 18, Paul would go to the Chuppa (the bridal chamber). Paul never did marry. There were other rabbis who were so absorbed with their religious training and schooling that they did not marry. Paul was devoted to his religion. He memorized the Bible in two languages.

Bussell explained there is a 10-year gap of which there are no records of Paul following college. During these years, Christ redeemed the world on Golgotha. With true Jewish pride and arrogance, Paul had concerned himself little about the carpenter from Galilee. Paul was shocked when a Levite, Joseph of Cyprus, a classmate of his, sold all of his property, apostatized, became a Nazarene, and changed his name to Barnabas. Paul could no longer remain disinterested, the cult of the Nazarene was growing rapidly. It was growing so rapidly that the infant church created a seven-man college to begin teaching of the crucified one. One of the first teachers of this new school was renowned for his knowledge of the Bible, his name was Stephen (Acts 6:5).

The small groups discussions reflected on Saul’s reaction to seeing Stephen killed (Acts 7:52-60). Some said it planted a seed for Saul to become a follower of Christ, others felt he still hated Christians and would continue to persecute them.

The small groups were asked based on the scripture (Acts 9:1-8) if conversion is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The scripture is about Saul on the road to Damascus when he is struck by a light from heaven and knocked to the ground and blinded. It is the beginning of Saul’s conversion when Jesus says to him, ‘Saul, why do you persecute me?’ Saul did not believe in Jesus and thought God was talking to him. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’ The groups all agreed that conversion is an ongoing experience.

There were several scriptures on which the small groups also reflected, but one specific to the retreat was, "Do you know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" The groups determined we are each temples of God. Because we ingest the Eucharist in our bodies, we are like tabernacles and we must keep our bodies pure and free of sin. Because we are sinners, we must go to confession often.

Both the English speaking and the Spanish speaking tracks met for lunch in the St. John the Baptist Elementary School multipurpose room for lunch. Following lunch members of the group blessed each other.

Many said they felt peace after receiving and giving the blessing. Some felt God’s presence. One woman felt humbled having people come to her to ask for a blessing. It was an extraordinary experience.