Archbishop Celestino Migliore, papal nuncio to the United Nations, delivers the homily during the Mass commemorating the end of the Holy Year of St. Paul at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle June 28.
ENLARGE PHOTO | START SLIDESHOW

The Holy Year of St. Paul the Apostle came to a prayerful and joyous completion as papal nuncio to the United Nations Archbishop Celestino Migliore celebrated Mass commemorating the feast of Ss. Peter and Paul June 28 at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan. The holy year declared by Pope Benedict XVI officially ran from June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009 to commemorate the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of the apostle to the gentiles.

“What have we learned about St. Paul from this holy year?” the archbishop asked during the homily. “The event [in Damascus gave Paul] a totally new vision of life, of his life. … Looking at life with the eyes and mind of Jesus meant everything and everybody looked new to him.

“Jesus trusted Paul with the highest task: to witness to him,” Archbishop Migliore continued. “What can we learn from St. Paul today? Like St. Paul, we can not ignore the forces of culture that challenge us. It is our culture; we need to engage it. … There is no greater gift of love that exists than sharing the truth with others.”

About a dozen Paulist priests were on hand to concelebrate the Mass, including Paulist president Father John F. Duffy. The church of St. Paul the Apostle was founded by Servant of God Father Isaac T. Hecker, CSP, and has continued under the pastoral care of the Paulists for 151 years.

The congregation prayed the Our Father, Apostle’s Creed, Hail Mary and Glorious St. Paul at the end of the liturgy, fulfilling the requirements of a plenary indulgence as the Sacrament of Reconciliation was offered before Mass.

Actress Florenza Lozano performed a dramatic reading of St. Paul’s Letters to the Colossians as part of “An Evening with a Letter of St. Paul.” ENLARGE PHOTO

An indulgence is defined as “the remission of the temporal punishment due to sins already forgiven,” according to Father Ronald Franco, C.S.P., associate pastor of St. Paul the Apostle. “The church’s teaching on purgatory is premised on the fact that there remain remnants of sin to be purged even after the sin itself has been pardoned, and that this process of sanctification may not be fully completed in this life and may therefore require further purgation after death prior to the soul’s full participation in the vision of God.”

A second Mass to end the Holy Year was celebrated that evening at St. Paul, celebrated by Father Jerome Murphy O’Connor, OP, who followed Mass with a talk titled, “The Story of St. Paul.”

In the spirit of ecumenism that defines the Paulist charism, Father Duffy was joined in the chanted vespers of the solemnity of Ss. Peter and Paul by the Episcopal Monks of Holy Cross Monastery on the evening of June 29.

The Masses and vespers were the highlights of an entire weekend of celebrations to end the holy year of St. Paul.

St. Paul the Apostle concluded its series of readings of the letters of St. Paul June 26. The evening included Bach’s “Fegue in E flat” performed by Cleveland Kersh, interim director of music at St. Paul; “The Color of Rain performed by Broadway performer Kevin Greene; dance performed to Vivaldi’s “Concerto D minor” by Shayne Staley and Brandon Mason; Dorsey’s famous “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” sung by Broadway performer Terry Burrell; a reading of the letter of Paul to the Colossians by actress Florencia Lozano; a reflection by St. Paul pastor Father Gilbert Martinez, CSP; with “Comments by Father Isaac Hecker, CSP” performed by actor Adam Kyle Harper.

About 40 pilgrims took part in a religious arts tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters Museum and St. Paul the Apostle on June 28. Later that evening, people filled the Bruno Walter Auditorium of Lincoln Center for the New York premiere of “Testimony,” a documentary film on the life of Pope John Paul II based on the book written by the late pontiff’s longtime assistant, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz.