By Dr. Scott Hahn

Was St. Paul converted or called?  Some years ago, the Harvard New Testament scholar Krister Stendahl asked that question, and in a justly famous essay he argued against conversion and in favor of vocation. 

Saul of Tarsus, he contended, did not change religions after he was struck down on the road to Damascus. He had been a Pharisee, whose entire life was motivated by the expectation of Israel’s messiah.

When Saul met Jesus, he simply recognized that Israel’s expectation had already been fulfilled, the messiah had come. There was no need for him to abandon the religion of Israel—but simply to redirect his zeal.

Of course, this came at no small cost and no small risk. It was a career-killer for him as a Pharisee. And then there were the afflictions and hardships beyond counting—calamities, beatings, floggings, stoning, imprisonment, shipwreck, hunger.

Paul’s example of sacrifice convicts me, as I try to discern the future of the St. Paul Center. This month, May 2008, we are in the Church’s final weeks of preparation for history’s first-ever “Year of St. Paul.”

This spring, we  begin counting down the weeks until the Church’s historic synod in October on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.”

I cannot imagine two events in the Catholic world that better exemplify our mission of the St. Paul Center. For me, it’s as if Christ—through His vicar on earth—is speaking from heaven, confirming a call to you and to me.

I have resolved to recognize this historic moment for what it is: unique and unlikely ever to be repeated. And I have resolved to correspond to this moment—our moment—as St. Paul responded to his.

At recent meetings with the Center’s board and staff, I’ve shared my conviction. And together we have prayerfully decided to step out in faith this year. We have doubled the number of conferences we will sponsor. We have placed ourselves at the service of the U.S. bishops as they prepare for the autumn synod in Rome. We have committed ourselves to producing new Bible studies and publications—including a new book on the “Catholic St. Paul.”

We have always been modest, and conservative in our growth. We’ve never allowed ourselves to sound an alarm. We’ve never come to you begging and pleading that we’re in trouble. And we’re not going to start now.

But we have stepped out in faith, and we’re asking you to do the same. We’ve always begged you for your prayers. We’ve always appreciated your encouraging words and your financial contributions. Well, never have we needed them as we do right now!

Our commitments for 2008 represent a 42% increase in our programs budget and an even larger increase in our apostolic work. We don’t want to put God to the test, nor you, our benefactors. But we do want to rise to the challenge of this unique moment in history. We have been called. We want to respond with the fidelity that raised our patron up from the dust of that Damascus road—and propelled him on the most amazing mission ever.