Tomorrow is the end of the “Year of Paul.” Did you even know we had one? Actually, I confess, this pastor just found out about it. From 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009, the Christian church was supposed to celebrate a commemorative year dedicated to St. Paul, partly to mark the approximately 2000th anniversary of the saint’s birth. Pope Benedict XVI, who proclaimed this special jubilee year and invited the Orthodox and Protestants to join in its celebration, hoped that the “Year of Paul” would inspire others to similar missionary zeal and spirit of sacrifice.

In his sermon establishing this “Year of Paul” that we Protestants somehow managed to miss (the Orthodox Church celebrated it quite a bit), Benedict XVI noted a long‑standing tradition that said Sts. Peter and Paul met near the basilica…