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Intermediate Grade Resources
Intermediate Grade Activity | (En Espanol)
Intermediate Grade Activity Key | (En Espanol)
A Biography of St. Paul (En Espanol)
Christ’s Ambassador
Read the clues below. See how quickly you can identify who I am.
• I was known by a different name before I became a follower of Jesus.
• I was raised in the Jewish faith.
• I was part of a group that persecuted and arrested Christians for their beliefs.
• I was blinded by a bright light.
• After my Baptism, I became a missionary and taught others about Jesus.
• I was shipwrecked on a journey to Rome.
• My letters about living the Christian life are found in the Bible and you often hear them at Mass.Did you guess that my name is Saint Paul? Let me tell you more about my life and how I became know as an ambassador for Christ.
I was born in Tarsus, in the country you now call Turkey. My father, a Roman citizen, named me Saul. My father was a tentmaker, so like him, I learned how to make and repair tents as I was growing up. The Jewish faith was very important to our family. We prayed that God would soon keep his promise to send the Messiah. Because I was a good student and wanted to teach others about our faith, I was sent to Jerusalem to study Jewish law. I followed the laws of my faith exactly and I helped others understand the law so that they could live it, too.
I was happy working as a tentmaker and helping others live as good Jews until I began hearing about a prophet named Jesus who claimed to be the Messiah. People said this man had risen from the dead and that he had worked miracles as a sign that he had been sent by God. I was angry that Jesus’ followers preached in his name and that many of my fellow Jews had become his disciples. I decided that I had to put an end to these false teachings.
With the permission of the Jewish leaders, I began to persecute Jesus’ followers. I demanded that they give up their new faith and if they didn’t, I arrested them. Some were even put to death because they would not turn away from their belief in Jesus. But no matter what I did, more and more people became followers of Christ. They even began to call themselves Christians!
My Conversion
I was on my way to Damascus where belief in Jesus had begun to grow. As I neared the city with my companions, I was struck by a light so bright that it blinded me. I heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”I asked, “Who are you, sir?”
The voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. Go into the city and you will be told what to do.”
My friends took me to a house in the city. I prayed for three days that I would be able to see again. Finally, one of Jesus’ disciples came to visit me. The man told me that Jesus had sent him and that Jesus wanted me to believe in him and to be baptized. He laid his hands on me and I regained my sight. After my Baptism, I was filled with the Holy Spirit. I began to teach about Jesus, telling everyone that Jesus was the Son of God and that they, too, should believe in him. People began to call me Paul as a sign of the new life I received from Christ.
Some of the people who heard me preaching did not trust me. They remembered that I had persecuted Jesus’ followers. Some of my new friends told me that my life was in danger. One night, they helped me escape from Damascus by lowering me over the city walls in a basket.
I traveled back to Jerusalem to meet with the Apostles. At first, they, too, were suspicious about my conversion. But soon Peter and the other Apostles became convinced that I was a true disciple of Christ. Peter and I talked about how we could carry out Jesus’ command to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).
I returned to Tarsus to teach others about Christ, but I did not have much success. The Apostle Barnabas invited me to travel with him to Antioch to spread the Gospel. Many people became believers because of our work there. After several years, news reached us that a famine in Palestine was causing starvation throughout the land. The Christians in Antioch collected money to feed the poor and asked us to deliver the money to Jerusalem. The donations from Antioch were a great help, but the Church in Jerusalem faced another serious danger—the Romans had begun to persecute Christians. Peter decided to send me on a missionary journey.
My Life as a Missionary
During the next twelve years, I made three missionary journeys and established new Christian communities in many cities in the Middle East and parts of Europe. I did not travel alone. Barnabas and other companions were with me to share in the spreading of the Gospel. I repaired tents to support myself. I preached to Jews and Gentiles, people who were not Jewish. At first this caused a problem in our young Church, because Jesus’ first followers, who were Jewish, believed that only Jews could become disciples of Christ. I was called back to Jerusalem to explain my work to the first Church council. During this meeting, called the Council of Jerusalem, it was decided that because Christ had come to save all people, the Church would not require disciples to become Jews before joining the Church. Because of my ministry to non-Jewish people, I became known as the Apostle to the Gentiles.My work was not always easy. I was beaten and jailed several times, but nothing could keep me from sharing my faith in Jesus. I had a great love for the Church communities I established with Christ’s help. I prayed for them constantly and often wrote them letters, called Epistles, to teach and guide them and to correct them when they failed to live as followers of Jesus. My Epistles are now found in the New Testament. You often hear them read at Mass. The Holy Spirit guided my letter writing so that I was able to faithfully and accurately communicate God’s word to the communities I founded and the Church today.
Before I could begin another missionary journey, I was arrested again. I was charged with causing riots. I demanded my right as a Roman citizen to be tried in Rome. After two years in jail, we sailed for Rome. During the voyage, a terrible storm caused our ship to crash on the rocky shores of the island nation of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. When the weather improved, we took another ship to the shores of Italy and then traveled by land to Rome for my trial.
I was placed under house arrest in Rome. During this time, I had the freedom to visit friends and write letters to the Christian communities I established. Then, along with Peter, I was sentenced to death. I died a martyr for my faith in Christ in the year 67. In one of my last letters, I compared my ministry to the sacrifices and discipline needed by a successful athlete. I wrote: “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).
I was honored to be an ambassador for Christ. I was our Lord’s representative for people who had not yet heard the Good News of Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection and God’s loving plan for the salvation of all people. You, too, are called to carry on Christ’s work in the world today as I did. You can best share your faith with others by living as a follower of Jesus. Your example can lead others to Christ.
Discussion Questions
• Why did Saul decide to persecute the followers of Jesus?
• What changed Saul’s life?
• Why was Paul known as the Apostle to the Gentiles?
• Why did Paul write letters to the Christian communities he founded?
• How can you be an ambassador for Christ?
