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Primary Resources
Primary Grade Activities
"Primary Grade Activity" Answer Key
Biography
A Saint Who Shared the Good News
A Read-Aloud Story
Saint Paul was a great missionary for the Church. A missionary is someone who shares the Good News about Jesus with others. How Paul became a missionary is an exciting story.
Paul’s real name was Saul. He lived a long time ago, when the Church was just beginning to grow. Saul was raised as a Jew. When he was older, he went to Jerusalem to learn more about Jewish teachings. He was true to his faith. He prayed that God would keep his promise to send a Savior to the Jewish people.
Saul learned from the Jewish leaders that some of his people had become followers of Jesus. They believed that Jesus was God’s Son and that he rose from the dead. Saul wanted to stop people from believing in Jesus. The Jewish leaders gave Saul permission to arrest Jesus’ followers. Saul and his friends went from house to house in Jerusalem searching for anyone who believed in Jesus. Jesus’ followers were thrown into prison. Some were even put to death. But no matter how many people Saul arrested, more people began to believe in Jesus and his teachings.
Saul and his friends decided to go to Damascus, another large city where belief in Jesus was growing. They wanted to arrest the believers and to bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. But God had another plan for Saul. One day, on their way to Damascus, a light suddenly flashed from the sky. The light was so bright that it knocked Saul to the ground and blinded him!
Saul heard a voice speaking to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you treating me this way?
Saul asked, “Who are you, sir?
The voice from the sky answered, “I am Jesus. When you hunt my followers down and hurt them, you are hurting me. I want you to believe in me and to teach others about me.”
Saul’s friends led him to a house in the city. After a few days, one of Jesus’ disciples came to visit Saul. The man said, “Saul, Jesus sent me to you.” He placed his hands on Saul’s eyes and healed them. Then the man said, “Get up! Be baptized. Your sins against Jesus will be forgiven and you will be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit helped Saul to believe in Jesus and to change the way he was living. People began to call him “Paul” because he was like a new man. Now he had a new mission—to help others come to know and love Jesus as he did.
Paul traveled to many far-away places. He preached about Jesus. He told people that Jesus showed us how much God loves us. Many people became disciples because of Paul’s teachings about Jesus. Paul helped Jesus’ Church grow in the world. Paul gathered new believers into Christian communities that lived as followers of Christ. When he left a new Christian community to continue his work in other countries, Paul wrote letters to them, reminding them how to live and act with Jesus’ love.
We still read Saint Paul’s letters today. They are in the Bible and we listen to them at Mass. When we hear them, we remember what a great missionary Paul was. Through his letters, Saint Paul is still spreading the Good News about Jesus. We thank God for Saint Paul. We can pray to Saint Paul and ask him to help us grow closer to Jesus. Like Saint Paul, we can be missionaries, too! We can tell others about Jesus and show our love for Jesus by treating our families, friends, and neighbors with love.
Discussion Questions
• What made Saul decide to follow Jesus?
• How did Saint Paul help the Church grow?
• What are two things you can do to show your love for other people?
