Pope Benedict's weekly catechesis on the life and times of St. Paul talked of:
In preaching Jesus Christ risen from the dead Paul was concerned to hand down what he himself had received from the Apostles. He proclaims not only the fact of the resurrection, but its' rather significance in Christ who died and rose for us who have been saved and made righteous in the sight of God. The resurrection reveals Jesus' the true identity as the eternal son of God and the Lord of the living and the dead. We for our part are called to be fully configured to Him in the mystery of the passover from the death to life. Our present sufferings become a sharing in Christ own sufferings and death. By the hope of the resurrection even now draws us to the fullness life with all the Saints in his Kingdom. Salvation, Paul tells us, comes from confessing with our lips that Jesus is Lord and believing in our hearts that God raised him from the dead. With the Apostles then, let us strive even more fully in faith and hope to know Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection.
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