CANTON – The apostle Paul didn’t wait for history to define him. He defined himself in Philippians 3:5-6 as: “circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:5-6).
Father James McKarns personified Paul’s self-description recently at St. Anthony Parish here with his one-man presentation, “An Evening with the Apostle Paul in Person.” The intimate event, attended by about 100 people, was a living history lesson of the 55-year-old apostle’s life, presented during his imprisonment in Rome. Father McKarns stayed in character for a question-and-answer session after the program.
Capped in a black hat and long grey beard and dressed in a short, brown robe, draped with a red, gold and green scarf and adorned with a large golden cross, Father McKarns as Paul highlighted a number of events in the apostle’s life including his conversion, his travels and Paul’s writings. He welcomed the crowd and said he would speak to them as long as the Roman centurion guard would allow.
“God has been good to me,” Father McKarns said while in character. “I have tried to be good to God.”
Pattie Condello Konowal, director of RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) for St. Anthony and All Saints parishes, approached Father McKarns about how he could enhance her program schedule for the year. It was the priest who offered to bring his Paul presentation to St. Anthony.
“Programs like this really put a face to it [the faith],” explained Condello Konowal. “It was just wonderful how he was able to say in character. When you actually start to think that Paul was a person, that he was actually flesh and blood, it puts a different spin on it. It is such a gift to be able to learn about Paul in this way.”
A former pastor of North Canton St. Paul and Catholic Exponent columnist, Father McKarns’ ministry as the apostle Paul was born out of Ohio Chautauqua! first-person historical portrayals of the famous and infamous. Originally, Father McKarns began to do research to personify St. Benedict, but changed his attention to the Apostle of the Gentiles during the year of St. Paul. And although he had information about St. Paul, Father McKarns still found a bit of a learning curve in his research for his role.
“Preparing for this was almost like another course in Scripture,” Father McKarns noted. “I find that people relate to the first-person presentation, rather than my coming in and doing a lecture on St. Paul. It helps the audience appreciate the times in which the character lives. I never dreamt of doing something like this. It’s not really professional but it seems to touch people.”
Father McKarns noted, with a smile, that he might add other first-person historical portrayals to his repertoire in the future.
Ann-Margaret Lambo covers news for the Exponent in Stark and Portage counties