Biblical scholar Franciscan Father Bill Burton will lead a parish mission on St. Paul at St. Augustine Church in Waikiki, June 8-10.

Pope Benedict XVI declared June 2008-June 2009 the Year of St. Paul in celebration of the 2,000th anniversary of the apostle’s birth. The Year of St. Paul offers a perfect opportunity to take a serious look at this follower of Christ and his amazing letters. St. Paul’s letters can be difficult to understand but they are accessible and promise a deep enrichment of our understanding of our faith.

The three sessions, at 6 p.m. each evening, will look at Paul’s religious convictions and how he emerges from Pharisaic Judaism, the significance of the Hellenistic letter as used by Paul and the seven Pauline letters whose authorship no one disputes.

St. Paul is preeminent among all the authors of the New Testament letters for his influence and power. The mission will explore the tremendous influence St. Paul has had on Christianity.

Father Burton completed his licentiate in Sacred Scripture from The Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome in 1994 and his doctorate in Biblical Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1998.

He is a member of the Catholic Biblical Association, the Society of Biblical Literature and the College Theology Society.

He currently teaches in the Chicago Catholic School of Scripture and offers biblically-based parish missions throughout the country.