STEUBENVILLE, OH— St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians is a letter of joy. And while the meaning of many of Paul’s letters have been debated over the centuries, Dr. Scott Hahn said, “Fortunately, Philippians is just not one of those epistles where there is much real controversy.”

Hahn delved into the message of St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians at the Applied Biblical Studies Conference held July 22-24 at Franciscan University of Steubenville. The epistle was broken down into four chapters, each of which was analyzed by a different speaker: Dr. Michael Barber, Dr. Brant Pitre, Dr. Ted Sri, and Dr. John Bergsma.

Hahn, who holds the Father Michael Scanlan, TOR, Chair of Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization, told the nearly 550 participants, “When you approach Paul’s letters, you’re accustomed to finding a lot of doctrine, and then practical and personal application for living a Christ-like life. Philippians is different. It’s very personal. It seems almost disorganized, but it’s not really. It’s more like a personal letter that you and I would write to people that we’re really proud of but who also need encouragement.

“Paul is also described as the most thoroughly converted man,” Hahn said in his talk, “Epistle of Joy, Apostle of Joy: An Overview of Philippians.” “They say Paul was such a great apostle precisely because Saul was such a fierce persecutor. God simply took all that energy and redirected it, harvesting it for holiness by sending him forth out to the nations to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Dr. Michael Barber, professor of theology and Scripture at John Paul the Great University in California, spoke on “Philippians 1: ‘To Live Is Christ.'”

“St. Paul is inviting the Philippians to give themselves to Christ in emptying their wallets,” Barber said. “Giving was a clear expression of your sacrificial offering to Christ. It’s really easy for us to talk about faith and trust, but the reality hits us when we start applying that to our lives financially. Do we really trust in God, or do we trust in our work, the finances, the money that we have been able to gain through the work of our hands?”

The three-day conference was preceded by Journey Through Scripture, an intense day and half long training in one of three Scripture studies. Participants also attended workshops, prayed the Rosary together, attended Mass, received the Sacrament of reconciliation, and attended a Holy Hour. Praise and worship was led by Franciscan University catechetics professor Bob Rice.

Dr. Brant Pitre, a professor of sacred Scripture at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, presented, “Philippians 2: The Mind of Christ and the Secret of Joy.”

“When we see the humility of Jesus Christ,” Pitre said, “it should make us a little scared. Because if you know yourself even a little bit, you’ll know that we don’t love selflessly like that. We tend to love selfishly.

“The only way you can really get to know who Jesus is, is to climb up on the cross with him and suffer with him, to climb into his wounds and be washed with the blood of his love. So when the suffering comes, we have to have the mind of Christ about our suffering and begin to offer it for others like he did.”

Dr. Ted Sri, professor of theology and vice president of Mission and Outreach at the Augustine Institute in Denver, gave a talk on “Philippians 3: The Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:8).”

“The life of a disciple also is . . . not a one-time choice,” Sri said. “It’s an ongoing relationship, an ongoing process of conversion, of conforming your life ever more to the ways of the Master.”

Sri went on to say, “If we really are giving God everything, emptying ourselves, trusting our lives to him, abandoning our lives to him, then we can experience what Paul calls ‘the great peace that’s beyond all understanding.'”

Dr. John Bergsma, theology professor at Franciscan University, spoke on “Philippians 4: How to Have Joy; Advice From an Apostle.”

“Joy is not incompatible with suffering, and joy is not even incompatible with death,” Bergsma said, adding that Paul wrote the joy-filled epistle while going through a time of suffering. “Don’t give in to sadness. It is an ally of the enemy.”

“Thanksgiving is an essential part of our prayer,” Bergsma said. “Gratitude builds our faith because if we look back into the past, we see how God has been faithful to us in the past, answered prayers, and provided for us again and again.”

The conference ended with Kimberly Hahn’s presentation, “The Joy of the Lord Is My Strength,” and the celebration of Mass with Bishop Ronald W. Gainer of Harrisburg as the main celebrant.

This year, Franciscan University offered 5 adult, 2 young adult, and 21 youth conferences in 13 states and 2 Canadian provinces. For complete conferences information, visit www.steubenvilleconferences.com.