Reflections on the readings for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle (January 25, 2022): ACTS 22:3-16; PS 117:1-2; MK 16:15-18
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At the moment that Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus that his beliefs were transformed and his whole life changed.
This feast day is an unusual one because it commemorates a singular event in the life of an extraordinary saint. St. Paul was not only a faithful Jew but also extremely zealous in upholding the law of God as handed down from Moses. But the devotion of Saul, as he was then known, led him to oppose what he considered a to be a dangerous new sect whose members followed Jesus of Nazareth. As we hear is his own words recounted by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, Paul was traveling with letters for the arrest of those who embraced the Way of Christ. “As I drew near Damascus, about noon, a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ I replied, ‘Who are You, Sir?’ And He said to me, “I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’ My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. I asked, ‘What shall I do, Sir?’” (Acts 22:6-10) Jesus then sends Paul, who had been blinded, to a devout Christian who helps him and arranges for his baptism. Paul then spends time learning about Jesus and preparing for his new vocation -- as a missionary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
At the moment that Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus that his beliefs were transformed and his whole life changed. Our Lord accused him of persecuting Him, not His only followers but Christ Himself. Paul had never met Jesus, yet because he hated and attacked those who had faith in Him, He was being persecuted. After that momentous event, all Paul’s thoughts, energy, and whole spirit was focused on serving Christ Crucified and Risen. He would go on to share the gift of faith that he had received in such a miraculous manner with as many people as possible. Only in this way was he able to reciprocate the love of Jesus that had become the essence of his entire life. St. Paul became the greatest missionary of the early Church as well as helping to shape the Catholic faith we embrace today.