Feast of conversion of Paul
“It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” These inspiring words came from a person who
at one point was the number one enemy of Christianity. But on the road to Damascus, all of that
changed. He saw a bright and heard a
voice that says: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul responded: Who are you, sir? The voice replied: I am Jesus the Nazaroean whom
you are persecuting.
From this experience,
Saul soon understood three things: 1) Jesus is the one whom the prophets have
been speaking about. Remember that Saul
was a Pharisee, a teacher of the law. He
was not a Sadducee, or a priest of the temple.
In addition, Sadducees do not believe in the resurrection. Saul was familiar with the Jewish TaNaK,
which is the law, the prophets and writings.
For Saul, his zeal for attempting to end Christianity was rooted in
sound Jewish Doctrine. Christians are in
violation of the written and oral law because they treat a human person, Jesus,
as equal to the Jewish God, YHWH. (out
of respect for God, the Jews do not mention the name of God, but only to
substitute it with the word Adonai which means Lord. Therefore, at that time, Saul believed that
he was doing the right thing, and he justified his actions based on sound
Jewish Doctrine.
Secondly, from the
Damascus experience, many people refer to it as a conversion. It is not really a conversion in the sense
that he changed from one religion to another, like he was Jewish and then he became
Catholic. This experience was life
changing for Saul because Jesus, who was crucified, was now alive and speaking directly
to him. This was an epiphany for Saul; because
of Jesus, it’s kind of like finding the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Everything fits together perfectly in the
sense of Prophecies, Covenant and Law.
Saul of Tarsus begins to devote his life to speaking about Jesus to all
who would listen. Even when removed from
the Jewish Synagogues didn’t prevent him from proclaiming the risen Christ to
the non-Jewish people. Saul says: I
proclaim Christ Crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to the
gentiles. Paul’s message was that the
person who died on the cross was the same person that confronted and spoke to him
on the road of Damascus. That person doesn’t
remain dead, but he is alive. And Those
who follow him will also find themselves in a similar place.
Thirdly, from the Damascus experience, Jesus mysteriously identified
himself with the followers of the way, the same group of people that Saul was
actively pursuing. The voice says: I am
Jesus the Nazorean, the one whom you are persecuting. In other words, Saul didn’t even know that he
was persecuting Jesus. How could he
since Saul probably has never met Jesus.
And he understood that what he did to Christ’s church, he did to Christ. There was no separation. From it, he spoke in Corinthians 12, that
although we are many parts, we are one body of Christ, each with a special role
to pray, preach, to serve Christ through word and action. Each has been given a gift, and although
there are many gifts, there is only one Holy Spirit. No one was created by accident. Everyone has been given a purpose for the
glory of God.
Today, the Church throughout the world honors and recognizes
the tireless efforts of Saul of Tarsus, who now identifies himself as Paul the
Apostle of Christ to the Gentiles.
Thanks to him, many have come to know, believe and serve Christ. St Paul, pray for us that your efforts will continue to bear fruit for the risen
Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment