Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul
First Reading - Acts 22:3-16
Gospel - Mark 16:15-18
The first reading recounts the conversion scene of Saul. The conversion scene of Saul, as narrated in the first reading, is the first-hand experience of Paul when he was far from the truth of recognising Jesus as the Lord and God. Paul recalls the event of his encounter with the risen Christ and asserts the vision as genuine and true. He also recalls the healing he experienced and the mission that he received of sharing his experience with others.
The gospel narrates the last missionary injunction of Jesus to his disciples. He also promises that His Spirit will accompany them in their mission. The proof of his Spirit will be the extraordinary signs that will come about through them, thus by seeing his disciples and listening to them, if people come to recognise Jesus as the Lord they will receive new life of salvation in Jesus; and those who resist will be condemned.
My dear friends, Paul's conversion was the consequence of an extraordinary sign he encountered. That sign also became an occasion of his vocation to bear witness to the person of who once he was deadly against. However, once Paul encountered Jesus in the vision, he was all for him. We may not have experienced such an extraordinary sign to become the disciples of Jesus or witnesses of Jesus but we are given the grace to be born in the believing community of those baptized and commissioned by Christ to be his witnesses. Needless to say, Jesu has assured us of the promise of constant assistance and support through His Spirit to make us confident in Him. The feast underlines some important aspects which we can cull from the readings; firstly, Jesus is reflected in every Christian or rather we can say that Jesus lives in every Christian that's why Jesus tells Saul who was persecuting Christians - why do you persecute me? Jesus associates himself with the believing community or the Christians. It means every believer in Christ represents Christ.
Secondly, every Christian is to become a witness of Jesus to the people so that recognising Jesus as the true God they all may be saved. It's a duty and also our identity as Christians to do so. The Church, from its inception, has been vibrant because it is able to reach out to people in every nook and corner of the world and continues to transform the lives of many people.
Thirdly, we need to remember that before we reach out to others with the message of salvation, we need to prepare ourselves with a life of constant conversion into a new person for Christ peeling away our selfishness, individualism, and the evil in us. Paul was a changed and a new person after he encountered Jesus; it was a conversion into a new person for Christ.
Let's pray that all Christians may become true witnesses of Jesus like Paul.
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