Tuesday January 25

Tuesday of 3rd Week in Ordinary Time

 

Conversion of St. Paul – Feast

Paul’s conversion must have been a tremendous change of mentality for him, a real conversion. Not only did a Jew who became a Christian at the same time become an outcast to his people, as he was considered a renegade, a traitor, but Paul had also been a rabbi, a Pharisee, a rabid persecutor of Christians.

And now, he follows Jesus. Christ has become his life. Like his Lord, he sits at table with sinners and tax collectors and pagans. From now on, his life is given to Christ and his kingdom, a community in which there is no more distinction between Greek and barbarian, between slaves and free citizens, between men and women, and especially between Jew and non-Jew.

 

Reading: Acts 22:3-16

I’ve always been passionately on God’s side, just as you are right now.

 “I went after anyone connected with this ‘Way,’ went at them hammer and tongs, ready to kill for God. I rounded up men and women right and left and had them thrown in prison. You can ask the Chief Priest or anyone in the High Council to verify this; they all knew me well. Then I went off to our brothers in Damascus, armed with official documents authorizing me to hunt down the followers of Jesus there, arrest them, and bring them back to Jerusalem for sentencing.

 “As I arrived on the outskirts of Damascus about noon, a blinding light blazed out of the skies and I fell to the ground, dazed. I heard a voice: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?’

 “‘Who are you, Master?’ I asked.

“He said, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, the One you’re hunting down.’ My companions saw the light, but they didn’t hear the conversation.

 “Then I said, ‘What do I do now, Master?’

“He said, ‘Get to your feet and enter Damascus. There you’ll be told everything that’s been set out for you to do.’ And so we entered Damascus, but nothing like the entrance I had planned—I was blind as a bat and my companions had to lead me in by the hand.

 “And that’s when I met Ananias, a man with a sterling reputation in observing our laws—the Jewish community in Damascus is unanimous on that score. He came and put his arm on my shoulder. ‘Look up,’ he said. I looked, and found myself looking right into his eyes—I could see again!

 “Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has handpicked you to be briefed on his plan of action. You’ve actually seen the Righteous Innocent and heard him speak. You are to be a key witness to everyone you meet of what you’ve seen and heard. So what are you waiting for? Get up and get yourself baptized, scrubbed clean of those sins and personally acquainted with God.’

 

Gospel: Mark 16:15-18

Jesus said to the Eleven, “Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all. Whoever believes and is baptized is saved; whoever refuses to believe is damned.

 “These are some of the signs that will accompany believers: They will throw out demons in my name, they will speak in new tongues, they will take snakes in their hands, they will drink poison and not be hurt, they will lay hands on the sick and make them well.”

 

Prayer

Lord our God, Father of all
let our celebration today
of the conversion of St. Paul
become for us too, a deep experience
of conversion and encounter with you.
Let this feast make us more aware
that whatever evil we do to others,
we do to you
and the good we do, the love we show,
we give also to you.
Like St. Paul, make us love everyone.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

A different way of being near

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the conversion of Saint Paul and today is also the last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The Gospel brings us the Mission Mandate of the Risen Christ for our reflection, prayer and action.

Saul’s conversion story serves as an eye-opener for us today. Saul was a zealous Jew, so passionate about his faith and was willing to give everything for his religious convictions and traditions. This was indeed something good and admirable. The Old Testament stories hail people of such faith. The only trouble with Saul was his sense of religious fanaticism to the extent that anyone who differs from the Jewish faith and practices does not deserve to live.

It is not difficult to find ‘Sauls’ in our Church and communities today, not in any bad sense at all. They are so passionate about certain convictions and practices and hold fast to their belief that they are the custodians of truth. Over the centuries, the Church has developed a Catechism that is based on the Sacred Scripture, the Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. This is intended to help the faithful to grow in love for the Lord and the Church. But when we scrupulously stick to the rules and regulations, without concerns for charity and justice, our catechism and liturgy become counterproductive and drive people away from Jesus, instead of drawing them closer to him. I remember a beautiful piece of advice from a professor in Liturgy. He said, “Liturgy without charity is a sin”, Truth without love becomes brutality.

Feast of the Conversion of Saul into Paul reminds us to do away with our own bits of fanaticisms. It calls for a conversion from our stiff-necked behaviour, conversion from our religious fanaticism. We need the light of Christ to illumine our eyes of faith, to accept the differences in the other and to love them with all their disparities. Can the Christians in different denominations come around one table to pray, praise and share the Word of God, and together profess our faith in the one Lord?

Every believer of Christ shares in the Mission of Christ: to go out to the whole world and to announce the good news to every creature. The Good News is “Jesus is near”. He was killed, but he rose from the dead and he lives with us every day, every moment. This is the good news that we carry to people: “You are not alone, the Lord is with you!” Let our lives be a sign for our brothers and sisters for the presence of God in their lives.

 

Video available on Youtube : A different way of being near