We celebrate today the feast of St. Paul’s conversion.

Saul, the persecutor of the

early Christian movement is on his way to Damascus to capture those who follow

Christ’s teachings there and to bring them back to Jerusalem “...entering house after

house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts

8:3b). But something extremely odd takes place as Saul nears Damascus ready to wreak

vengeance on the community of followers of Christ (or the “Way” as he refers to it). He

is struck to the ground by a blinding light. He then hears a voice, “Saul, Saul, why are

you persecuting me?” Blind and frightened he asks, “Who are you, sir?” The reply

comes, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 9:5).

He is directed to continue on to Damascus and to find a person named Ananias.

Ananias cured Saul’s blindness and counseled him to be baptized in the name of Christ;

and the rest is, to say the least, Christian history. “Saul” was shed in Damascus and an

entirely new person “Paul” took his place – the product of God’s transforming grace that

brought about Saul-to-Paul, a persecutor of “the Way” to its chief apostle in bringing the

Way to all people.

The conversion of St. Paul is indeed one of the most touching miracles in the

history of the early Church for this is an event where Jesus clearly identified himself with

persecuted people - the group of people have professed to live in truth and justice and

whom Saul had been running down like criminals. In an attempt to make up for all his

wrongdoings, Paul decides to devote his whole life to the service of God and humanity by

tirelessly proclaiming and living out of Christ’s message of love: “… In all these things

we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor

powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the

love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39).

The feast shows us how faith comes from grace and from one’s cooperation. It is

likewise an invitation to consider our own conversion which for most of us may be less

dramatic, but nonetheless transformative. Each one of us is called to be a true witness of

God: an apostle/disciple in our world just as Paul was called to his.