REFLECTIONS TODAY
Gospel • Mark 16:15-18
The Church celebrates the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25, the only one of a kind in the liturgy. There are other “turnabouts” that have left an indelible mark in the history of Christianity — e.g., Emperor Constantine’s “conversion,” or, rather, his acceptance of Christianity as a legal religion; the conversion of Augustine of Hippo; and the revolt/reform of Martin Luther — but none can compare with that of the Apostle to the Gentiles.
In fact, it can be claimed that, apart from the Christ-event itself, no other event has proved so determinant for the course of Christian history as the conversion and commissioning of Paul. Mainly through Paul, the movement that started as a Judaic sect in Palestine soon became a universal religion, confronting the beliefs and mores of the Gentile world, especially of the Greco Roman civilization.
It can be said that it is Paul who most fully responded to the command of Christ in the Gospel: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature” (v 15).
Paul would see the appearance of Jesus to him on the road to Damascus as a call or commissioning. His description of it evokes God’s call of Jeremiah:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (1:5). Paul uses the key terms in narrating his own vocation: “[God], who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles” (Gal 1:15-16).
Paul sees in his call the working of God’s plan to extend his grace to the Gentiles. God accomplished this in his Son Jesus, and Paul is called precisely to bring this good news to those who do not belong to God’s people.
First Reading • Acts 22:3-16 [Or 9:1-22]
Paul addressed the people in these words: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city.
At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there as well.
“On that journey as I drew near to 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?’ The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do.’ Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light, I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus. “A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law, and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me and stood there and said, ‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’ And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.
Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice; for you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard. Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.’”
Source: “365 Days with the Lord 2025,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.