The Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle (Feast)

Today we recall on how Saul of Tarsus, a zealous persecutor of the early followers of Jesus. the early Christian Church. How he was led by God's grace to become one of Christ apostle's known as Paul, a follower and missionary of the crucified and risen Christ. Later Paul understood his conversion was meant primarily to bring Christ to the Gentiles, for he says, “When he who had set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his son to me, in order that I might preach him among the nations’, (Galatians 1:15). Paul becomes the greatest champion of the faith and is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Paul's letters recorded in New Testament to the churches and individuals, he had founded on his journey contains his understanding of who Jesus Christ is and the importance of the death and resurrection of Christ.

As we honour the great apostolic energy Paul brought to early Christianity, we also pray that his creative zeal and his openness to seeing things with fresh eyes will not be lost in our Church leadership of today.

O God, by the preaching of your apostle Paul 

you have caused The light of the Gospel 

to shine throughout the world. 

Grant, we pray, that we, 

having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show ourselves thankful to you 

by following his holy teaching; 

through Jesus Christ our Lord, 

who lives and reigns with you, 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God, now and for ever. 

AMEN.

Saturday, 25 January, 2014
The Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle (Feast)

Reading

Acts 22: 3 - 16
3	"I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cili'cia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gama'li-el, educated according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as you all are this day.
4	I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women,
5	as the high priest and the whole council of elders bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brethren, and I journeyed to Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.
6	"As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me.
7	And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, `Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'
8	And I answered, `Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me, `I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.'
9	Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.
10	And I said, `What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, `Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.'
11	And when I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.
12	"And one Anani'as, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
13	came to me, and standing by me said to me, `Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And in that very hour I received my sight and saw him.
14	And he said, `The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Just One and to hear a voice from his mouth;
15	for you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard.
16	And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'

Psalm

Psalms 117: 1 - 2
1	Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
2	For great is his steadfast love toward us; and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever. Praise the LORD!

Gospel

Mark 16: 15 - 18
15	And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
16	He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
17	And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
18	they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

"Turning now to ourselves, let us ask what this means for us. It means that for us too Christianity is not a new philosophy or a new morality. We are only Christians if we encounter Christ. Of course, he does not show himself to us in this overwhelming, luminous way, as he did to Paul to make him the Apostle to all peoples. But we too can encounter Christ in reading Sacred Scripture, in prayer, in the liturgical life of the Church. We can touch Christ's Heart and feel him touching ours. Only in this personal relationship with Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One do we truly become Christians. And in this way our reason opens, all Christ's wisdom opens, as do all the riches of truth. 

Therefore let us pray the Lord to illumine us, to grant us an encounter with his presence in our world, and thus to grant us a lively faith, an open heart and great love for all, which is capable of renewing the world."

~ Pope Benedict XVI ~

Wednesday Audience

3 September, 2008