By Sr Lini Sheeja MSC
There was once a man who was behind the followers of Jesus in hot pursuit. His name was Saul. He was sure that everything people were saying about Jesus was wrong. He didn’t believe Jesus had risen from the dead. He was so sure he was in the right that he hated and even killed the people who believed in Jesus. But God wanted Saul to work for him, to spread the news of Jesus. One day when Saul was on a journey on horseback to arrest the followers of Jesus at Damascus, God sent a bright beam of light to shine upon him. The light was so bright that it blinded him and made him fall to the ground (Acts 9:1-19).The road to Damascus is a symbol of the radical transformation that can occur to a person.
Damascus is where Paul, a tent maker who hated the Christians, was blinded by the light from heaven and was transformed until his baptism in the Barada River. He was healed of his blindness and baptized by Ananias of Damascus. The Journey of a missionary which started on the road to Damascus ended in Rome as a Martyr. God who chose Paul from his mother’s womb anointed him as the Apostle of the Gentiles. Saul, a strong man, was made weak on the road to Damascus and from that frailty, God made him a stalwart in the faith to die for Him who called him. Saul wanted to kill, but God wanted to save. Saul wanted to destroy, but God wanted to restore and finally God wanted a Saul to become a Paul – from questioning to Amen.
The Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle is a feast celebrated during the liturgical year on 25 January, recounting the conversion. This feast is celebrated in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches.
Murderer to Martyr
Saul who killed the followers’ of Jesus became a martyr for Christ after becoming Paul. The meaning of Saul is ‘question’ and the meaning of Paul is small/humble. God chose a great intellectual from the Jewish community to become small/humble to live and die for him. Paul was not merely a man of great intellect but one of heartfelt emotions, especially for his fellow Jews and God knew that this intellectual man would die for Him by becoming small. Before encountering the risen Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul was large, in charge, and very much in control of his world. He was clearly the authority and had little patience for others who would upstage his grandiose character. In Acts 9:3–8, Paul was blinded by a light and fell to the ground to hear the words of Jesus, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?” Paul in his weakness heard Jesus. The men who were with him didn’t see the light, but Paul saw it. Paul called himself the worst of sinners as he in deep repentance for his previous sins, especially for persecuting the believers, recognized the depths of his own sinful nature and therefore describes himself as “the worst of sinners” (I Timothy 1:13-15).“Saul” stands for the persecutor, while “Paul” refers to the changed Christian man.
Vision to Mission
The conversion of Paul the Apostle (also the Pauline conversion, Damascene conversion, Damascus Christophany and the “road to Damascus” event) was, according to the New Testament, an event in the life of Saul/Paul the Apostle that led him to cease persecuting the early Christians to become a follower of Jesus. The story of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus is told in Acts 9:1-19 and retold by Paul in Acts 22:6-21 and Acts 26:12-18. Paul believed that his vision proved that Jesus was alive, that he was the Messiah and God’s Son, and that he would soon return. Paul was commissioned to preach among the Gentiles (Galatians 1:16). St Paul represents a missionary and someone sent on a mission. For Paul, it was the death and resurrection that brought salvation from sin. Paul transformed the simple religion of Jesus into the religion about Jesus, thereby creating Christianity. Paul had a great vision and he went on with his mission day and night overcoming all hurdles. “If God be for us, who can be against us” (Rom 8:31), says Paul with conviction.
Gentiles’ Apostle
Paul was called and set apart from his mother’s womb to be the Apostle of Gentiles. “But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being”. (Galatians 1:15-16).Paul realized his call to be the Apostle to the Gentiles and freely admitted that he had previously persecuted the church of God.As an educated man with Roman citizenship who spoke Greek, Paul made it his special mission to convert non-Jews, called Gentiles, to the new religion. He spent 17 years visiting cities throughout the Greek-speaking world. Paul made an impact as an apostle, as a theologian, and as a letter-writer. Paul the apostle had expanded the church far and wide, flinging open the doors to Gentiles, strenuously fighting for his conviction that the Gospel was for all people and that no barriers should be put in the way of the Gentiles.
Transformation and Mission
Saul who persecuted Jesus (Acts 9:4) became Paul and was later persecuted for His sake. A zealous Jew who persecuted the early followers of Jesus became the zealous missionary for Him. Paul was very intelligent and he spoke several languages. During Saul’s life before his conversion to Christianity, he persecuted the followers of the Way – the way was that of Jesus. Saul threw individuals into prison and even to death (Acts 22:3-5) and this was the Saul who was transformed for His glory as Paul. God knew that this zealous man would die for him. God changed Saul’s heart to become kind to those who believed in Jesus after which Saul was called Paul and began to tell others about Jesus and became the greatest missionary of all times. Since he grew up in a strict Pharisaic environment, the name Saul was by far the more appropriate name to go by. But after his conversion Saul was determined to bring the gospel to the Gentiles, so he dusted off his Roman name and became known as Paul, a name Gentiles were accustomed to.
Persecuted; not Abandoned
Persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:9), says St Paul with conviction and passion for the Lord who created him, called him and sanctified him. Paul who was transformed, commissioned to be the Apostle of the Gentiles was persecuted, tortured and imprisoned by people, but was not abandoned by God whom he encountered on the road to Damascus. The Bible verses below depict how Paul the chosen one was persecuted. “And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death” (Acts 9:29). “But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district” (Acts 13:50). “But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead” (Acts 14:19).
The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods” (Acts 16:22). “But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat” (Acts 18:12). “They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!’” (Acts 22:22). “And as a great dissension was developing, the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks” (Acts 23:10). “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes” (2 Corinthians 11:24).
Paul – Patron Saint of Writers and Authors
St Paul is often considered to be the most important person after Jesus in the history of Christianity. His epistles (letters) have had enormous influence on Christian theology, especially on the relationship between God the Father and Jesus, and on the mystical human relationship with the divine. Although St Paul was not one of the original 12 Apostles of Jesus, he was one of the most prolific contributors to the New Testament. Of the 27 books in the New Testament, 13 are traditionally attributed to Paul. Paul’s writings are a beautiful gift from God and are meant to be explored. St Paul was threatened by the elements, his peers with imprisonment, death and ultimately, the Evil One, himself; yet he kept moving and writing. Even the prison walls didn’t stop him from writing and evangelizing. St Paul is the patron saint of missionaries, evangelists, writers, journalists, authors, public workers, rope and saddle makers, and tent makers.
Christian Unity Octave
The Christian Unity Octave that begins on 18 January ends on 25 January with the feast of the conversion of St Paul, the apostle of gentiles. The Christian Unity Octave celebrations in the Vatican usually begin at St Peter’s Basilica and end at St Paul’s Basilica, Outside the Walls. (It was not so these years due to Covid19). Paul’s conversion stands even today as a witness and invitation not only to the Gentiles but also to all Christian denominations to come to the way of unity and human fraternity. What happened on the road to Damascus was not just a conversion from first-century Judaism to a faith centred on Jesus Christ, but it was also the commissioning of Paul as an Apostle to the Gentiles.
Tent-maker to People-builder
“In all things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us”(Rom 8:37). When the whole world is battling with this deadly virus called Coronavirus, we ought to remember that our living God is greater than this deadly virus. When someone calls me to share their struggles and hardships, after listening to them I’ve no other message than telling them, ‘Our God is greater than this problem that you are facing’. When we face struggles, starvation, persecution, deprivation remember our God is greater than these. After a fall to the ground Paul was lifted up for God’s mission. God’s grace is poured in abundance on each of us from eternity. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”, says St Paul who was transformed from being Tent-maker to People-builder.
Festal Blessings
Paul endured persecutions and suffering; he blessed all those who reviled him as he himself says, “and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure” (1 Cor.4:12). Paul who received a vision on the road to Damascus became a man of humility and selflessness, lived with eternity in mind and focused on God’s call. He knew his call, convinced, focused and worked wholeheartedly to bring glory to God and not to please men (Col 3: 23-24). When he was filled with God’s grace, having been transformed he went on radiating the love of the risen Christ. We too are created by love and for love by the Creator, saved by our redeemer and purified by the Sanctifier. How are we participating in the redeeming mission of Christ is the question put forth on this Feast day of the Conversion of St Paul. The goal of Paul’s mission was “to win obedience from the Gentiles” (Rom 15:18 ). What’s the goal of our mission?
Sr Lini Sheeja MSC belongs to the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. She had authored book Redeemed Prisoner in which the life stories of the people who were redeemed by God from the dark cells of prisons are depicted. Having redeemed, having experienced His personal love these brethren of ours spreads His message of love and redemption.