Today, throughout the Church, we celebrate the Feast of the
Conversion of St. Paul. This feast day celebrates exactly what its name says:
St. Paul who, after a lifetime of “protecting” the faith, discovered instead
that he was persecuting the very Messiah he had been awaiting by persecuting
the followers of Jesus. St. Paul’s conversion is recorded in the book of Acts
twice. First, in chapter 9 verses 1-19, St. Luke recounts the story; and then
St. Paul himself retells it in Acts chapter 26 verse 12 and following, as he
speaks before King Agrippa.
As the term conversion suggests, St. Paul’s life completely
changed as he left behind his old life as a Pharisee and embraced his new life
as an Apostle. That same decision to walk away from it all was seen in last
Sunday’s gospel lesson from March chapter 1, with the call of Simon &
Andrew, and James & John - the fishermen who literally dropped their nets,
got out of their boats, and followed Jesus in order to become “fishers of men.”
It is that willingness to leave it all that simultaneously
marks a disciple and scares the daylights out of us! And yet, that is what a
disciple does – he or she, out of love for Jesus, is willing to change their
lives from top to bottom. That is a scary prospect; no one likes to change,
very few welcome changes, and yet change is the constant in the life of a
disciple.
The changes that come in the life of a disciple are not
changes for the sake of change, but rather transitions into a more Christ-like
life. This can be very painful as we
leave behind our “old” life, which was comfortable – even if dysfunctional – to
be used to the Glory of God. But following Jesus and finding new life in him is
worth the change!
I pray you all a blessed week!
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