Conversion of St. Paul (Feast)
Acts 22: 3-16 Mark 16: 15-18
Theme: The testimony of Paul
In the 1st reading of today from the Acts of the Apostles, we see St. Paul giving his personal testimony about the mercy of God in his life. He was a man who persecuted the church greatly and had a lot of people been punished in Jerusalem, because of their choice to serve God. His conversion on his way to Damascus to arrest and bring back some followers to Jerusalem, was the beginning of a new life for Paul. He was struck down by a bright light, and he experienced the strength of a superior force and power, that eventually led to a turnaround in his life, that changed everything in his life. The same Paul who was a great persecutor of the faith, became a great preacher and propagator of the faith he once fought and condemned. We have a lot to learn from the conversion of St. Paul, as Christians and followers of Christ.
Ordinarily, who would believe that God would be willing to use Paul as his instrument through which the word of God is preached to the people. This is a man who has seriously worked against the church and persecuted the followers of God. But God did not write him off, but rather decided to use him as a worthy instrument in his hand in the propagation of the good news of Christ. The interesting thing is that after this encounter with God and his sight is restored, Paul preached the good news with a greater zeal than he did when he was fighting against the followers of the faith.
This fact is seen in St. Paul’s missionary journey’s and in the number of Books he wrote in the New Testament. He was able to reach out to so many people about the good news of Christ. This is the admonition of Jesus in the gospel of St. Mark that we have today. We should preach the good news of Christ and take it to the end of the earth. After the conversion of St. Paul, he did very well and responded positively to this admonition of Jesus to everyone of us as followers of Christ. A very important point we must also know is the fact that God does not write anyone off, he is ever merciful and always ready to give us another chance to right the mistakes we have made in our lives already.
This is exactly what happened in the case of St. Paul, and he made good use of the mercy of God presented to him. This simply means that no matter how far we have gone in sin, the mercy of God can still find us. Never give up on yourself by thinking that God cannot forgive you because of your sins. The mercy of God supersedes all your sins. May almighty God bless you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit, Amen. Peace be with you.