Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / We can all learn from the faith of St. Paul
January Prayer Theme
We can all learn from the faith of St. Paul
Published December 26, 2008
My Brothers and Sisters in the Lord:
 In commemoration of the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of St. Paul, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has declared a year of special prayer and reflection on his life and ministry; we are now mid-point in this special Pauline Year, which began June 30, and runs through June 30, 2009. I thought it would be appropriate to focus my monthly column on various aspects of the life, writings, and ministry of St. Paul.
Jan. 25, the feast of the conversion of St. Paul, happens to be a Sunday this year and our Holy Father has suggested that the readings for this feast replace the Scriptures for the third Sunday of ordinary time. For my January 2009 column, therefore, I reflect on St. Paul's conversion and its implications for our lives.
First of all, many people often misunderstand St. Paul's "conversion." His conversion was not about changing from being evil to being good, from being a non-believer to being a believer. St. Paul was always God-fearing and a man of zealous faith. He deeply loved his Jewish faith heritage and strictly followed every aspect of the Law of Moses.
In fact, it would appear from St. Paul's own writings that he was almost obsessive in his desire to be perfect in fulfilling all the expectations of the Jewish law; in his pre-conversion years, young Saul was arrogant and tempted to boast of his own accomplishments. His conversion experience purified and humbled him as he came to recognize and admit he could not save himself by his own efforts; he needed a savior and that savior was none other than the very Jesus whose followers he had been persecuting.
As recorded in Acts 9 (and retold in Acts 22 and 26), St. Paul's conversion experience happened as he was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus, where he was hoping to search out men and women dedicated to the Christian way of life and bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. We often think he fell from his horse but actually the text does not say he was riding a horse; it simply says that blinded by a light, he fell to the ground and heard a voice crying out, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" When Saul inquired who was speaking to him, the answer came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting." Saul had to allow other people to lead him by the hand into Damascus, and for three days he was not able to see, to eat, or to drink. He had to depend on the goodness of the hospitality of Christians in Damascus and the courage of Ananias, who followed the command of the Lord and baptized Saul. From that point forward, he had a new identity as a Christian and his name was changed to Paul.
We can learn many things from this account of Paul's conversion. First of all, prior to his conversion, Paul did not know how to be a good receiver; he was always the doer. He had to learn to accept God's saving mercy, even as it was operating outside or beyond the mosaic law and its traditions; indeed, through the very people he had once despised. He could no longer boast of his own efforts but had to base his pride and joy in God's surprising, unmerited love for him and through him.
A second insight Paul received was the radical identification of Jesus, the risen Lord and Messiah, with the members of His community: "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting…" Not only did Paul have to grapple with the puzzle of a suffering servant messiah, but he also had to appreciate the truth that all those who shared in his dying and rising through baptism were truly members of his risen body. Paul's conversion to the Lord involved an immersion into the community of faith. The same is true for us.
Paul's initial conversion on the road did not immediately solve everything; it was the beginning of a process. There were many other conversions or ways of "letting go" as St. Paul grappled with his new-found vocation, identity, and mission in the light of God's surprising love and mercy. Many writers suggest that Paul's conversion experience was really more of a vocational experience, a new appreciation of God's love for him and through him.
Thanks to his conversion experience, Paul began to refer to himself as a "slave of Jesus Christ," "a servant of the Gospel," and "apostle to the Gentiles." Paul kept having to redefine his understanding of what the law meant for both Jews and Christians and how to explain the Body of Christ, the Church. Paul learned to pray through his life experiences and make them an offering of praise and thanksgiving to God.
Paul's conversion experience helped him appreciate how God was electing or calling not only himself, but every other person to intimacy with Jesus Christ and His God and Father through the preaching of the Good News and receiving the waters of baptism. Paul began to understand God's mercy for him as a gift to be shared with others: what God had done for him in an extraordinary way, God also wanted to do for Jews and Gentiles alike. In short, Paul's conversion experience and his ongoing openness to growth and change helped him to understand that faith was not about personal perfection but, rather, about living and dying with and for the community. As Jesus lived and died as a living sacrifice of praise, a source of reconciliation, renewal, and hope, so, too, every Christian is called to do the same, to make our lives an offering of love to God.
What application might we make with all of these thoughts of St. Paul's conversion? First of all, conversion is very much at the heart of the Christian life. Even if we have been a baptized believer from childhood, there is still room for growth and change. There is some way that each of us needs to turn away from patterns of sin, pride, fear or selfishness and allow God's love to take control in our mind and heart. The sacrament of penance or reconciliation is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate conversion on a regular basis throughout the year. Every night, we should reflect on the way God has touched us and used us, giving thanks to Him for His incredible generosity and the privilege of being His instruments.
St. Paul teaches us by his word and example that we cannot turn to the Lord unless we also are committed to sharing in every other believer. Our conversion to the Lord should lead us into an ever-deeper immersion into the Church. We do not necessarily need to do different things but to fulfill our ordinary responsibilities in family and in the workplace with greater zeal and genuine compassionate love. St. Paul reminds us that we all have a vocation, a very unique calling wherein God wants to use us for some special purpose. Let us pray for the grace to be open to that gift and call! Let us also pray for the conversion of all in need of this grace.
Your brother in the Lord,
†Adam Cardinal Maida
Archbishop of Detroit
January Prayer Theme
We can all learn from the faith of St. Paul
As we celebrate the Pauline Year, the 2,000 th anniversary of the birth of the apostle to the Gentiles, this month of January, we reflect on the conversion of St. Paul, a conversion that involved a recognition first and foremost that one can be saved only by God's mercy and through sharing in the death-resurrection of Jesus Christ. Secondly, as St. Paul discovered in his dialogue with the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus, to love the Lord, we must love His Body, the Church.
Heavenly Father, as we celebrate the conversion of St. Paul, renew within us a zeal for the message he taught in word and deed – that we are saved, not by our own works, but by faith in the death-resurrection of Jesus Christ.
With St. Paul, may we put this faith into action through loving service of the least of our brothers and sisters.
We ask this grace and blessing for ourselves and for all our fellow Christians through Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
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