January 25 is the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle. It’s a cool story that always captured my Catholic boy attention growing up. My middle name is Paul so naturally the story of my namesake should get my attention. But man, to put it mildly, Saul of Tarsus (Paul’s name before his miraculous conversion.) was an asshole. This was a guy who “breathed murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord.”
He was old school, Jewish religious establishment to the max. This upstart Christianity movement pissed him off to no end. He chased down and persecuted Christians at every turn. When the story of his conversion from Act of the Apostles, Chapter 9, begins, he was so pissed off he went to the religious leader and asked him to grant letters of permission to go after Christians in Damascus. Saul basically asked for a license to go kick ass and take names of all Christians in the region.
But a funny thing happened on the way to Damascus. Of all the seemingly better people Jesus could have picked on the planet to turn into one of the most fervent disciples, he chose Saul. Man, I love that. There’s hope for redemption in even the most a-holes of a-holes.
When I read and think about the Conversion of St. Paul story, it brings to mind the Gospel from a few weeks ago, where several Pharisees were harassing Jesus for hanging around with sinners and tax collectors. Jesus said to them, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)
Ah, it is no accident Jesus called Saul of Tarsus, struck him blind for three days, and lit the fire of conversion in his mind, heart, and soul. Saul didn’t know he was sick and in dire need of a physician. He thought he was a righteous man doing righteous acts. But the Lord knew Saul was in dire need of healing and the rest is history.
When I look around the world today, especially within the world of American Christianity that I am a part of, I see a whole lot of Sauls and not enough Pauls. I see a need to pay attention to the blinding light of God’s Word, to go temporarily blind and reboot what it means to live a faithful life in today’s world.
I wish I could remember where I read this the other day but it slips my mind. The author posed the question of how fervent we Christians are to put the Ten Commandments everywhere yet we rarely express the same fervor for The Beatitudes in modern Christianity. I look around and see this observation is true.
Why this is?
Is it easier for us to be a Saul rather than a Paul? Is it easier for us to follow what we want to follow or what’s easier to follow rather than listen & live the teachings of Jesus?
I don’t know. All I know is Saul went from being an asshole to being one of the greatest Christians we have. Paul is the perfect example that the Lord never gives up on us. Sometimes we just need to get knocked on our rear ends, contemplate our blindness, and then be awoken in the light of renewed faith.
I’m going to make a real effort to be more Paul than Saul in 2024. How about you?
Acts 9:1-22
Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest and asked him
for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that,
if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way,
he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.
On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus,
a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
He said, “Who are you, sir?”
The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.”
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless,
for they heard the voice but could see no one.
Saul got up from the ground,
but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing;
so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.
For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.
*There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias,
and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”
He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”
The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight
and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.
He is there praying,
and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias
come in and lay his hands on him,
that he may regain his sight.”
But Ananias replied,
“Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man,
what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem.
And here he has authority from the chief priests
to imprison all who call upon your name.”
But the Lord said to him,
“Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine
to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel,
and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.”
So Ananias went and entered the house;
laying his hands on him, he said,
“Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me,
Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came,
that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes
and he regained his sight.
He got up and was baptized,
and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength.
*He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus,
and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues,
that he is the Son of God.
All who heard him were astounded and said,
“Is not this the man who in Jerusalem
ravaged those who call upon this name,
and came here expressly to take them back in chains
to the chief priests?”
But Saul grew all the stronger
and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus,
proving that this is the Christ.
THE COACH HAYS 