January 25 2018 - Conversion of St. Paul - Praying for your persecutors

The Apostles were simply obeying Christ’s command to “proclaim the Gospel to every creature” yet, for the well-educated, Saul of Tarsus, that doctrine was blasphemous. So Saul put all his intelligence, willpower, and connections at the service of wiping out this new religion, even to the point of having Christian men and women put to death. It’s impossible to imagine a greater enemy of Jesus Christ and his Church in the early part of the first Christian century.

But on the road to Damascus, in the middle of his fury, all that changed.  The Risen Christ appeared to Paul: Jesus spoke a word to his heart and let a ray of his divine light into the darkness of Paul’s mind.  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” And from then on, things were different.  From then on, Paul became an ambassador of God’s saving grace, a light of hope and mercy for the sinners of all nations and races, a faithful messenger of the invitation to repent and believe in the Gospel. From then on, all of Paul’s natural and God-given gifts were put to use in building up Christ’s everlasting Kingdom.

This is the power of God’s grace; this is the power of the Gospel; it really can transform lives, even the most unlikely ones.

How did Saul’s conversion come about? Early in Acts, we read that as he was being put to death, St. Stephen prayed for his persecutor.

St. Stephen prayed for Paul as he was being stoned to death. No doubt, other Christians whom Saul persecuted prayed for him. The early Christians took the teaching of our Lord seriously: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Many once persecutors of the Church have turned from hostility to serving the Gospel. And so too we ought to pray for sinners every day: for the pro-choice politicians and the intellectual elites who think they are the saviors of humanity, for the teenagers who think its hip or edgy to parrot back the anti-Catholic sentiments of our culture.  They may think Christianity is just a list of inconvenient rules; they may be at a stage in their life where they are turning to secular gurus, self-help techniques, esoteric pseudo-religions, or worse things.  But like Saul, they all long for Christ, and our job is to bring Christ to them, and to pray for their conversion. For the Lord wants them, and whatever passion, intellect, creativity, and drive is within them, the Lord wants for the building up of the Church.

May the prayers of St. Paul help us to always be at work for the building up of the kingdom and the conversion of sinners, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our bishops may be graced with Saint Paul’s zeal in teaching the Word of God. We pray to the Lord.

That our parish may build up missionary disciples who will go and proclaim the Gospel. We pray to the Lord.

For the conversion of all hardened sinners and all persecutors of the faith, that the Lord may touch their hearts and remove the blindness from their eyes. We pray to the Lord.

For all who have suffered as a result of violence or abuse, all of the sick and suffering, especially victims of natural disaster, poverty, and addiction, may they be comforted and supported by God’s healing love. We pray to the Lord.

For our departed loved ones and all of the souls in purgatory, and for N. for whom this Mass is offered. We pray to the Lord.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord