During the Year of St. Paul, several years ago, Pope
Benedict elaborated on the notion that St. Paul’s conversion is often
misunderstood. Often we think of conversion as going from a wicked life to a
good life, a sinful life to a righteous life.
Many saints did experience that type of conversion: St. Augustine
converted from a life of debauchery, theft, violence, and vandalism, to a life
of holiness. Before their conversion to
Christ St. Matthew the Apostle was an extortionist, St. Camillus de Lellis was
a Con Man, St. Columba started a war, St. Christopher was said to have
worshipped the devil, and even St. Francis speaks of a youth wasted in sinful
behavior.
St. Paul’s conversion initially looks this way. He did after all go from a life of
persecuting and killing Christians to a life of promoting Christianity and
making new Christians. But Pope Benedict
claimed that St. Paul’s conversion was not one from a wicked life to a holy
life. St. Paul sought after holiness. He
believed holiness came through rigorous adhesion to the Mosaic law.
He devoted himself to persecuting and killing Christians
because this is what he believed the law demanded. After all, the early Christians were a Jewish
sect who claimed the Mosaic law was outdated: you don’t need circumcision, you
no longer have to go to the Temple, the principle day of the week is no longer
Saturday, but Sunday because that’s the day Jesus rose from the dead. To Paul’s
ears the Christians were blasphemous heretics deserving death under the law.
Because of his erroneous notion of what God wanted, he devoted himself to
stamping out this new sect.
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”.
Jesus helped Paul to realize
that whatever he was doing to the least of his brethren, he was doing to Him.
From that moment, Paul realized that Jesus wasn’t simply a dead criminal put to
death under Pontius Pilate who started some heretical sect. He was the Lord of Life. What the Church actually said about Jesus was
true.
So his conversion, was not so much from wickedness to
holiness, but from a false notion of a holy life to a holy life. Holiness does
not come from strict adherence to the Mosaic law, but absolute fidelity to
Jesus Christ. He had a false notion of
holiness, but he was a 100% dedicated to that false notion. Just like many muslims and protestants, who
are often more dedicated to their half-truth, than Catholics are of our whole
truth. But they like, Paul, devoted to striving after holiness, are ripe for conversion.
It is up to us to help the world encounter Christ, So that
like Paul, they may come to that conversion of mind and find in Christ the
satisfaction of their hearts deepest longings. There are people out there who
believe that Christianity is just a set of inconvenient rules or false
promises. We have to help them meet
Christ.
But we must strive after holiness, believe wholeheartedly, root
out sin from our life, celebrate the sacraments joyfully, practice rich,
vibrant prayer, and never be afraid of sharing the Good News, as Jesus commands
in the Gospel today: “Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature,” for the glory of God and salvation
of souls.
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