Homily: January 25 2016 - Conversion of St. Paul

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  After all, the early Christians were a Jewish sect who claimed the Mosaic law was outdated: you don’t need circumcision, you no longer have to go to the Temple, the principle day of the week is no longer Saturday, but Sunday because that’s the day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.