The Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, the Apostle should get more attention in the Church, from my perspective. Catholics and Protestants acknowledge Paul’s conversion as central to the mission of the church in our teachings, but I do not remember ever taking it personally. I know the story is about the power of God to transform lives for God’s purposes, but I always thought it was about powerful people, not me. Clearly the Lord chose Paul, who was a very influential person, as an instrument to do amazing work, but how do we relate to that in our own faith journey? It seems that many people over the ages, and we too, are often blinded by the brightness of the light of the God of our ancestors calling us to be a witness to the voice of Jesus. But are we open to that?

The Psalm for today and the Gospel remind us that the Lord of all nations calls us to go out to all the world and tell the Good News. Certainly, Paul did travel far and wide and with every breath of his being, and every strength of his intellect, bore the fruit of his conversion. He was remarkably effective, but it does not stop there, with us reading about the amazing work of the churches established by Paul in the New Testament. What about each of us here and now? I think especially during these dark days of confused messages among even church leaders, we need to step up on behalf of those who are persecuted for the sake of strict interpretations of ancestral law and bring the voice of Jesus to light. If we are listening, we will hear the call. It is my prayer that we will all answer, “Here I am, Lord.”