In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles we hear the first of three different accounts of the conversion of St. Paul (Acts 9:1-20; 22:3-16; 26:2-18). Paul was a zealous persecutor of the early church but became a zealous Christian. Paul encounters Jesus on the road to Damascus who challenges him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul or Paul had been “breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord” so in this way he was persecuting Jesus.
Paul describes this event on the road to Damascus more as a call than a conversion. Paul as a Jew already worshiped the one true God and was a pious and zealous Jew as he describes himself:
“Circumcised on the eighth day of the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee, in zeal I persecuted the church, in righteousness based on the law I was blameless.” (Philippians 3:5-6).
His zeal probably even led him to persecute the church since he was scandalized by the preaching of a crucified messiah as he indicates after his conversion writing to the Corinthians:
“For Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:22-25).
Paul gives us a first-hand account of his call or conversion:
“For you heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, and progressed in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my race, since I was even more a zealot for my ancestral traditions. But when God, who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; rather, I went into Arabia and then returned to Damascus.” (Galatians 1:13-17)
As Paul describes it, God “was pleased to reveal his Son…that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles.” Paul became known as “The Apostle” in the early church because he became a zealous and courageous missionary preaching the Cross of Christ as the source of salvation for all to all in the Greek speaking world.
Like Paul, Jesus wants to encounter us each day and calls us to proclaim the Gospel.
Image: “Altarpiece depicting the conversion of Saint Paul by Benjamin West American 1786 CE oil on canvas (5)” by mharrsch is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.