Our Daily Conversion

Today is the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle. This is certainly a day that should bring hope to us all. Saul was one of the main persecutors of Christians in his time.  “Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.” (Acts 9: 1-2) His reputation was wide spread. When Ananias was asked by the Lord to go to Saul he did not want to go. He had heard from many sources the evil things Saul had done to the Christians in Jerusalem and that he had authority to do the same in Damascus.

Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute more Christians when he received his call from Jesus himself. Could you imagine the Lord asking you why you were persecuting him? Sometimes through prayer I feel that God is calling me to do something specific to further his kingdom. Sometimes they are easy things I don’t mind doing and sometimes they are hard. What the Lord was asking of Saul was a complete 180°. Those that were persecuting the Christians along with Saul probably wondered what the heck was going on? What had gotten into him? And like Ananias, the Christians that knew of his persecutions didn’t trust him. Was his conversion for real?

I recently heard a parent mention that when his son was going through a rebellious period and had turned away from the Church and was doing all the things that he was taught not to do, rather than being devastated by his son’s actions, he said that his son was creating a great witness. He trusted that his son would one day return to the Lord and then what an incredible story he would have to tell. He would have an incredible witness to share about the power of God’s love and mercy that He has for all of his prodigal sons and daughters. Our journey here on earth will always have difficulties and temptations that trip us up. So each day we must choose to continue on this path toward holiness. Our conversion is a life long process that we must renew everyday but the rewards will be beyond our imagination.