Word to the Wise
Thursday, January 25, 2007 - The Conversion of St. Paul
[Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22 and Mark 16:15-18]"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" I replied, "Who are you, Sir?" And he said to me, "I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting."
More than a few scripture scholars consider Paul of Tarsus to be the "second founder" of Christianity. It is tempting to speculate what would have happened to Christianity if Paul had never "seen the light." But that would be speculation, period! The fact is that he underwent an experience of the Risen Jesus that changed him from a persecutor of the fledgling church to one of the boldest preachers of the new way! His missionary journeys gave rise to Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean. He was, if you will, a kind of Johnny Appleseed! Any reading of the Acts of the Apostles and Paul's letters will tell us that Paul was a combative preacher and would not back down from a position once taken. Unlike the Twelve (as far as we know), he had a formal education and the depth of his theological reflection forms the basis of much of Catholic theology in our own time! He was a courageous and tough man as well. Read the lists of his experiences in 2 Cor. 11:22-29. He was a clever man (read the stories of his setting Pharisee and Saduccee against one another in a riot scene in Acts 23 and his use of his Roman citizenship to stop a beating in Acts 22.) He supported himself in a trade: tentmaking. (I've never heard of a relic from one of his tents for some strange reason, and Lord knows we have relics of just about everything!) No matter how you take him, he was a remarkable person and his letters and theology influence us still today. We celebrate his conversion experience because it was the beginning of a new experience of the Church. His life was a life for others! AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
74 ms
4
