RBWords

     In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul tells the story of his conversion three times [Chs. 9, 22, 26].  Yet, these three accounts were written by Luke the Evangelist!  In his own letters, Paul seems to speak of his conversion directly only in Galatians [Chs 1 and 2].  Tradition and popular imagery have also "supplied" some details like a horse!  When guiding students through the accounts of St. Paul's conversion by asking questions like, "What happened next?" many will say, "He fell off his horse!"  My next question was always, "What horse?"  

     The conversion of Saul, the professional and religiously zealous bounty-hunter of Christians, into Paul, the religiously zealous Christian preacher was a pivotal moment in the history and life of the Christian community.  Some have called him the "second founder" of Christianity, given his influence in the faith and theology of the church!  Some refer to the style of his "charismatic" ministry in the church as "Pauline," to contrast it with the institutional and authoritative "Petrine" ministry of the Pope and bishops!  All of this is worth the effort to contemplate and even to read his letters in chronological order to see the development of his thought over time!  There is one particular idea that I want to highlight today.

     It seems to me that one of the most important features of the conversion story is the realization by Saul/Paul that his attacks against people whom he considered to be heretics were really against ONE person:  Jesus Christ!  ["I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting!"]  If one reads Paul's letters and sees his strong images of the church as the "body of Christ," then the words of that voice become prophetic!  Anyone persecuting any Christian for reasons of faith is persecuting Christ!  This idea stays with Paul throughout his subsequent ministry, and is still with us in our own time!  We are all in this together!  AMEN