NO WORRIES

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Paul’s conversion. The 1st reading for today is the 2nd telling out of 3 about his conversion (Acts 9, 22 & 26). It was at that time when he was trying to fulfill his mission paradigm since there was a treaty to arrest all the Christians in Damascus. On his way to Damascus St. Paul changed. Jesus called him by name. He comes from the tribe of Benjamin where King Saul was the most prominent figure at that time. Jesus called him by his Hebrew name, Saul. From that time on he was never the same again. Instead of him arresting Christians it was now him being arrested for converting Jews to Christianity. The mob was ready to tear him apart if not for the Roman soldiers who grabbed him and protected him since he is a Roman citizen. Despite of this he showed them that he’s still a Jew and still following the custom. He calmed everybody down and spoke to them in their language. He could speak Hebrew because he was educated in Judaism in both Greek and Hebrew. Gamaliel the greatest teacher of that time was his teacher. He lived the law and was zealous for God. It was thought at that time that when Gamaliel died all righteousness died with him because he was highly respected. Paul is Gamaliel's protégé so to speak. As he retell his story of the persecution conversion and how he never met Jesus and yet he was said to be persecuting Christ. As in Mt. 25:40, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.' He derived the whole point of the Mystical Body of Christ from his conversion. The words of Jesus, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ is in a very important sense of the Church being so much as the Body of Christ. He doesn’t know Jesus, the Nazarene but what he did to the Church he did to Christ. As he was struck blind he is left with a total mystery as to what will happen next. He was led to Ananias. The blindness was a punishment but because he obeyed blindly he was healed and restored his sight. Ananias told Paul to be baptized. Paul has a high theology of baptism being baptized into the death of Christ and received new life in Christ. He learned it from his own baptism. We may ask ourselves this question, why are we baptized. We look at St. Paul. His sins were washed away and made a new beginning. Although Christ warned him that he would suffer much for the name he had persecuted, it becomes his boast that he has to suffer for the sake of Christ and so must we. As in Eph 4:1-7 "I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift." Amen. Hallelujah!

Acts 22:3-16 (or Acts 9:1-22)
Paul addressed the people in these words: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison. 5 Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there as well. 6 “On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene whom you are persecuting.’ 9 My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. 10 I asked, ‘What shall I do, sir?’ The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do.’ 11 Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light, I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus. 12 “A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law, and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me and stood there and said, ‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’ And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him. 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice; 15 for you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard. 16 Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.’”

We are not just listeners and onlookers, we apparently have to do what the psalm reading tells us today. Amen. Hallelujah!

Psalm 117:1bc, 2
R: Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
1 Praise the LORD, all you nations; glorify him, all you peoples! (R) 2 For steadfast is his kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.

It is not just a command that we have to obey for nothing. We are assured by the Lord that He will be with us throughout the end of time. No worries for He's got our backs covered and won't let us down. He is surely going to see us through it all. Amen. Hallelujah!

Mark 16:15-18
15 Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. 18 They will pick up serpents [with their hands], and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”