It’s been said that the converted Catholics are more active than the cradle Catholics. This generalized statement certainly speaks for St. Paul of Tarsus, who was a zealous Pharisee and destroyer of the nascent Church, converted to become an apostle on fire to build and expand the Church with unmatched zeal. No other apostles had evangelized as extensively as Paul did, and no other evangelists had written about Christ and his teaching as much as Paul did. In this regard, Paul the convert, is the most influential apostle in the first century.
As a Pharisee, Paul found Jesus to be a blasphemous
man for acting as the Messiah, as the Pharisees were blind to the Messianic
truth of Jesus (John 9:1-41). For him, persecuting the follower of Jesus was
for the sake of defending the Torah, because Jesus was nothing but a
blasphemous heretic to the Pharisees and other religious leaders (Matthew
26:57-68; John 5:1-18;10:31-39). As proud defenders of the Torah, the Pharisees
accused Jesus for violating the sabbath commandment and tried to find a way to put
him to death (Matthew 12:1-14). But, Paul’s eyes opened to the truth of Jesus, as
he went through the conversion, after hearing Jesus personally speaking to him
(Acts 9:3-19). Then, he began proclaiming Jesus as the Son of God and proving
that Jesus is the Messiah in Damascus, instead of arresting the follower of
Jesus (Acts 9:20-22).
It is also important to note that Paul’s conversion is
followed by his commissioning (Acts 9:6, 15-16). For this, Jesus also commissioned
Ananias to help Paul by laying his hands on him, assuring that he is a new
apostle, no longer a threat (Acts 9:10-16). And Ananias baptized Paul, as his eyes
were opened and strengths were recovered as a result of laying his hands on him
(Acts 9:17-19).
In a nutshell, Paul’s conversion is correcting the
direction of his zeal from destroying the Church to building the Church, and it
is God’s grace, as Paul calls it in retrospect (1 Corinthians 15:10). Perhaps,
Jesus chose Paul to become a new addition to the team of the apostles, by way
of converting him, because of his genuine zeal for the Torah, as a Pharisee,
educated by Gamaliel, a well-respected elder and rabbi (Acts 22:3), though he
was a very dangerous man to his Church.
It happened literally out of the blue. A lightning
knocked Paul off his horse, as he and his colleagues were nearing Damascus to hunt
the followers of Jesus there (Acts 9:1-4a). Then, Jesus directly spoke to him:
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
(Acts 9:4b; 22:6; 26:14)
At first, Paul (then called Saul) had no idea who the person of the voice
was (Acts 9:5a).
Jesus revealed himself clearly to him and commanded
him to be commissioned:
I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now
get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do
(Acts 9:5b-6).
In speaking to Paul, Jesus identified himself with his Church, though those whom Paul was zealously persecuting was not Jesus, as he had already ascended into heaven, but those who followed Jesus’ way. And they were the newly born Church.
Perhaps, this was registered in Paul’s
subconsciousness and influenced to form his unique ecclesiological view: the
Church as one body of Christ, composed of many parts, the faithful followers of
Christ, endowed with various gifts, through one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-27).
The Scripture readings for commemorate Paul’s
conversion on January 25 are:
First Reading: Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22 Gospel Reading: Mark 16:15-18
The First Reading (Acts 22:3-16) is taken from Paul’s
speech to the crowd in Jerusalem (Acts 22:1-21; cf. Acts 26:2-29), upon his
return from the third mission journey (Acts 123-21:16). What led him to speak
to the crowd was a false accusation of him for teaching against the Mosaic Law
and defiling the Temple by bringing in Greeks, resulting in violent attacks on
him and arrest of him by the Roman authorities (Acts 21:27-36). As he was taken
to the Roman custody, Paul requested the Roman commander to speak to his people
who violently tried to kill him, and the permission was granted (Acts
21:37-40).
In this, Paul presents himself as a devout Jew, a
Pharisee trained by a very respected teacher, Gamaliel, eagerly persecuting
Christians (vv.1-5). This must be his attempt to emphasize that he is also a
Jew, devoted to the Torah, to the Jewish crowds, who made mob attacks on him. Then,
he recounts his conversion (Acts 9:1-19) (vv.6-16).
Because of his conversion and apostolic mission work
for Christ, though he was a devout Jew, he became a target of the persecution
by his fellow Jews. Through his conversion, Paul’s side changed from the
persecuting Jews to the persecuted. That is why Paul was violently attacked by
mobs, incited by a false accusation, and arrested by the Roman authorities, for
being a factor of social unrest.
What his conversion brought was his suffering. As
Jesus said to Ananias, Paul was to suffer for him:
Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of
mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites, and I will show
him what he will have to suffer for my name (Acts 9:15-16).
Did Paul lament or regret about his conversion – to have
followed Jesus, the Christ?
Not at all. Rather, he speaks so boldly of his
suffering as an apostle (i.e. 2 Corinthians 11:16-33). And this is how Paul
regards himself:
Least
of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the
apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of
God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to be has not been
ineffective (1 Corinthians 15:9-10a).
Though his conversion brought tremendous suffering to
him, Paul nevertheless considered this life-changing event to turn away from
persecuting to Christ and his apostolic mission, with the cost of suffering, as
a grace.
Finally, the Gospel Reading (Mark 16:15-18) reflects
the commissioning of Paul, following his conversion and followed by his baptism
(Acts 9:4-19). And as written from Acts 9:20 on, Paul preached the Gospel of
Jesus, healed, made more disciple leaders, such as Timothy, to build more churches,
making three mission journeys. And before the Gospels were written, Paul wrote
his epistles extensively. He did it all, while risking his life.
As he completed all his apostolic work, sensing his
death drew nearer in Rome, Paul reflected his life as the converted apostle and
put it in these words:
For I am already being poured out like a
libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have
finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of
righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on
that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance
(2 Timothy 4:6-8).
Paul is a grace to us, the Church. We thank Jesus for choosing
him, converting him from a dangerous enemy of the Church into a zealous builder
of the Church, making him a great theological to explain his teaching as an
apostolic rabbi, trained by Gamaliel and commissioned by Jesus. Thanks to Paul,
Jesus can be revealed more to us through his works even today.
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