SERMON/HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL 25TH JANUARY 2024

SERMON/HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF THE 3RD WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL 25TH JANUARY 2024

Acts of Apostles 22:3-16; Ps.117; Mark 16:15-18

Conversion of Mind-set

Today we celebrate the conversion of St. Paul. Ordinarily, conversion involves a movement from bad to good; from sinfulness to righteousness; from waywardness to holiness. But looking at the life of Saul (before conversion) we cannot really say that he was bad, sinful or wayward. In the first reading of today, Paul himself gave an account of his life before, during and after his conversion. From this account, we come to understand another dimension to the whole concept of conversion. Conversion also entails a movement from the conventional practices or ideologies to the full truth.

Before conversion, Paul noted that he had great zeal for God. He was privileged to have been properly educated both formerly and informally. This education taught him that any other way outside Judaism is misleading. So, Paul grew up learning that Christianity and Christians were a distractors that an ardent Jew must do away with. This resulted to his persecution of Christians. Relying on knowledge from authority, Paul was convinced that he was doing the right thing. I can imagine that he never took his time to personally investigate if Christians were really guilty of whatever they may have been accused of.

His encounter with Jesus on the way to Damascus afforded him the opportunity to give the Christian sect a listening heart. He thereafter became an apostle of the Lord not just because he encountered Christ, but also because he came to better understanding of what Christianity is all about. He realized that he God was so zealous to serve the Christian God.

Many of us today need to revisit our preconceived notions about certain things and persons. We need to really ask ourselves how we came to feel negative about some persons, things and places. Our conception influences our actions and behaviours. So, if we don’t revisit some of these bias view of ours, we may never be able to obey the injunction of the Lord in the gospel of today; namely: Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. To preach the gospel is an action of love. So, you will not be able to preach the gospel in places and to persons that you do not love.

After conversion, Paul went about preaching the gospel especially to the gentile world. Many times he risked his life for this mission. He did all these not out of fear of offending the mighty Jesus he encountered on his way to Damascus but out of love for all that Christianity is and represents. Beloved, the truth is, the conversion of St. Paul is something that we stand in dire need of. So many things are going wrong because we have closed our minds against certain persons, ideas, places and things. We cannot do much for Christ with such narrow mind-set. Thus, let us ask the Lord today to encounter us as he encountered Saul.