Paul and the Grace of Transformation
(Msgr. Youssef Soueif, current Maronite Bishop of Cyprus)

“Paul and the grace of transformation” – by Msgr. Youssef Soueif
The Family of Saint Sharbel – Annaya – Friday, January 25, 2002
(Note: This is a transcription of an audio recording of the talk, hence its colloquial style).
http://www.ayletmarcharbel.org/content/bouls-ounaamt-althoul-almounsynyour-yousf-souyf
Greetings in Christ.
Our deep prayer today is for the unity of all Christians for which Jesus himself prayed. We raise to the Lord this deep prayer for unity, from the unity of Man with himself to the unity between Churches, in accordance with God’s will.
We pray for our country and for the world, that the Lord give them peace. Nowadays, a mentality of non-peace prevails. We pray that Man’s conscience awaken, that peace reign and be lived in societies, Churches, nations and the world.
Our topic tonight is Paul’s transformation, and it is titled: “Paul and the grace of transformation.”
This experience is primarily and wholly described in Chapters 8 and 9 of the Acts of the Apostles. It is the experience of the Church in the face of persecution, and Paul’s change of the heart by grace.
Let’s read the biblical passage: “Now Saul was consenting to Stephen’s execution. On that day, there broke out a severe persecution of the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him. Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the church; entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts 8:1-3). Next, Chapter 8 talks about the evangelization of Samaria and the predication of Philip to the Court Official of the Queen of the Ethiopians.
Different parts of Chapter 8 talk about the martyrdom of Stephen and Paul’s role in it, and about the experience of the growing Church who is proclaiming the Good News in the midst of persecutions. Then we move to Chapter 9:
“Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is there praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay [his] hands on him, that he may regain his sight.” But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call upon your name.” But the Lord said to 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.” So Ananias went and entered the house; laying his hands on him, he said, “Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came, that you may regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit.” Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized, and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength. He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus, and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.”
What happened to Saul is an important event in the life of the Church, both persecuted and prosperous. The transformation model of Saul is the same as that of the Church who is experiencing pain but also prospering despite the challenges.
We see here Saul approving of Stephen’s killing. As you know, Stephen was the first deacon. The word “deacon” means servant, and so, Stephen was an image of Christ, the Servant. The servant’s diaconia is also mirrored in the Church’s role as servant, following the example of Christ.
Saul was persecuting the Servant of Christ, which means he was persecuting Christ himself.
Saul approved of Stephen’s killing. Subsequently, the Church started suffering persecution.
The consequence of this persecution was the dispersal of Christians. This dispersal is important, even crucial, in launching the Church’s mission. All Christians scattered, except for the Apostles who stuck together. This dispersal was not a separation, because the unity of the community of Apostles is a guarantee and a continuation of the Church’s mission, despite the persecution faced.
Saul had been an essential contributor to the Church’s destruction. He sought to abolish the Church, the Temple, to destroy the Church. He went from house to house, dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment. Dispersed Christians roamed from one place to another. Christians lived this dispersal with a spirit of evangelization. God intervenes in the midst of persecution, and this predicament was an opportunity for Christians to preach the Gospel wherever they dwelt. God used this persecution and dispersion to spread the word. That’s how Saul and the Church’s mission are interconnected. The Church’s presence helped pagan and Jewish societies to experience a transformation.
In Samaria, according to the biblical text, healings occurred and a great joy filled the city. This transformation reached communities and individuals thanks to the work of the Apostles and all the Children of the Church. This transformation still occurs to this day, thanks to the Children of the Church. To be sure, it is God who accomplishes this transformation, but through the apostles and the faithful.
This is how God works through the human element, through people. Samaria was transformed and received healing from evil spirits. Simon the sorcerer also was transformed. At first, he wanted to purchase the gift of the Holy Spirit so he could perform miracles like John and Peter. He wanted to be famous. This Simon was transformed through John and Peter’s predication. He was also transformed – the text does not say it, but I imagine it – when he repented before the Lord. He turned from the darkness of ignorance to the light of Truth, and chose the light of the Lord Jesus instead of the darkness of money.
Philip converted the Queen of Ethiopia’s Court Official, and through him converted a nation. Thanks to Philip’s preaching, the Official converted, and through him, the whole nation. This is not just about the number of people who converted. The same still happens today, and, in the third millennium, we are more than ever acutely aware of the importance of such conversions. This is an open invitation to everyone, and our Lord may use only one person for this task. We, in the Family of Saint Sharbel, witness to this. The Court Official came to Jerusalem where lots of people gather. There he met Philip who proclaimed to him Christ who fulfilled the prophecies. He showed him the truth of Christ, and so the Public Official professed that Jesus is the Son of God, was baptized and went on his merry way. An intervention in someone’s life results in a transformation, and its fruit is great joy. This is, then, a transformation that reaches individuals, cities, societies, Saul, and even reaches us at every moment. It reached Saul directly, turned his world upside down and upended his logic. Chapter 9 describes this transformation beautifully:
“Saul was breathing murderous threats.” His thinking was clear, and he had deep conviction in his beliefs. He carried out his mission with professionalism: he asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that he might arrest men and women. He targeted Damascus because he figured out that, if he arrested the disciples there, he would put an end to Christian expansion in the whole area. He went quickly to Damascus because Christianity could risk spreading from there to the whole region, to the Far East and all the way West.
Then, on his journey, “as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.”
What a wonderful scene! God’s intervention suddenly shines a light. This light is joy, an enlightening ray from heaven, a grace from the Kingdom of heaven. God’s intervention shocks and rattles the human being.
He fell to the ground. Saul fell to the ground. God’s intervention in this specific person’s history caused a “falling to the ground.” Saul renounced all of his prejudices, a priori, and agendas. He fell to the ground, returned to the ground, to dust, but only so he could be born anew. He fell to the ground as a persecutor, as the logical person who is zealous for his beliefs and the beliefs of his community, but came back up another person. There is no transformation, then, without a shake-up and a “falling to the ground;” no transformation without self-emptying. No real transformation can occur without “falling to the ground,” self-effacement, returning to oneself and emptying oneself. It is only then that I am ready to heard God’s voice.
“…and he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’”
It is very significant that he heard a voice, that he reached a state of listening. It is only now that Saul is able to listen. He, the Pharisee absorbed in the Law, and teacher of that Law, he knew and taught the Law, he never heard the voice. Now, deep inside himself, he was able to hear Jesus the Savior, because he has been freed from hearing his own personal voice, opinions, philosophy, and knowledge. “I consider it all so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” He heard the voice by grace, and because he responded to this grace.
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Jesus called him by name, and gave him his name, in order to rename him. Jesus identifies himself with the Church whom Paul is persecuting. Saul’s conversion is inseparable from the plan for the Church. Saul and the Church. Christ is the head of the Church, and she is called to meet the same fate He met. “Why are you persecuting me?”…Saul was also called to meet that same fate: obedience until death, death on the Cross…He became destined for that same fate and called to share in the grace of Christ. Jesus revealed himself to him in a special way, through a transfiguration, a divine apparition. The Living Christ appeared to this man. The Gospel of the resurrection, the plan of transfiguration…
Saul said, “Who are you, Sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to resist me. “I am Jesus, and I am the one whom you are persecuting.”
Paul answered…
Scared and terrified, he said: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
What do you want me to do? That’s a wonderful question. No thinking, no hesitation, no argument, no doubt, no discussion, no backing out or return to the past…but a new beginning founded on the resurrection…The first word Jesus said was: “Get up.”
“Get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.”
“Get up.” This is the foundation of a new life in the resurrection. “Get up and go into the city” means “go to the Church.” There you will be told what you must do; a new life rooted in the resurrection and blooming in the Church. “There you will be told what you must do,” meaning that the Church will tell you what you must do. This is the foundation of our faith, of our journey as Christians and as human beings – a journey rooted in the resurrection and blooming in the Church. Are we ready to accept this foundation, without trying to skirt a few issues? Here we understand that Christ and Church are interconnected. We are rooted in the resurrection, but our growth is in the Church, and under the direction of the Church. This is where the transformation project happens.
The new life then starts with a personal experience of the Living Christ. And the Church is the one who tells us what we must do. Saul’s experience is a clear explanation and an explicit definition of the Church of Christ, her role and her mission. Through her and thanks to her, the grace of Jesus Christ acts in our life. There are many graces in the Church of Christ. So many salvific graces the Sacraments bring into the world!
“The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing.”
He got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing, because he is meant to see a new light, after experiencing the darkness of the tomb.
“So they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.”
For three days he was unable to see. He was put in a tomb, and lived the full experience. He lived the Son’s whole plan of salvation. He experienced it all. He followed the steps of the Lord. He lived the experience of death, burial and resurrection. The Church perpetuates what Jesus started. The result is: Ananias, and the Church of Damascus.
“Go, for this man is a chosen apostle 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.”
“A chosen Apostle of mine.” Jesus spreads his message and grants his graces to people through the Church. It is inevitable that one will experience a shock. There’s a special time and a shake-up in everyone’s life. It is a sign of God’s powerful intervention in our human experience. God’s intervention happens and is perpetuated through the Church who shows us the way for the New Life and daily transformation.
We have all met Christ, had an experience with him, but there has to be a shake-up. We were all integrated into Jesus’ plan when we were baptized. He chose us and we responded. But there has to be a shake-up.
A personal encounter. Jesus sends the Church. We are certainly apostles, and we must be aware that every baptized is an apostle chosen by God. “Go,” the directive given to Ananias, is given to each one of us. Jesus chooses. Divine grace elects. This is what the imposition of hands on the priest is: an election. It is a calling to holiness. Christian vocation is a general and universal election, and from it come vocations to the priesthood and religious life; consecration to the Christian family is for building the culture of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is time for every baptized to realize that he or she is an apostle. It is an obvious truth, but we run from it sometimes, and attribute apostleship to only one category of the Children of the Church. “As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world” (John 17:18). Christians, dispersed because of persecution, preached the Gospel. Christian dispersal caused by divisions is a different kind of dispersal. The first kind engenders unity, the second, division and pride; it impedes the spreading of the Gospel and scandalizes the world. It makes us unworthy to be called apostles. We were called apostles to realize unity, which is the task of every baptized. Realizing unity with ourselves and with our neighbor paves the way for the Spirit to realize unity in the Church universally.
Paul’s important role was to bring the Name to everyone, every civilization and culture. This is the reason for the greatness of Paul who brought the Good News to all peoples, accomplished the will of Jesus who came for the sake of everyone to win everyone, and whose salvation embraces everyone. Saul’s transformation is a transformation from sectarianism to universality, from narrow-mindedness to the breadth of the Cross.
Finally, “Ananias went and entered the house; laying his hands on him, he said, ‘Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came, that you may regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit.’ Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized, and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength” (Acts 9:17-19).
Baptism and Eucharist realize and give us God’s power. Paul then hastened to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God.
This is Saul’s transformation, but it is also all of ours.
We are called to live this transformation deeply and honestly – a transformation from a person destroying and wrecking the Church to a person who contributes to the up-building of the spiritual Temple, so that each one of us may become a living stone in this extraordinarily beautiful and amazing Church. Amen.
The Family of Saint Sharbel – Annaya – Friday, January 25, 2002
(Note: This is a transcription of an audio recording of the talk, hence its colloquial style).
http://www.ayletmarcharbel.org/content/bouls-ounaamt-althoul-almounsynyour-yousf-souyf
Greetings in Christ.
Our deep prayer today is for the unity of all Christians for which Jesus himself prayed. We raise to the Lord this deep prayer for unity, from the unity of Man with himself to the unity between Churches, in accordance with God’s will.
We pray for our country and for the world, that the Lord give them peace. Nowadays, a mentality of non-peace prevails. We pray that Man’s conscience awaken, that peace reign and be lived in societies, Churches, nations and the world.
Our topic tonight is Paul’s transformation, and it is titled: “Paul and the grace of transformation.”
This experience is primarily and wholly described in Chapters 8 and 9 of the Acts of the Apostles. It is the experience of the Church in the face of persecution, and Paul’s change of the heart by grace.
Let’s read the biblical passage: “Now Saul was consenting to Stephen’s execution. On that day, there broke out a severe persecution of the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him. Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the church; entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts 8:1-3). Next, Chapter 8 talks about the evangelization of Samaria and the predication of Philip to the Court Official of the Queen of the Ethiopians.
Different parts of Chapter 8 talk about the martyrdom of Stephen and Paul’s role in it, and about the experience of the growing Church who is proclaiming the Good News in the midst of persecutions. Then we move to Chapter 9:
“Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains. On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” He said, “Who are you, sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is there praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay [his] hands on him, that he may regain his sight.” But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call upon your name.” But the Lord said to 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.” So Ananias went and entered the house; laying his hands on him, he said, “Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came, that you may regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit.” Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized, and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength. He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus, and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.”
What happened to Saul is an important event in the life of the Church, both persecuted and prosperous. The transformation model of Saul is the same as that of the Church who is experiencing pain but also prospering despite the challenges.
We see here Saul approving of Stephen’s killing. As you know, Stephen was the first deacon. The word “deacon” means servant, and so, Stephen was an image of Christ, the Servant. The servant’s diaconia is also mirrored in the Church’s role as servant, following the example of Christ.
Saul was persecuting the Servant of Christ, which means he was persecuting Christ himself.
Saul approved of Stephen’s killing. Subsequently, the Church started suffering persecution.
The consequence of this persecution was the dispersal of Christians. This dispersal is important, even crucial, in launching the Church’s mission. All Christians scattered, except for the Apostles who stuck together. This dispersal was not a separation, because the unity of the community of Apostles is a guarantee and a continuation of the Church’s mission, despite the persecution faced.
Saul had been an essential contributor to the Church’s destruction. He sought to abolish the Church, the Temple, to destroy the Church. He went from house to house, dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment. Dispersed Christians roamed from one place to another. Christians lived this dispersal with a spirit of evangelization. God intervenes in the midst of persecution, and this predicament was an opportunity for Christians to preach the Gospel wherever they dwelt. God used this persecution and dispersion to spread the word. That’s how Saul and the Church’s mission are interconnected. The Church’s presence helped pagan and Jewish societies to experience a transformation.
In Samaria, according to the biblical text, healings occurred and a great joy filled the city. This transformation reached communities and individuals thanks to the work of the Apostles and all the Children of the Church. This transformation still occurs to this day, thanks to the Children of the Church. To be sure, it is God who accomplishes this transformation, but through the apostles and the faithful.
This is how God works through the human element, through people. Samaria was transformed and received healing from evil spirits. Simon the sorcerer also was transformed. At first, he wanted to purchase the gift of the Holy Spirit so he could perform miracles like John and Peter. He wanted to be famous. This Simon was transformed through John and Peter’s predication. He was also transformed – the text does not say it, but I imagine it – when he repented before the Lord. He turned from the darkness of ignorance to the light of Truth, and chose the light of the Lord Jesus instead of the darkness of money.
Philip converted the Queen of Ethiopia’s Court Official, and through him converted a nation. Thanks to Philip’s preaching, the Official converted, and through him, the whole nation. This is not just about the number of people who converted. The same still happens today, and, in the third millennium, we are more than ever acutely aware of the importance of such conversions. This is an open invitation to everyone, and our Lord may use only one person for this task. We, in the Family of Saint Sharbel, witness to this. The Court Official came to Jerusalem where lots of people gather. There he met Philip who proclaimed to him Christ who fulfilled the prophecies. He showed him the truth of Christ, and so the Public Official professed that Jesus is the Son of God, was baptized and went on his merry way. An intervention in someone’s life results in a transformation, and its fruit is great joy. This is, then, a transformation that reaches individuals, cities, societies, Saul, and even reaches us at every moment. It reached Saul directly, turned his world upside down and upended his logic. Chapter 9 describes this transformation beautifully:
“Saul was breathing murderous threats.” His thinking was clear, and he had deep conviction in his beliefs. He carried out his mission with professionalism: he asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that he might arrest men and women. He targeted Damascus because he figured out that, if he arrested the disciples there, he would put an end to Christian expansion in the whole area. He went quickly to Damascus because Christianity could risk spreading from there to the whole region, to the Far East and all the way West.
Then, on his journey, “as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.”
What a wonderful scene! God’s intervention suddenly shines a light. This light is joy, an enlightening ray from heaven, a grace from the Kingdom of heaven. God’s intervention shocks and rattles the human being.
He fell to the ground. Saul fell to the ground. God’s intervention in this specific person’s history caused a “falling to the ground.” Saul renounced all of his prejudices, a priori, and agendas. He fell to the ground, returned to the ground, to dust, but only so he could be born anew. He fell to the ground as a persecutor, as the logical person who is zealous for his beliefs and the beliefs of his community, but came back up another person. There is no transformation, then, without a shake-up and a “falling to the ground;” no transformation without self-emptying. No real transformation can occur without “falling to the ground,” self-effacement, returning to oneself and emptying oneself. It is only then that I am ready to heard God’s voice.
“…and he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’”
It is very significant that he heard a voice, that he reached a state of listening. It is only now that Saul is able to listen. He, the Pharisee absorbed in the Law, and teacher of that Law, he knew and taught the Law, he never heard the voice. Now, deep inside himself, he was able to hear Jesus the Savior, because he has been freed from hearing his own personal voice, opinions, philosophy, and knowledge. “I consider it all so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” He heard the voice by grace, and because he responded to this grace.
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Jesus called him by name, and gave him his name, in order to rename him. Jesus identifies himself with the Church whom Paul is persecuting. Saul’s conversion is inseparable from the plan for the Church. Saul and the Church. Christ is the head of the Church, and she is called to meet the same fate He met. “Why are you persecuting me?”…Saul was also called to meet that same fate: obedience until death, death on the Cross…He became destined for that same fate and called to share in the grace of Christ. Jesus revealed himself to him in a special way, through a transfiguration, a divine apparition. The Living Christ appeared to this man. The Gospel of the resurrection, the plan of transfiguration…
Saul said, “Who are you, Sir?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to resist me. “I am Jesus, and I am the one whom you are persecuting.”
Paul answered…
Scared and terrified, he said: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
What do you want me to do? That’s a wonderful question. No thinking, no hesitation, no argument, no doubt, no discussion, no backing out or return to the past…but a new beginning founded on the resurrection…The first word Jesus said was: “Get up.”
“Get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.”
“Get up.” This is the foundation of a new life in the resurrection. “Get up and go into the city” means “go to the Church.” There you will be told what you must do; a new life rooted in the resurrection and blooming in the Church. “There you will be told what you must do,” meaning that the Church will tell you what you must do. This is the foundation of our faith, of our journey as Christians and as human beings – a journey rooted in the resurrection and blooming in the Church. Are we ready to accept this foundation, without trying to skirt a few issues? Here we understand that Christ and Church are interconnected. We are rooted in the resurrection, but our growth is in the Church, and under the direction of the Church. This is where the transformation project happens.
The new life then starts with a personal experience of the Living Christ. And the Church is the one who tells us what we must do. Saul’s experience is a clear explanation and an explicit definition of the Church of Christ, her role and her mission. Through her and thanks to her, the grace of Jesus Christ acts in our life. There are many graces in the Church of Christ. So many salvific graces the Sacraments bring into the world!
“The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing.”
He got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing, because he is meant to see a new light, after experiencing the darkness of the tomb.
“So they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.”
For three days he was unable to see. He was put in a tomb, and lived the full experience. He lived the Son’s whole plan of salvation. He experienced it all. He followed the steps of the Lord. He lived the experience of death, burial and resurrection. The Church perpetuates what Jesus started. The result is: Ananias, and the Church of Damascus.
“Go, for this man is a chosen apostle 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.”
“A chosen Apostle of mine.” Jesus spreads his message and grants his graces to people through the Church. It is inevitable that one will experience a shock. There’s a special time and a shake-up in everyone’s life. It is a sign of God’s powerful intervention in our human experience. God’s intervention happens and is perpetuated through the Church who shows us the way for the New Life and daily transformation.
We have all met Christ, had an experience with him, but there has to be a shake-up. We were all integrated into Jesus’ plan when we were baptized. He chose us and we responded. But there has to be a shake-up.
A personal encounter. Jesus sends the Church. We are certainly apostles, and we must be aware that every baptized is an apostle chosen by God. “Go,” the directive given to Ananias, is given to each one of us. Jesus chooses. Divine grace elects. This is what the imposition of hands on the priest is: an election. It is a calling to holiness. Christian vocation is a general and universal election, and from it come vocations to the priesthood and religious life; consecration to the Christian family is for building the culture of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is time for every baptized to realize that he or she is an apostle. It is an obvious truth, but we run from it sometimes, and attribute apostleship to only one category of the Children of the Church. “As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world” (John 17:18). Christians, dispersed because of persecution, preached the Gospel. Christian dispersal caused by divisions is a different kind of dispersal. The first kind engenders unity, the second, division and pride; it impedes the spreading of the Gospel and scandalizes the world. It makes us unworthy to be called apostles. We were called apostles to realize unity, which is the task of every baptized. Realizing unity with ourselves and with our neighbor paves the way for the Spirit to realize unity in the Church universally.
Paul’s important role was to bring the Name to everyone, every civilization and culture. This is the reason for the greatness of Paul who brought the Good News to all peoples, accomplished the will of Jesus who came for the sake of everyone to win everyone, and whose salvation embraces everyone. Saul’s transformation is a transformation from sectarianism to universality, from narrow-mindedness to the breadth of the Cross.
Finally, “Ananias went and entered the house; laying his hands on him, he said, ‘Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me, Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came, that you may regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit.’ Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized, and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength” (Acts 9:17-19).
Baptism and Eucharist realize and give us God’s power. Paul then hastened to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God.
This is Saul’s transformation, but it is also all of ours.
We are called to live this transformation deeply and honestly – a transformation from a person destroying and wrecking the Church to a person who contributes to the up-building of the spiritual Temple, so that each one of us may become a living stone in this extraordinarily beautiful and amazing Church. Amen.