The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle

The Collect
O God, by the preaching of your apostle Paul you have caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: Grant, we pray, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show ourselves thankful to you by following his holy teaching; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Psalm
67

The Readings
Acts 26:9-21     +     Galatians 1:11-24     +     Matthew 10:16-22

(A)nd I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, "The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy." And they glorified God because of me.
~Gal. 2:22-24

Paul's story is one of the best known and most dramatic conversion stories in history. We may understandably be wary of dramatic conversions--too often, the "conversion" doesn't last, or proves to have been a deception. But real conversion happens. Jesus has been turning lives around for 2,000 years. And often, the turning is indeed nothing less than dramatic.

For Paul, the one-time zealous persecutor of the followers of Jesus, conversion meant a new zeal: to devote everything he was and everything he had to proclaiming the gospel. Paul was called to go to the diverse peoples of the world and preach the message, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18a). As the New Testament relates, Paul himself was often violently persecuted for the very faith he had once sought to destroy. But Paul had experienced the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ, and nothing would sway him from it.

The great 4th-century bishop and preacher, John Chrysostom, in one of his sermons, wrote:

"There was one thing, and one thing only, that (Paul) feared and shunned, and that was to give offense to God. Just as there was one thing he longed for, to please God. He was rich with the love of Christ, which was the greatest of all things to him. While he had this, he reckoned himself the most blessed of men. Without it, he had no wish to be numbered among princes and rulers and powers . . . to find this love was his joy. This to him was life, it was the whole world, his angel, things present, things to come, the kingdom and the promise. This was the sum of all blessings."

Closing Prayer
O God, give us such an experience of knowing and loving Jesus, that we may count all as loss in comparison. Open our eyes to see the light and life that is Christ, and to follow fearlessly where he leads. Amen.