25 January 2019
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle
Although there are a few exceptions, most great saints undergo some sort of sudden insight, a moment of God’s grace which enlightens their mind and resituates their world view in opposition or at least a substantial change from what has occurred before. Today’s feast recalls the story from the acts of the Apostles in which Saul is knocked down and receives a heavenly message that he as gotten things all mixed up. Although the great baroque painter Caravaggio has Saul knocked from a horse, as most painters do, there is no horse in scripture. Horse or no horse, Caravaggio still captures the moment of insight in a way that perhaps reflected the reality of the moment. Unlike Michelangelo, who created a scene of thunder and lightning visible to all, Caravaggio has the horse and a passerby looking curiously at a fallen Saul whose outstretched arms indicates he is experiencing something that no one else sees. Saul’s conversion to Paul marked a change in his life and that change was echoed in his preaching. His spiritual insights into the saving nature of God in Christ were not limited to those of Jewish ancestry. Rather, Jesus and His message of redemption was for all men and women. His message would also have been equally jarring to some who saw Christianity as an exclusive and ethnically based club. For most of us, the dramatic change experienced by Saul on the road to Damascus or the insights received by Ignatius during his recovery are best enjoyed from a distance. The idea of a sudden change of life unnerves us a bit. But not to worry, the gospels remind us that the mustard seed, the grain of wheat, and the bit of yeast, small as they are, provide equal opportunities for advancing the kingdom of Christ. Our prayer should be that we be receptive to the greatness of God in the smallest of things.