25 January 2023
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle
“I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’
And he said to me,
‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’” –Acts 22:7-8
Today as we remember the Conversion of St. Paul, we also observe the last day of the eight days of prayer for Christian Unity. In the exchange between Saul and Jesus we hear one of the most powerful motives for unity that we can imagine: Jesus considers the Church His Body. Our Lord does not ask Saul, ‘Why are you persecuting those who believe in me?’ He asks, ‘Why are you persecuting me?’
As marvelous as St. Paul’s encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus is, we share that encounter every day. Our Lord comes to meet us in the flesh and blood of our brothers and sisters. It is Jesus Himself who meets us through them. As much as we should ask in life, “What would Jesus do?”, the words heard by St. Paul may provoke in us another question: “When I met Jesus today, how shall I treat Him?” Let us pray for the grace to be turned to listen to Jesus as St. Paul was, and so to give our lives in service to Christ’s Body, the Church.