Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle
January 25, 2024
Today’s Readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/012524.cfm
The Conversion of St. Paul – Caravaggio
Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we have the thrilling story of the conversion of St. Paul.
“On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,
Acts of the Apostles 22; 6-8
about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
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.’
God was not subtle with Paul! And it’s a good thing because Paul wasn’t subtle. He was the kind of guy who lived on the edge of life, always pushing the limits of his existence. He reminds me of a spiritual “Evel Knievel”.
God had to make a real impression in order to get Paul’s attention and turn his life around. When a lightning bolt knocks you off your horse, you tend to notice!
Our Gospel summarizes Jesus’s choice of his twelve apostles. Again, there was some pretty dramatic divine intervention used to get these men to take heed:
- Andrew heard a voice from the sky sanctify Jesus’s Baptism in the Jordan
- Nathaniel was miraculously observed under the fig tree
- Peter and his fishing buddies caught an incredible, net-breaking haul
- Philip asked, “What’s for dinner?’ and got twelve baskets of leftovers
- Thomas placed his fingers in the resurrected wounds
- Matthew got the grace to make an astounding career change
- and John, in the first Eucharistic moment, rested his ear against God’s heart
God’s daily call to us may come in softer garments. We all have a few dramatic moments in our lives, when we must grasp our faith to make it through. But for the most part, life may seem hypnotizingly ordinary. Our readings today encourage us to pay attention to grace — to open ourselves to God’s eternal promptings even in their ordinary costumes. Every sunrise offers such an invitation. How blessed we are when we recognize them!
Poetry: The Conversion of St. Paul – Christopher Smart (1722-1771)
Each line in he poem refers to a miracle in the scriptures. The son of Nun was Joshua who opens the poem.
Thro ' him, the chief, begot by Nun,
Controul'd the progress of the sun;
The shadow too, through him, retir'd
The ten degrees it had acquir'd.
The barren could her fruit afford,
The woman had her dead restor'd,
The statesman could himself demean
To seek the river, and be clean.
At his command, ev'n Christ I Am,
The cruse was fill'd, and iron swam;
The floods were dry'd to make a track,
And Jordan's wave was driven back.
All these in ancient days occurr'd,
The great atchievements of the Word,
By Joshua's hand, by Moses' rod,
By virtue of the men of God.
But greater is the mighty deed
To make a profligate recede,
And work a boist'rous madman mild,
To walk with Jesus like a child.
To give a heart of triple steel
The Lord's humanity to feel;
And there, where pity had no place,
To fill the measure of his grace;
To wash internal blackness white,
To call the worse than dead to light;
To make the fruitless soil to hold
Ten thousand times ten thousand fold.
To turn a servant of the times
From modish and ambitious crimes;
To pour down a resistless blaze,
‘Go, persecutor, preach and praise.’
Video: Instead of music today, I’ve included this video analysis of Caravaggio’s painting “The Conversion of St. Paul on the Road to Damascus”. It is one of at least two paintings by Caravaggio on the same subject. The other famous painting, “The Conversion of St. Paul” is seen at the top of this blog post.
I found that the video spoke to both art appreciation and spirituality. I hope you enjoy it.
Lavish Mercy 
You are saved entirely by God and not by anything you can do.
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I begin each day with a simple prayer:
“Thank you, Lord, for today.
Thank you for yesterday.
And if it is your will, thank you for tomorrow.
(Just want Him to know that I don’t take His presence for granted!)
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