St Paul

The conversion of St. Paul, which we commemorate on January 25th, today - has to be one of the best known non-Gospel stories in the Bible. Saul was a fervent Jew - he was present at the execution of Stephen the Deacon and the first Christian martyr. He actively persecuted the Christians until one day, on the road to Damascus he had an encounter with Jesus, a vision which convinced him utterly of the truth of the Gospel right then and there. He spent a couple of days without his sight and subsequently he became one of the most ardent followers of Jesus Christ in the early Church.

Paul has rough edges - he says things which we do not like or do not agree with but there is no doubting his enthusiasm and his devotion to the Good News which he seeks to bring. He certainly shows what it means to live a life given over to service - even if his theology can catch and snag some of our liberalism.

But back to the beginning, to that life changing encounter. I wonder which moments we would tag as our "Damascus Roads". Those moments when God encounters us and moves us gently or not so gently on in our journey. Those moments of meeting serve an end in themselves, usually anyway, but they also stand as markers along our journey, witnesses to the reality of our life hidden in Christ.

Our life hidden in Christ is not Christ hidden in us - Jesus wants to spill out. I imagine Paul was a challenging person to be around - but a person who had Christ on his lips and a good deal of love in his heart. He was also a person with a chequered history, a history of hate - but that, he tells us, is transformed by the love and forgiveness of Christ. We can all choose to be turned around, to be changed and molded every day. Our mandate might not be as huge as that of St. Paul but our humanity is the same and Jesus entering into and transforming all that turns us against the Good is the same offer on the same road.