The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation about conversion and our action to live in faith.
Poets and Preachers convert
In the first choice of readings from the Book of Acts Chapter 22 Paul tells of His Conversion
* [22:1–21] Paul’s first defense speech is presented to the Jerusalem crowds. Luke here presents Paul as a devout Jew (Acts 22:3) and zealous persecutor of the Christian community (Acts 22:4–5), and then recounts the conversion of Paul for the second time in Acts (see note on Acts 9:1–19).1
and in the alternate reading from Acts Chapter 9, Luke recounts the conversion of Saul, his Baptism and preaching in Damascus.
* [9:1–19] This is the first of three accounts of Paul’s conversion (with Acts 22:3–16 and Acts 26:2–18) with some differences of detail owing to Luke’s use of different sources. Paul’s experience was not visionary but was precipitated by the appearance of Jesus, as he insists in 1 Cor 15:8. The words of Jesus, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” related by Luke with no variation in all three accounts, exerted a profound and lasting influence on the thought of Paul. Under the influence of this experience he gradually developed his understanding of justification by faith (see the letters to the Galatians and Romans) and of the identification of the Christian community with Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor 12:27). That Luke would narrate this conversion three times is testimony to the importance he attaches to it. This first account occurs when the word is first spread to the Gentiles. At this point, the conversion of the hero of the Gentile mission is recounted. The emphasis in the account is on Paul as a divinely chosen instrument (Acts 9:15).2
* [Psalm 117] This shortest of hymns calls on the nations to acknowledge God’s supremacy. The supremacy of Israel’s God has been demonstrated to them by the people’s secure existence, which is owed entirely to God’s gracious fidelity.3
The Commissioning of the Eleven instructing them to go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation is in the longer ending to the Gospel of Mark.
* [16:9–20] This passage, termed the Longer Ending to the Marcan gospel by comparison with a much briefer conclusion found in some less important manuscripts, has traditionally been accepted as a canonical part of the gospel and was defined as such by the Council of Trent. Early citations of it by the Fathers indicate that it was composed by the second century, although vocabulary and style indicate that it was written by someone other than Mark. It is a general resume of the material concerning the appearances of the risen Jesus, reflecting, in particular, traditions found in Lk 24 and Jn 20.4
Mary Lee Brock comments the story of Paul’s conversion has so many elements including the reputation of Saul as a persecutor, the fear of Ananias expressed about confronting Saul, the commanding presence of Jesus and the rebirth of Paul after having been struck down and blinded. This story is inspiring and also very challenging.
As I pray with this reading I realize how difficult it is to confront my own moments in my life where I needed conversion. While I have always had a steadfast faith in Jesus, I can see times in my life where I behaved like Saul and used my power to persecute people who did not seem to share my values. There were no chains and prisons involved, but yet I would use the power of my words and actions to marginalize someone or punish them in some way. Facing these sins is so humiliating. Yet when I sit with the memories I am also profoundly aware of God’s compassion. It was through Jesus that the “scales would fall from my eyes” and I could see the other as a whole person loved by God. I am grateful for the times that I have accepted the conversion invitations and I pray that I am always able to hear the Holy Spirit.5
Don Schwager quotes Pope Benedict XVI who reflects on the significance of Paul's conversion for the whole Christian people.
"Paul's conversion matured in his encounter with the Risen Christ; it was this encounter that radically changed his life. What happened to him on the road to Damascus is what Jesus asks in today's Gospel: Saul is converted because, thanks to the divine light, "he has believed in the Gospel". In this consists his and our conversion: in believing in Jesus dead and risen and in opening to the illumination of his divine grace. In that moment Saul understood that his salvation did not depend on good works fulfilled according to the law, but on the fact that Jesus died also for him the persecutor and has risen. This truth by which every Christian life is enlightened thanks to Baptism completely overturns our way of life. To be converted means, also for each one of us, to believe that Jesus "has given himself for me", dying on the Cross (cf. Galatians 2: 20) and, risen, lives with me and in me. Entrusting myself to the power of his forgiveness, letting myself be taken by his hand, I can come out of the quicksands of pride and sin, of deceit and sadness, of selfishness and of every false security, to know and live the richness of his love." (from address given on January 25, 2009)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 22:3-16 notes one of the truths Paul advocated so passionately for was the fact that in Christ, all believers are one. Think, for instance, of his tireless work in bridging the divide between Jews and Gentiles. He said it over and over again: baptism has made all believers one in Christ. All the old divisions had to fall away so that they could treat each other as equal brothers and sisters in the Lord (Galatians 3:28; Romans 10:12; 1 Corinthians 12:13; and Colossians 3:11).
What about us? We may not be able to resolve all the doctrinal issues that separate us from Christians of other denominations. But we can, by God’s grace, learn to love them as brothers and sisters in Christ. We have more in common than the Gentiles and Jews in the early Church. The grace of baptism unites us. The Holy Spirit unites us. Our godly desire for justice unites us. The more we see one another as beloved children of God and the more we work together on behalf of the gospel, the more we will be able to pursue unity according to the heart of God and on his timetable.7
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that the abbas and ammas sought out desert conditions, believing they would find new and abundant life—even where life seemed impossible. Fr. Richard invites us to take a few breaths and to slowly and contemplatively read this passage from Howard Thurman’s Meditations of the Heart, in which he describes an encounter in another kind of mountain wilderness.
It is as if the tree had said, “I am destined to reach for the skies and embrace in my arms the wind, the rain, the snow and the sun, singing my song of joy to all the heavens. But this I cannot do. I have taken root beyond the timber line, and yet I do not want to die; I must not die. I shall make a careful survey of my situation and work out a method, a way of life, that will yield growth and development for me despite the contradictions under which I must eke out my days. In the end I may not look like the other trees, I may not be what all that is within me cries out to be. But I will not give up. I will use to the full every resource in me and about me to answer life with life. In so doing I shall affirm that this is the kind of universe that sustains, upon demand, the life that is in it.” I wonder if I dare to act even as the tree acts. I wonder! I wonder! Do you? [2]8
Trees at the top by the sea
As we respond to the call of the Gospel and the example of Paul we embrace Creation as a path to greater connection to the intimacy of God.
In the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today we have an account of conversion and a commission to take the “Good News” to all people.
Speaking to the people
In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul makes a defense before the Jerusalem Jews of his mission to the Gentiles as a consequence of his encounter with Christ.
* [22:1–21] Paul’s first defense speech is presented to the Jerusalem crowds. Luke here presents Paul as a devout Jew (Acts 22:3) and zealous persecutor of the Christian community (Acts 22:4–5), and then recounts the conversion of Paul for the second time in Acts (see note on Acts 9:1–19).1
In the longer ending of the Gospel of Mark the eleven are commissioned by Jesus to witness to His Way.
* [16:9–20] This passage, termed the Longer Ending to the Marcan gospel by comparison with a much briefer conclusion found in some less important manuscripts, has traditionally been accepted as a canonical part of the gospel and was defined as such by the Council of Trent. Early citations of it by the Fathers indicate that it was composed by the second century, although vocabulary and style indicate that it was written by someone other than Mark. It is a general resume of the material concerning the appearances of the risen Jesus, reflecting, in particular, traditions found in Lk 24 and Jn 20.2
Eileen-Burke Sullivan suggests that we might miss a very important instruction that Ananias gave to Saul who chooses to respond to Jesus “. . . You will be the Lord’s witness before all, to what you have seen and heard. Now why delay? Get up and be baptized . . .”
The gift and the demands of baptism do not get old and wear out. Ever new is the call to life in Christ and the labor of loving care for the all of God’s people. Paul’s conversion is a perfect feast for our conversion or re-conversion to the task of loving God, God’s creation and all of God’s people. Ignatius of Loyola reminds us that love is shown in deeds more than in words. How will be act baptized today?
Don Schwager quotes Benedict XVI reflection on the significance of Paul's conversion for the whole Christian people.
"Paul's conversion matured in his encounter with the Risen Christ; it was this encounter that radically changed his life. What happened to him on the road to Damascus is what Jesus asks in today's Gospel: Saul is converted because, thanks to the divine light, "he has believed in the Gospel". In this consists his and our conversion: in believing in Jesus dead and risen and in opening to the illumination of his divine grace. In that moment Saul understood that his salvation did not depend on good works fulfilled according to the law, but on the fact that Jesus died also for him the persecutor and has risen. This truth by which every Christian life is enlightened thanks to Baptism completely overturns our way of life. To be converted means, also for each one of us, to believe that Jesus "has given himself for me", dying on the Cross (cf. Galatians 2: 20) and, risen, lives with me and in me. Entrusting myself to the power of his forgiveness, letting myself be taken by his hand, I can come out of the quicksands of pride and sin, of deceit and sadness, of selfishness and of every false security, to know and live the richness of his love." (from address given on January 25, 2009)4
The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 22:3-16 comments that a devout Jew, Paul had been walking with God all his life. Still, he had a serious blind spot. He couldn’t see that the Christians he was persecuting were his brothers and sisters. He couldn’t see that this Jesus he was fighting against was the Messiah.
It’s not hard to imagine how we too can walk around with blind spots—even after years of following the Lord. We might make unwarranted assumptions about some people because of the way they look. Past hurts or old prejudices might affect how we treat people. We might reflexively categorize people into “friends” and “enemies” or into “us” and “them.” And all this time, Jesus wants us to see people as he sees them, as beloved children of God.5
I believe that we are invited to gaze upon the image of the crucified Jesus to soften our hearts toward all suffering, to help us see how we ourselves have been “bitten” by hatred and violence, and to know that God’s heart has always been softened toward us. In turning our gaze to this divine truth—in dropping our many modes of scapegoating and self-justification—we gain compassion toward ourselves and all others who suffer. It largely happens on the psychic and unconscious level, but that is exactly where our hurts and our will to violence lie, lodged in the primitive “lizard brain,” where we have almost no rational control.6
The response of people to Jesus invitation to follow Him may have a great effect in their lives as our actions are moved by the Spirit to be a closer model of Him.
The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Memorial of St Benedict, founder of Western monasticism, connect to themes of the necessity to reinforce in our society Christian principles based on the Word, Jesus. The Prophet Hosea calls to the people of Samaria, where the kings do the opposite of what they are supposed to do, to plow a new field.
* [10:3] No king: the instability of the monarchy (7:3–7) and its vassalage to foreign kings (7:8–16) render the monarchy ineffective. The kings do the opposite of what they are supposed to do (10:4).
In the Gospel from Matthew, Jesus assigns twelve of His disciples to bring the message of His actions to the people of Israel.
* [10:5–6] Like Jesus (Mt 15:24), the Twelve are sent only to Israel. This saying may reflect an original Jewish Christian refusal of the mission to the Gentiles, but for Matthew it expresses rather the limitation that Jesus himself observed during his ministry.
Angela Maynard reflects on the vocation of a young friend and the Rule of St Benedict that he has chosen to follow. She asks if the apostles had a handbook. The apostles had the best kind of guide — they lived with Jesus. There are four gospels written about him. Her young monk has an instruction book at his disposal, it’s called St. Benedict’s rule. It, too, is rooted in the gospels.
For today, take some time to think about what OUR rule might look like. Life according to me … Consider: What is important to me? How do I spend my time? Do my actions impact anybody, and if so, how? What does God want from me—what is my purpose?
Rod Dreher, author of The Benedict Option, quotes Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, on the collapse of our society.
“it is obligatory to compare today’s situation with the decline of the Roman Empire. In its final days, Rome still functioned as a great historical framework, but in practice its vital energy had been depleted.”
Dreher discusses what the Notre Dame sociologist Christian Smith and his colleagues call the “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” (MTD). MTD uses the language and conceptual vocabulary of historical, biblical Christianity, but in fact it teaches a malleable, feel-good, Jesus-light philosophy perfectly suited to a consumerist, individualistic, post-Christian society that worships the self. Don Schwager asks if we believe in the life-changing power of the Gospel and experience its transforming effect in our lives?
The core of the Gospel message is quite simple: the kingdom (or reign) of God is very near! What is the kingdom of God? It is that society of men and women who know God's love and mercy, and who willingly obey and honor God as their Lord and King. In the prayer which Jesus gave to his disciples (the Lord's Prayer or Our Father), he taught them to pray for God to reign in their daily lives and in the world around them: May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 10 comments that Jesus has given us a share in his authority. He has called us by name and empowered us with his Spirit. Like the young person first sitting behind the steering wheel, we have much to learn. But don’t let that keep us from trying! Friar Jude Winkler finds some comments on social justice in the words of the Hosea. We live like people of God in the way we treat each other. The very Jewish Gospel of Matthew also reaches out to pagans who are recognized by Jesus as having faith, sometimes greater than the people of Israel. Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, sees in the status quo that most religion is highly “legitimating religion.” It is used for social control and public order by the powers that be and individuals. This oppressive use of religion has allowed much of Christian history to fully cooperate in toxic and unjust societies—just as long as each person had “a personal relationship with Jesus.” This will not work anymore; in fact, it never did.
Most of us need to have the status quo shaken now and then, leaving us off balance and askew, feeling alienated for a while from our usual unquestioned loyalties. In this uncomfortable space, we can finally recognize the much larger kingdom of God. Many churches don’t seem to understand this, even flying the national flag in sanctuaries while daring to talk about “one God before us” in the same space. After authentic conversion, our old “country” no longer holds any ultimate position. We can’t worship it any longer as we were once trained to do. Our national identity is okay, probably necessary, but very limited in its capacity for truth, much less universal truth.
The message of the Scripture today as lived by St Benedict is one of strengthening ourselves through our relationship with Jesus to be in service to others. References
