'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.'
Saul - which was Paul's first name - is called by Jesus himself. Saul was always passionate about the Law of God, he defended it radically. That passion that characterized him did not disappear after his conversion but was transformed: through the action of the Holy Spirit, Paul went from wanting to destroy the Church to being a brave apostle, announcing Christ everywhere he went and forming new Christian communities.
This teaches us that what causes passion for the Gospel is not a person's personality or studies, but rather the encounter with Christ. Saint Paul's conversion process also implies that the church he persecuted will have to forgive him. It is, therefore, a double conversion: from Saul to the community, and from the community to Saul.
On this feast of the conversion of Saint Paul, let us ask the Lord to increase in us the passion for the Gospel of Christ, which is born from recognizing ourselves as sinners and welcoming the grace of God's love into our lives.
Fr. Martin