Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, January 25th

Today we celebrate the feast of the conversion of the Apostle of the Gentiles.

The God of our fathers has chosen you so that you may know his will, see the Just One, and listen to the voice from his lips, because you are going to be his witness before all men of what you have seen and heard. Now, nothing stops you, get up, receive Baptism and wash away your sins invoking his name.

These are the words that Ananias addressed to Paul in the name of Christ that day when he was on his way to Damascus in search of Christians to bring them prisoners to Jerusalem.

Since his encounter with Jesus, Paul changed his objective but not his radicalism. From a fierce persecutor he became an ardent evangelizer, missionary and founder of Christian communities.

May his example and his preaching that we can read in his letters motivate, feed and inspire our own commitment to live the gospel and our own baptism.

Fr. Claudio