Thoughts on the Conversion of Paul:

Conversion of Saint Paul by Michaelangelo

In celebration of the year of Saint Paul, yesterday we celebrated the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, instead of the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time. We know the story from the Acts of the Apostles: Paul was hostil to the Church, he persecuted Her. On the road to Damascus he was surronded by a great light (Christ says: I am the way, the truth and the light), and in that light he met Christ. Later in his life, after spreading Christianity throughout the then known world, from Syria to Spain (quite a journey in those days!), he reflected on how at that moment he was called to be an apostle by Christ.

Let us reflect on our own calling by Christ. I am often asked, "When did you know you wanted to be a priest?" I always want to ask, "When did you know you wanted to be a husband, a father, a wife, a mother, a teacher, etc.?" Each of us is called by Christ. When our ancestors came to these shores of Lake Michigan, they were called by Christ to establish the Church here. We can read how they cleared plots of land, and working with priest and religious sisters, established and built with their own hands our parishes, schools, hospitals, etc. (lay involvment is not something new from the last fifty years!). We are also called to continue building up the Church in our own time as a great treasure. We must always remember that that we do not own this treasure, since the Church is not our body, but the body of Christ, but we are caretakers of it.

In view of this, we have to ask: "How is Christ asking us to take care of His Body here on earth?" He has called me to be married to the Church and to be the father of a parish. He is also calling you. What have we been doing to build up the Body of Christ?

We do not face the same challenges that our ancestors faced. We do not need to literally carve out space for the Church from the forest-wilderness, but we need to carve a space for the Church in the public-sphere. The Church is by and far one of the greatest advocates of human dignity. For the past two thousand years She has been building hospitals and schools, raising up religious orders to take of the poor, and advocating for the down trodden. To continue to be this great advocate, to literally "call it out" when human dignity is trampled, is the greatest challenge that the Church faces today.

In the center of Paul's conversion and what he held as the center of his life was the encounter with Christ. This has been the center of my calling, I cannot be a priest, in fact I cannot even call myself Christian, if Christ is not in the center of my life. Christ is the point on which all calling pivot. As members of His Body, we are called to encounter him, and from that encounter to be called by Him.

God bless you, and may the name of Jesus Christ be Praised!

Saint Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles...

...Pray for Us!