Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
THE GRACE OF AN ENCOUNTER THAT LEADS TO TRUE CONVERSION
There is something deep and unique about every person, sometimes it takes personal experience to discover this uniqueness. I don't know if you have ever had an experience that made you realize the emptiness of this life, a kind of experience that turns pride into humility, sinfulness into righteousness, an experience that changes your perception about things or people.
This is what we see in the life of St. Paul who today we are celebrating the feast of his conversion as we have it in our first reading today. An event that would prompt us to reflect on our personal experience of God. I am confident enough to tell you that every day is an opportunity to encounter God through different events that occur in our lives. But it takes only one special event in our lives to experience a drastic change and conversion in our lives.
This is the kind of experience that Saul had with Jesus that made him realize the emptiness of his life and how wrong he was, fighting against God’s people. For Saul was a young and zealous Pharisee who was deeply involved in the persecutions of early Christians. He was present at the moment when St. Stephen was martyred and stoned to death.
Saul was also a leading figure among the Sanhedrin in their attempt to destroy the Church and the followers of Christ, for he went from place to place and carried out violent attacks against the followers of Christ until he encountered the Lord on his way to Damascus. Who said to him Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” I answered: Who are you, Lord? And he said to me, “I am Jesus the Nazarene, and you are persecuting me.”
This very encounter brought true conversion in his life and changed his perception about Christians. This encounter was the turning point for the spreading of the Christian faith all over the Roman Empire. This encounter gave him a new identity, changing his name from Saul to Paul. A name indicating his new mission. A mission he so carried out with all his zeal and passion that he is regarded as one of the apostles, and today, his works still speak volumes about the effect of his personal encounter with Jesus.
So, in the life of St. Paul we see a fulfilment of the command of Jesus in our Gospel passage today when he said to his disciples, ‘Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News to all creation. He who believes and is baptised will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned. This is our vocation, this is our task. This is our mission as baptised Christians. It is an obligation we must carry out with all zeal and devotion just like St. Paul.
Dear friends, as we celebrate the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, we are called to reflect on our conversion. Today like St. Paul, we are called to reflect on our personal experience with God. How have we personally experienced God? When was your spiritual turning point? Do we have a personal conviction about God that is not based on what people told us of him? We need to pray to have an encounter with the Lord that will help us experience true conversion in our daily events of life.
We all have convictions and plans for ourselves just like St. Paul, but his conversion changed everything. This encounter brought him to his mission and purpose in life. The same thing to us if we can have that one single encounter with the Lord that will bring about our conversion. Then, we can begin to see the new perspective of life that will show us our true mission and purpose in life just like St. Paul.
Remember that by our baptism, we are called to share in the same ministry and calling that St. Paul himself had received from the Lord. So, in case you have not personally experienced the Lord, all you need to do is to sincerely seek God in those common events in your life and you will realize how much God is willing to reveal himself to you.
LET US PRAY: Lord God, we really need to have a personal encounter with your presence in our lives. As we reflect on the encounter and conversion of St. Paul, may we experience your presence in a unique way and, through this experience, discover our purpose and mission in life. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Do have a blessed and favourable week
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