Mark 16:15-18

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:

"Go into the whole world

and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;

whoever does not believe will be condemned.

These signs will accompany those who believe:

in my name they will drive out demons,

they will speak new languages.

They will pick up serpents with their hands,

and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.

They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

Opening Prayer: Lord, you chose Saul to be your Apostle. He left behind his former way of life and embraced the new life offered by your Son. He counted his former life as rubbish and gloried in the salvation offered by Jesus to all people. Help me leave behind my worldly ways and embrace the cross of your Son, Jesus Christ.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Dying to the Old Man with Christ: Paul’s experience of and encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus was so important that it is narrated three times in the Acts of the Apostles (9:1-19; 22:3-21; 26:4-23). Although Paul himself never spoke of the event as a conversion, it was an event that radically changed and transformed his life. Paul went from being a persecutor of Christ and his Church to being a herald of the Gospel and an Apostle of Christ to the Gentiles. Through his encounter with Jesus, he experienced a death and a resurrection. Paul’s former way of life and existence died and a new one was born. What had been important and fundamental for him before was now counted as trash and refuse (Philippians 3:7-8).

2. Rising as a new man with Christ: Through his encounter with the risen Christ and his baptism into Christ, Paul became a witness of the Resurrection of Jesus. His encounter with the Lord enlightened his mind and healed his interior blindness. He was able to see everything anew in the light of Christ. Paul now understands that he is not made righteous through his observance of the Law of Moses. Rather, righteousness and justification are based on faith in Christ. The ceremonies, observances, liturgical rites, food prohibitions, and works of the Old Law were unable to place a person in a right relationship with God. Only the grace of faith in Christ is capable of justifying us. Faith is not a one-time act. Rather, it consists of entrusting ourselves to Christ, being united to Christ, and being conformed to Christ’s life, which is love. As Paul teaches: We are justified by faith that works through love (Galatians 5:14).

3. We are Christians only if we encounter Christ: What does Paul’s conversion mean for us? Pope Benedict reflected on this question and answered as follows. “We are only Christians if we encounter Christ” (Benedict XVI, September 3, 2008). We become Christians not because we embrace a new philosophy with our minds or because we choose to follow a new morality. Becoming a Christian is much more and arises from an encounter with the risen Christ in Scripture, in prayer, in the service of love, and in the Church’s liturgy. If our faith in Christ is real, it becomes charity and love.

Conversing with Christ: Saul asked you: “What shall I do?” You led him to Damascus and there he received his mission to carry the name of Jesus to Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. You showed him that he would suffer as he fulfilled this mission. I ask you the same question: “What shall I do?”

Resolution: We probably have a good sense of our vocation and mission in life. And yet, each day is a new one and we need to renew our commitment to God. Our mission and vocation are made concrete in the smaller decisions we make each day. What is it that God is asking of me today? How can I be a disciple or apostle of Jesus today?