Mark 16:15-18

Acts 22:3-16 or Acts 9:1-22

Psalm 117:1bc, 2

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 God, as I contemplate the figure of Paul and his conversion today, help me to understand his message more fully and imitate his sanctity more perfectly. Paul knew what Jesus willed for him and embraced this. I embrace your will today too. Make me a vessel of your mercy and Good News.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Purpose of the Acts of the Apostles: One of the reasons why Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles was to tell the history of the early Church. The work that Jesus began to do, as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, is continued through his disciples, and this continued work is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. The two towering figures in Acts are Peter and Paul. In Acts, Luke draws parallels between the life of Jesus and the lives of Peter and Paul. One reason for this was that Paul’s preaching and teaching was so controversial. Paul was inviting people to put off the yoke of the Law of Moses and embrace faith in Jesus as the one true path to salvation. There were rival missionaries who tried to discredit Paul and undermine his authority to preach this gospel. Propaganda from these missionaries had damaging effects on some of the Churches Paul established. And since Paul was not one of the original Twelve Apostles, Luke sought to show how Paul’s life and ministry paralleled that of Peter, and how Peter’s life paralleled that of Jesus (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament, 1932).

2. Three Accounts of Paul’s Conversion: Luke could have narrated Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus once, but he chose to include three separate accounts to stress that Paul was not a missionary maverick, but a chosen messenger sent by Jesus (Acts 9:1-19; 22:3-16; 26:2-18). At first, Paul’s life had no place for Christ. He zealously persecuted the followers of Jesus and approved of the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. But while heading to Damascus to round up Christians there, Paul was confronted by the Lord Jesus in a vision. “The vision blinded Paul physically, but his mind and spirit were enlightened: Jesus, whom he had opposed, revealed himself to Paul as the risen Lord of the universe, exalted at the right hand of God. Paul was soon baptized and regained his sight, and things would never be the same again” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament, 1985).

3. The Gospel and Theology of Paul: Paul’s gospel is the message of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus is Lord over both heaven and earth as the promised Messiah from the line of David. Paul knew that Jesus was not just one more king from David’s line. He is God’s eternal Son, whom God sent into the world to enable both Jews and Gentiles to become his adopted children. Both Jew and Gentile, however, were under the reign of sin and needed to be saved. The good news that Paul announces is that God has revealed his plan to restore the world to communion and life with him. At the center of this plan is the Incarnation of God’s Son. Through his human nature, the Son of God has united God and mankind in himself. He is the obedient Adam, who remained sinless and who humbled himself before the divine plan even unto death. Jesus’ death is the ultimate act and demonstration of God’s love. The death of Christ, which expiates and atones for our sin, is the basis of the reconciliation between the Father and sinful humanity. God’s gift and grace of salvation and justification is received by us through faith and baptism. The old sign of circumcision, which brought people into God’s covenant family, was brought to fulfillment in the Sacrament of Baptism. The old Law of Moses is fulfilled in faith that works itself out in love. All who are united to Christ are reconciled to God and connected to one another as members of a single body. As members of Jesus’ body, we are by grace what Jesus is by nature, sons of God and heirs of the world to come (see Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Old and New Testament, 1988-1989).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, your servant Paul gave his entire life to spread the message of the New Covenant. Help me to do the same and spread the message of the Gospel in my family and my community.

Living the Word of God: How well do I know Paul’s 13 letters and message? Do I see Paul’s letters as written to me and my ecclesial community? If someone were to put me on the spot and ask me about what God has revealed through Paul, what would I say to them? Would I benefit from reading James Prothro’s The Apostle Paul and His Letters (CUA Press, 2021) this year?