20210423 CONVERSION OR FULFILLMENT
23 April, 2021, Friday, 3rd Week of Easter
First reading | Acts 9:1-20 © |
This man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before the pagans
Saul was still breathing threats to slaughter the Lord’s disciples. He had gone to the high priest and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorise him to arrest and take to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men or women, that he could find.
Suddenly, while he was travelling to Damascus and just before he reached the city, there came a light from heaven all round him. He fell to the ground, and then he heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ he asked, and the voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me. Get up now and go into the city, and you will be told what you have to do.’ The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless, for though they heard the voice they could see no one. Saul got up from the ground, but even with his eyes wide open he could see nothing at all, and they had to lead him into Damascus by the hand. For three days he was without his sight, and took neither food nor drink.
A disciple called Ananias who lived in Damascus had a vision in which he heard the Lord say to him, ‘Ananias!’ When he replied, ‘Here I am, Lord’, the Lord said, ‘You must go to Straight Street and ask at the house of Judas for someone called Saul, who comes from Tarsus. At this moment he is praying, having had a vision of a man called Ananias coming in and laying hands on him to give him back his sight.’
When he heard that, Ananias said, ‘Lord, several people have told me about this man and all the harm he has been doing to your saints in Jerusalem. He has only come here because he holds a warrant from the chief priests to arrest everybody who invokes your name.’ The Lord replied, ‘You must go all the same, because this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name.’ Then Ananias went. He entered the house, and at once laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on your way here so that you may recover your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’ Immediately it was as though scales fell away from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. So he was baptised there and then, and after taking some food he regained his strength.
He began preaching in the synagogues, ‘Jesus is the Son of God.’
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 116(117) © |
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, all you nations,
acclaim him all you peoples!
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Strong is his love for us;
he is faithful for ever.
Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News.
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | cf.Lk24:46,26 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
It was ordained that the Christ should suffer
and rise from the dead,
and so enter into his glory.
Alleluia!
Or: | Jn6:56 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me, and I live in him,
says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | John 6:52-59 © |
My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink
The Jews started arguing with one another: ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ they said. Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you will not have life in you.
Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood
has eternal life,
and I shall raise him up on the last day.
For my flesh is real food
and my blood is real drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
lives in me
and I live in him.
As I, who am sent by the living Father,
myself draw life from the Father,
so whoever eats me will draw life from me.
This is the bread come down from heaven;
not like the bread our ancestors ate:
they are dead,
but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.’
He taught this doctrine at Capernaum, in the synagogue.
CONVERSION OR FULFILLMENT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 9:1-20; PS 117:1-2; JN 6:52-59 ]
Very often, we speak about the conversion of St Paul. His story of how he was converted to the Lord is critical in understanding not just the person of St Paul but his mission to the Gentiles, which accounts for the turning point of Christianity. Without the conversion of St Paul, Christianity would have just remained a tiny sect within Judaism. The gospel would not have been preached to the ends of the earth. So important was the story of his conversion that Luke recounted the story of his conversion three times in the Acts of the Apostles, the event itself as narrated, then when Paul shared his conversion story at the Temple (Acts 22:4-16) and finally before King Agrippa. (Acts 26:9-18)
Hence, it is of interest to us as well to examine his conversion story and to determine whether this is a one-off event meant for Paul or the norm for everyone who is to be converted to the Lord. Often, when we look at our conversion or that of others, there are different degrees of commitment to the Lord. Some are more radical in their faith, most are lukewarm and many still are just nominal. How do we explain the different responses to the faith? Can we excuse ourselves that St Paul and the apostles and those saints were more called than us? They have been given the grace of encountering God more deeply and hence could give themselves more to the Lord. Is it a case in which we can justify that faith in Christ is ultimately the grace of God, as the Lord said in the gospel of John yesterday, “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me.” (Jn 6:44)?
Apparently, to have such an encounter with God is truly a grace of God. This was what St Paul himself shared in his letter to Timothy. “I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim 1:12-14) Truly, encountering the mercy and love of God deeply is a grace of God. Of course, it also requires our active response to the grace given to us. We have heard so many conversion stories even in our times. We wonder why certain people have been touched by God so deeply and have their lives transformed radically through a retreat, a God-experience or some personal event in their lives. But for the majority, they can hardly hear God or feel His presence or His love and mercy. As a consequence, they continue to live either a life without God or just a nominal and lukewarm participation in their faith.
What, then, was his religious experience? We do not know exactly what happened in spite of his attempt to describe it. His conversion experience account along the road to Damascus is but the external account of a deeper mystical experience with the Lord of which no words would be able to describe adequately as he said in his letter to the Corinthians. “I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person – was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat.” (2 Cor 12:2-4) Externally, based on the account, that whilst travelling to Damascus, “there came a light from heaven all round him. He fell to the ground, and then he heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'” When he asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ the voice answered, “I am Jesus, and you are persecuting me.” Although his men heard the voice, they saw no one. Saul was blinded and could see nothing for three days. It must have been such a bright light and an overwhelming experience of the divine presence, hearing Jesus, the Risen Lord speaking to him and instructing him what to do.
For three days, Saul must have been deep in prayer, reflecting on his encounter with the Risen Lord. We are told that not only was he without sight but he took neither food or drink. A true religious experience is not something that we encounter for a moment and then it is over. Those religious experiences, for example, of sighting visions and apparitions are to be held with suspect when the impact on the visionaries does not linger on for days and months and years. When we do not see the impact on the way we look at our life, the way we look at God from then on, more likely, it was just an emotional and psychological experience. The physical effects of a religious experience, if overwhelming, would have an impact on the spiritual life of a person for life. Indeed, Saul’s life changed radically. It dawned on him that he was ignorant about the truth of the Risen Lord and the faith of the Christians in Him. By persecuting the Christians, he made himself an enemy of God. All that he did as a pious Jew and strict rabbi became a disadvantage to him. (Phil 3:6-9)
What, then, do we make out of Saul’s conversion experience? Does St Luke the evangelist intend his experience to be a template for our personal conversion experience? Certainly not! However, the dynamics and the pattern for a conversion experience are found in Saul’s conversion story. Every authentic religious experience must include a personal encounter with the Lord, which happens uniquely in each person’s life. Few religious encounters are identical. Perhaps some are similar but they are all unique and singular and incomparable. If there is a religious encounter, it would ensue in witnessing and testimony, for such a beautiful experience cannot be kept unknown.
But it would not just be a verbal testimony of our experience; the acid test of a true religious encounter is a radical conversion of life, as in the case of Saul. It is a radical change of seeing God and relating with Him. It also leads to fellowship with those who have encountered Him. In other words, our religious experience, although unique, is never so isolated from others’ experience. There will be some similar features and at the end of the day, it is simply a recounting of our encounter with the Lord Jesus. It is this common story that binds us together as Church. This explains why Saul, after his conversion, was admitted into the Christian community since they all shared a common experience of the Risen Lord. He became a brother of Ananias, was baptized and shared fellowship with the Christians.
Most of all, it will always be seen in witnessing of our Lord. We read that Saul soon after, “began preaching in the synagogues, ‘Jesus is the Son of God’.” When we receive a deep encounter of the Lord, we are always given a mission. God does not just grace us with a deep religious encounter with Him but He has a mission for each one of us. After a religious experience, we must discern the call of God. In the case of Saul, God told Ananias, “this man is my chosen instrument to bring my name before pagans and pagan kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he himself must suffer for my name.” We too have a mission whenever a deep religious experience is given.
Yet we must also say that in truth when we speak about St Paul’s conversion story, it was not so much a conversion from Judaism to Christianity. Rather, for St Paul, it was the fulfillment of Judaism. Paul never truly turned away from Judaism but he understood as the rest of the apostles did, that Christ was the fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham, Moses and the prophets. So, Christ did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill the law perfectly. Seeing the conversion of St Paul as a fulfillment of his search to be true to Judaism is important when we speak to others about converting to the Lord. Conversion, unless it is from a sinful life to a life of grace and holiness, is different from one who is searching for the true God. This is why, we believe that Christianity is the fulfillment of one’s search for God. Christ the Way, the Truth and the Life shows us the face of God. The other religions from our perspective, whilst not wrong, does not find fulfillment in Christ. So in reaching out to non-Catholics, we are called to acknowledge what is good and noble in their religions and cultures, and offer them the fulness of truth and love in Christ.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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