January 27, 2025
Paulist Fr. Rich Andre preached this homily on January 26, 2025 at Old St. Mary’s Catholic Parish in Chicago, IL. In combining the celebration of the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle with the 3rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C), which is also designated as “Word of God” Sunday, the parish chose the following readings for the day: Acts 9:1-22; Psalm 117; 1 Corinthians 9:14, 19-23; and Luke 4:14-21.
Evangelical Christians often speak about a specific moment in their life when they “were saved.” We Catholics are puzzled by such as expression because we have a very different idea about conversion. For us, conversion is not a single moment; it’s a life-long process. Despite the thunderbolt moment described in our first reading, I argue that even Paul’s conversion was a life-long process.
In our second reading, Paul speaks about his experiences and gifts. Let’s spend a few moments thinking about our own life stories. Close your eyes. Think about your life right now. What are the activities, topics, and hobbies that excite you, or give your life meaning? What are the things that take you outside of yourself? There are a lot of different words that people use for such interests, but today, let’s call them passions. What are the passions that define you?
Adults: take those interests & hobbies back in time. Did you exhibit any of these passions in childhood or as a teenager? A particular passion may have shown itself in different ways back then. How has this passion changed or transformed over the years? How has it changed or transformed you?
Let us take a moment to give thanks for the transformative gift of God’s mercy.
After Jesus Christ himself, St. Paul is probably the person who has had the most influence over the past 2,000 years on our understanding of what we believe, how we behave, and what it means to belong as members of the Body of Christ. Paul’s influence isn’t solely because of his great Damascus moment. From an early age, Paul was passionate about living in right relationship with God. He needed to have such passion to overcome the obstacles in dedicating his life to the LORD. He grew up far from the Jerusalem temple. He wasn’t a Levite, so he couldn’t become a priest. He lacked the wealth and influence to be a Sadducee. Therefore, he had to try to become a Pharisee. Pharisees had relatively little power, so they had to win people over through making persuasive arguments and extensive knowledge of the Law. Paul — or Saul, as he was known then — had the intelligence and the passion to excel as a Pharisee.
There were always rabbis unassociated with the Pharisees or the Sadducees who had their own disciples. One group really got under Saul’s skin: the people who followed Jesus of Nazareth. Like all Pharisees, Saul believed in the resurrection of the body. But Saul could not imagine that a charlatan like Jesus would be rewarded by God with resurrection.
So what happened in that moment on the road to Damascus? Saul experienced an appearance of God similar to the ones experienced by Abraham, Moses, and the mother of Samson that were recorded in the Hebrew Bible. Maybe Saul expected that God was going to praise him for his devotion. Instead, Saul received a huge shock: he had been working against God’s plan. The Christians were right: Jesus had risen from the dead, and Jesus was LORD!
How could Saul possibly be ready for baptism so quickly after his world was turned upside down? Through three days of not eating, not seeing, and probably not sleeping, Saul realized that he already had the right skill set to spread Christ’s gospel. He had dedicated his life to God. He knew the Scriptures forwards and backwards. He was trained in rhetoric. He could draw on his Greco-Roman upbringing while still being a dedicated Jew. He could continue to support himself through his work as a canvas-maker, using those skills to travel throughout the Empire and to befriend potential disciples. As he wrote decades later, “I have become all things to all, to save at least some.” What we think of Saul’s readiness depends on how we understand the nature of conversion. Conversion is a life-long process. Saul had been prepared for this mission by God from before he was knit in his mother’s womb. This was just the moment where something new clicked into place in his understanding of the nature of his mission.
Think about your passions that you reflected on at the start of Mass. How have your passions evolved over time? How do they help you understand who God calls you to be? How can your passions serve the gospel?
I’ve played the piano since I was in first grade. If you asked me why back then, I probably would have shrugged my shoulders. But once I became a vocalist in college, I discovered the reason: my passion for music is because I want to share its message with people. And now, as a preacher, I have a unique opportunity to share the message of the gospel. On this Word of God Sunday, I acknowledge that my initial zeal for music initiated my zeal for the gospel that has made “my joy complete.” But, of course, conversion is a life-long process!
For all Christian people, conversion never ends. As Paul wrote more than 20 years after his fateful journey to Damascus: “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of [spiritual perfection]. But one thing I do… I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
As our reading from Paul last weekend said, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts [that is, different kinds of passions] but the same spirit. There are different forms of service [that is, different vocations] but the same Lord.” So, how have your passions evolved over time? Can you discern the Holy Spirit in this evolution? Perhaps Frederick Buechner said it best: “Vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s great need.”
Let us pray: God, there are times when our lives seem to consist only of disparate actions without greater purpose. Yet we know that you weave all things into a beautiful tapestry of praise. May your Spirit guide us, like St. Paul, to work through our temporary blindnesses. May we walk, may we work, may we live in an ever more mature understanding of how our passions serve your gospel. Amen.
On this weekend, the Paulist Fathers usually invite someone to preach the Annual Paulist Appeal. However, we are postponing the preaching of the appeal here at Old St. Mary’s this year until the end of April. The APA is essential to funding many Paulist priorities, so we’d be grateful if you’d consider making a pledge now, rather than waiting until April.
(Thank you to the families of Old St. Mary’s Catholic School who are taking up a donation for Paulist students this week as part of the APA!) Check the bulletin or electronic newsletter to learn more. Or just jump to this URL to give online: paulist.org/apa.
[Author’s note: if you are not already affiliated with a specific Paulist foundation, please indicate that you are affiliated with Old St. Mary’s in Chicago.] Thank you for your generosity!