Conversion.... Rebuilding

Today, January 25th is the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle. When I was saying Mass this morning and listening to the Liturgy of the word, I was reminded of how before his conversion, Saul was completely bent on destroying this new Christian Community. Saul featured heavily in the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr of the Church. His zeal to tear the church down was so powerful that in a sense, Jesus wanted to use him to be a champion for the church. So Jesus turned Paul's hatred for the Church into a passionate love for the Christian community. 

Later in the year, we see Paul sharing a feast day with Peter. Peter was known as the Rock. But it didn't begin like that. Peter was human, hot-headed, vulnerable, skeptical, and sometimes scared. But when Jesus called him 'Rock' -that is what he was to become. Full of the Holy Spirit, both men would become master-builders of the new Church alongside others after the challenge of Jesus Christ to go and teach all nations (Matt 28) 

Jesus Christ calls us today just like he called Peter and Paul. He is conscious of our sinfulness and our vulnerabilities yet he still calls so as to be part of  his continuing building programme. In Jesus, Simon became Peter, the Rock, and Saul became Paul.