St. Paul sees the light!
CONNIE CLARK
Wrong, wrong, wrong! Have you ever thought somebody was just plain wrong about something? Saul thought Jesus’ followers were wrong — about everything.
Even though Saul lived at the same time as Jesus, he hadn’t met him. Saul refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead to save everyone from sin and death. Saul was sure that stopping Jesus’ followers from spreading the Good News was the right thing to do. He hauled them from their homes and had them thrown in jail. Saul even stood nearby as Stephen, the first Christian martyr, died for his faith in Jesus. Saul wasn’t a bad guy, but he was doing some bad things.
All that changed one day as Saul walked along the road to round up more Christians. Suddenly, a brilliant light flashed from the sky. A voice said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul couldn’t see anything and he called out, “Who are you, sir?” The voice answered, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Jesus told him to get up and go into the city. But the light had blinded Saul, and other people had to lead him by the hand.
After three days, God sent a man named Ananias to heal Paul’s blindness and baptize him. Saul, who also went by his Roman name, Paul, changed completely. He said his job now was to “present everyone perfect in Christ”(Colossians 1:28). He traveled all over the known world sharing the Good News. He wrote letters, called epistles, which became part of the New Testament. He’s one of our greatest saints!
What a change of heart St. Paul had! We call this kind of change conversion. Jesus tells us that “there will be rejoicing among the angels … over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). We can rejoice too, because St. Paul’s conversion shows how much Jesus loves us — he saves even the biggest sinners. What a great reason to celebrate!
BONUS: Download this page in a PDF format with activities to help celebrate this feast day. Click here: CAT.Jan20_LivingtheLiturgicalYear_web
Connie Clark is editor of Living Faith Kids, a magazine of daily Catholic devotions for children. To learn more, visit LivingFaithKids.com.
This article was originally published in Catechist magazine, January 2020
PHOTO: THE MET/PUBLIC DOMAIN
