Today is the Feast day of St. Paul and this is my tribute to him. As many of you know, Paul was first called Saul and he persecuted Christians. He sought to bring all of the followers of Christ from Damascus in chains to Jerusalem where they would be put to death (Acts of the Apostles 9:2).
"On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' He said, 'Who are you, sir?' The reply came, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do' " (Acts 9:3-6). When Saul got up he discovered that he was blind and then Ananias cured him after three days (Acts 9:8, 17-18). Saul converted and later became known as Paul (Acts 9:18, 13:9).
The man who once sought to kill Christians became one of the greatest missionaries of Christ. Despite what he had done God forgave him and called him to spread the faith (Acts 13:2). No matter what we've done in the past we still must not give up. We must trust in the infinite mercy of Jesus. Even if we were the most evil human being that ever lived we can still be forgiven.
Remember Judas who betrayed Our Lord? It turns out that he regretted what he did and gave the thirty pieces of silver back to the chief priests (Matthew 27:3). He was in so much despair that he hung himself (Matthew 27:3). Judas didn't believe that he would be forgiven. He committed a grave sin. This is a great tragedy because The Lord would have forgiven him. He died for Judas too. St. Peter denied that he even knew Jesus three times and only one of the disciples came to His crucifixion, yet He forgave them. In fact they became great saints, spreading the Gospel and those same men who had once feared being killed by the Romans suffered and most died for Jesus. If only Judas had trusted in The Lord's mercy! What a great example he would have been for us! Unlike Judas, Paul did not despair. By the power of Christ he was transformed and became a new creation. What a valuable lesson for us all!
