The Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, celebrated on January 25, casts a distinctive light on the Church’s mission. The great Baroque artist Caravaggio captures this moment with striking clarity in The Conversion on the Way to Damascus. Saul lies outstretched on the ground, arms extended, his body forming the shape of a cross as he is seized by the light of Christ. The fiery reds of his vest and cloak suggest the work of the Holy Spirit, through whose action Saul the persecutor becomes Paul the apostle.
Paul’s mission, the proclamation of the Gospel to the Gentiles, is the hard work of making Christ known in the face of hostility, indifference, and doubt – the mission of the Church now and always. It is not a matter of clever rhetoric or momentary fervor. For Paul and his co-workers—Timothy, Titus, and others—it requires vigilance, fidelity to the word of God, and the patient labor of building up the Church. Central to this work is the fostering of unity amid division, so that those who belong to Christ may be united “in the same mind and the same purpose.” Writing to the Corinthians, Paul insists that the Church is not founded on the charisma of so-called super-apostles, nor divided into factions gathered around Apollo, Cephas, or even Paul himself. Instead, the Church is founded on the Crucified Lord, whose Body cannot be divided.
This week the Church prays with particular intensity for Christian unity, a concern that Pope Leo XIV has made central to his pastoral mission. Christ’s call to repentance and the nearness of God’s reign form the deepest basis of our unity in faith, a unity that is never inward-looking. Instead, shaped by the Cross, it carries its own missionary power, drawing others into communion with the Lord who first called Paul on the road to Damascus.
In Christ,
Fr. Hermes
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