Vigils Reading – Conversion of St Paul

THE BEARER OF A MISSION

By Fr Lucien Cerfaux

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In terms of today, Paul passed from the Jewish religion to Christianity. He

is the first of the great “converts” who distinguish the pages of Christian history

and provide the apologists with proof of the supremacy of our religion. Yet he

himself would not have used the term “conversion” if this implied abandoning

one religion for another. For him Christianity was not a new religion, distinct

from Judaism. If it had been suggested to Paul that he was no longer a Jew, he

would not have understood what was meant. The many protests in the epistles

do not apply to the past: Paul is and continues to be Hebrew and Jew, in race

and religion…

We can state definitely that St Paul interprets the event which took place

on the road to Damascus as a call from God, a vocation to a mission which ranks

him with the prophets of the Old Testament. Like the prophets, he has been

granted a vision; like them, he has been given a mission, and like them too, he is

constrained to answer the call: his human resolve is endowed by grace to such

an extent that it is God himself who carries out the work with which the Apostle

is entrusted.

The book of Acts confirms these conclusions. Paul is the chosen instru-

ment to “carry” the name of Christ, that is, to bear witness, in the midst of

persecution, before kings, nations and Israel. The three accounts of the vision at

Damascus agree with the Epistle to the Galatians; Paul changed abruptly from

being an active persecutor of the church and submitted himself to the orders

transmitted by Christ…

There are two distinct aspects of his vocation. The first concerns salvation

only: the chosen are destined for the messianic era; they are called children of

God, they receive the messianic graces. The summons to the messianic feast was

known to the rabbis from the first century and was used by Jesus. A second

series of texts reserves the call to outstanding leaders in the Old Testament such

as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, the prophets, who were predestined before their

birth and “called” at the chosen moment by God. When he calls someone by

name it is to entrust that one with a mission.

St Paul is called as the bearer of a mission. He is ranked on the same level

as the spiritual leaders of Israel and shares their privileges. His mission is

addressed to the gentiles, to whom he will transmit the call to the messianic

graces.