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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250126
DTSTAMP:20260427T150214
CREATED:20250119T114828Z
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UID:13043-1737763200-1737849599@laycisterciansofgethsemani.org
SUMMARY:Vigils Reading - Conversion of St Paul
DESCRIPTION:THE BEARER OF A MISSION \nBy Fr Lucien Cerfaux \n◊◊◊ \nIn terms of today\, Paul passed from the Jewish religion to Christianity. He \nis the first of the great “converts” who distinguish the pages of Christian history \nand provide the apologists with proof of the supremacy of our religion. Yet he \nhimself would not have used the term “conversion” if this implied abandoning \none religion for another. For him Christianity was not a new religion\, distinct \nfrom Judaism. If it had been suggested to Paul that he was no longer a Jew\, he \nwould not have understood what was meant. The many protests in the epistles \ndo not apply to the past: Paul is and continues to be Hebrew and Jew\, in race \nand religion… \nWe can state definitely that St Paul interprets the event which took place \non the road to Damascus as a call from God\, a vocation to a mission which ranks \nhim with the prophets of the Old Testament. Like the prophets\, he has been \ngranted a vision; like them\, he has been given a mission\, and like them too\, he is \nconstrained to answer the call: his human resolve is endowed by grace to such \nan extent that it is God himself who carries out the work with which the Apostle \nis entrusted. \nThe book of Acts confirms these conclusions. Paul is the chosen instru- \nment to “carry” the name of Christ\, that is\, to bear witness\, in the midst of \npersecution\, before kings\, nations and Israel. The three accounts of the vision at \nDamascus agree with the Epistle to the Galatians; Paul changed abruptly from \nbeing an active persecutor of the church and submitted himself to the orders \ntransmitted by Christ… \nThere are two distinct aspects of his vocation. The first concerns salvation \nonly: the chosen are destined for the messianic era; they are called children of \nGod\, they receive the messianic graces. The summons to the messianic feast was \nknown to the rabbis from the first century and was used by Jesus. A second \nseries of texts reserves the call to outstanding leaders in the Old Testament such \nas Abraham\, Moses\, Joshua\, the prophets\, who were predestined before their \nbirth and “called” at the chosen moment by God. When he calls someone by \nname it is to entrust that one with a mission. \nSt Paul is called as the bearer of a mission. He is ranked on the same level \nas the spiritual leaders of Israel and shares their privileges. His mission is \naddressed to the gentiles\, to whom he will transmit the call to the messianic \ngraces.
URL:https://laycisterciansofgethsemani.org/event/vigils-reading-conversion-of-st-paul-2/
CATEGORIES:Vigils Readings
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