Converted and Converting [St. Paul]

Converted and Converting

Posted by Dr. Scott Hahn on 01.22.14 |

Our patron, St. Paul, isn’t any ordinary saint. He’s a singularity. He’s unique. And the Church calendar reflects the extraordinary role he played in God’s revelation. It was he who brought the Gospel to the world beyond Israel — the Gentiles. He’s credited as author of more than half the books of the New Testament, and it was under Paul’s tutelage that Luke composed his Gospel and Acts.

The Apostle to the Gentiles gets not one but two feasts on the Church’s Western calendar. In June he shares a feast with St. Peter, with whom he died as a martyr as they consecrated Rome with their blood.

Novena to St. Paul the Apostle

On January 25, however, we at the St. Paul Center mark our patronal feast: the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. It’s a glorious day, quite unlike other feasts. For Paul’s conversion marks a milestone not only in his own life, but in the life of God’s people. Once a persecutor of Christ, he became the Lord’s preacher. Once an impediment to the Gospel, he became its great champion. Once a guardian of Israel as an ethnic preserve of holiness, Paul came to serve as a father in the worldwide (literally, catholic) Church that included both Jews and Gentiles.

The story of St. Paul’s conversion is told repeatedly in the New Testament, three times in the Acts of the Apostles and then, briefly, in Paul’s own correspondence with the Galatians and Corinthians. In all of history, no other conversion gets that kind of special coverage, with God himself as primary author of the narrative!

It’s possible, though, to over-emphasize the uniqueness of Paul’s conversion. When we consider the lives of the saints — and especially saints as extraordinary as Paul — we can be tempted to miss the lessons of their lives. We can miss the lessons that apply especially to us.

More than a decade ago, with my wife Kimberly and a few colleagues, I founded this apostolate, and we decided to name it after St. Paul. Most of us were converts to the Catholic faith, having come into full communion with the Church as adults. St. Paul, the “adult convert,” was a special guide for us.

But even that application is too narrow for this saint and this feast. For he’s not just a patron to those who change religious affiliation. In fact, it’s debatable whether he would have considered his affiliation to be different after he met the Lord.

No. St. Paul is everyone’s patron because we’re all called to conversion — and we’re always called to conversion, even if we’ve been Catholics since the cradle and attending Mass daily for decades.

Jesus said: “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). The word he used for “turn” is at the root of all our Christian terms and notions about conversion.

Conversion is a turning toward God. It is a turning away from sin and from attachment to worldly things and worldly cares. This is the work of a lifetime. It’s not the matter of a moment. It’s not just “once and done.”

Unless we turn — unless we become “converts” — we’re not Christian. Unless we make a habit of repentance, we’re not disciples of Jesus Christ. We must convert again and again. We celebrate our conversions whenever we go to Confession. We celebrate our conversions, in fact, whenever we resist distraction and turn to our Father God in prayer.

In his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, on the joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis makes this matter abundantly clear. He is worried less about the enemies “out there” in the world than the enemies within — the vices and the unconverted habits that tempt us away from Christ and threaten our perseverance in the faith. He calls baptized Christians to “experience a conversion which will restore the joy of faith to their hearts and inspire a commitment to the Gospel.” He defines conversion as “openness to a constant self-renewal born of fidelity to Jesus Christ.” He emphasizes that even the pope must undergo such a conversion.

If we work on this, he says, all else will fall into place, in society and in the Church.

St. Paul should be our model for conversion. His conversion was ongoing, lifelong, never easy, but always joyful. “Rejoice in the Lord always,” he said in his Letter to the Philippians (4:4). “Again I will say, Rejoice.” Paul is joyful not because of how good things are getting, but how good God is. That’s the fruit of true conversion.

And that’s a great reason to celebrate on January 25. I hope you’ll join me in a special observance of the day. Be bold in asking God for graces. Be importunate, too, as you beg on my behalf and on behalf of the St. Paul Center.

Novena to St. Paul the Apostle

Entrust your intention to St. Paul and offer the following prayer.
O St. Paul, the Apostle, preacher of truth and Doctor of the Gentiles, intercede for us to God, who chose you.
You are a vessel of election, O St. Paul the Apostle, preacher of truth to the whole world.
O God, you have instructed many nations through the preaching of the blessed apostle Paul. Let the power of his intercession with you help us who venerate his memory this day.

Conclude with an
Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be.

...We'll be judged by the words in the bible.
.
.
.
We will be judged by the words written in THAT book.

Just WHERE do you get crazy ideas like that???

Exodus 32:32-33
But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.

Daniel 12:1
“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.

Philippians 4:3
And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.

Revelation 3:5
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Revelation 13:8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 17:8
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Revelation 20:11-15
"Then I saw a great White Throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and THE BOOKS WERE OPENED. Another book was opened WHICH IS THE BOOK OF LIFE. The dead were judged according to their works as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to their works. Then death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Revelation 21:27

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Just WHERE do you get crazy ideas like that???

That crazy idea comes from the bible...

Joh_12:47 And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. Rev_20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Heb_4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a

2Ki 23:3 And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. 2Ch_34:31 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

Job_22:22 Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

Pro_4:4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

Jer_11:8 Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do; but they did them not.

Here's just a few to get started...Of course we will be judged by the book...Just like in grade school when you read the 5 foot shelf of classics; when you are done, you get graded on the books...

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