Together with the Holy Church, on 25/01/2019 we want to celebrate the great feast of the conversion of the greatest evangelist of the pagans: Saint Paul. He was known before as Saul — a powerful man and persecutor of Christians — and he came to be Paul, one of the most lovable disciples of Christ.

God reserved for the Church — gathered as a community after the revelation given to the first Pope, Saint Peter, in the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 11), and after the powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the pagans — that its disciples would be called Christians ONLY AFTER Saul (still bearing that name) had joined them.

“And Barnabas went to Tarsus to seek Saul: whom, when he had found, he brought to Antioch. And they conversed there in the church a whole year; and they taught a great multitude, so that at Antioch the disciples were first named ‘Christians’.” (Acts of the Apostles 11:25-26)

Maybe he is one of the biggest reasons we can call ourselves Christians nowadays, with the freedom and grace of a whole civilization that was built upon Christian values, doctrine and blessings. He preached the good news of Our Lord Jesus Christ among every sort of people, and thanks to his life, freely given to God, we have wonderful letters and teachings that are sometimes unknown even to people who call themselves Christians...

Saul was a man full of wisdom, knowledge, power and possessions, and feared by all people. He had everything he wanted as a good man of God, and he was persecuting Christians for the sake of his Lord and God. His life was completely and absolutely changed when he met Jesus. Everything he was, everything he had, everything he once took pleasure in — his entire life — made no sense when compared with Jesus Christ. He even called it all FILTH when compared with Christ! (some translations use an even cruder word)

“As to the rest, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not wearisome, but to you it is necessary. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, who in spirit serve God; and glory in Christ Jesus, not having confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other thinketh he may have confidence in the flesh, I more, Being circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; according to the law, a Pharisee: According to zeal, persecuting the church of God; according to the justice that is in the law, conversing without blame. But the things that were gain to me, the same I have counted loss for Christ. Furthermore I count all things to be but loss for the EXCELLENT knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but as dung, that I may gain Christ: And may be found in him, not having my justice, which is of the law, but that which is of the faith of Christ Jesus, which is of God, justice in faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death, If by any means I may attain to the resurrection which is from the dead. Not as though I had already attained, or were already perfect; but I follow after, if I may by any means apprehend, wherein I am also apprehended by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended. But one thing I do: forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching forth myself to those that are before, I press towards the mark, to the prize of the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:1-14)

Some people would say he became crazy, that he was out of his mind, that this was just for a brief moment, that no one could bear such words, that at the first suffering he would change his mind, that his life was very blessed and that is why he would say such beautiful words...

From persecutor he became persecuted, and from a glorious and luxurious life he gained sufferings, pain and crosses — day and night. Not for only one day, one week, one month or one year, but for the rest of his life. MANY AND MANY YEARS OF SUFFERING FOR CHRIST!!

When writing to his brothers in faith, the Corinthians (and today to us), he was speaking about not boasting in oneself and being examples to be followed, since there were false Christians among them. Let us learn from him and see whether he had the authority to write:

“They are Hebrews: so am I. They are Israelites: so am I. They are the seed of Abraham: so am I. They are the ministers of Christ (I speak as one less wise). I am more; in many more labours, in prisons more frequently, in stripes above measure, in deaths often. Of the Jews five times did I receive forty stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I was in the depth of the sea. In journeying often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren. In labour and painfulness, in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things which are without: my daily instance, the solicitude for all the churches.” (2 Corinthians 11:22-28)

What made him bear all things? What was his motivation? Glory and boasting? I don’t think so, for his boasting was in the cross of Christ, on which he says he was crucified with Christ (Galatians 6:14). Was it any human gift he relied on? Praise, supernatural powers? I don’t think so, for he had a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to batter him; and even though he pleaded three times with the Lord, Jesus didn’t take the thorn from his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:8).

Was it any human recognition? I don’t think so, for he was left apart and the disciples didn’t even know he existed. Only after three years did he come to meet Peter (Galatians 1:18). Was it money and material goods? I don’t think so, for he had to learn to live with or without food and drink (Philippians 4:12). Was he mad or sad for living amid so much suffering? I don’t think so, for he was happy to suffer and to offer his sufferings, filling up in his flesh what was lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his Body, the Church (Colossians 1:24).

What was it, then?

One meeting that completely changed his life! One moment that changed the destiny of his every day on earth and his eternity in Heaven! One single word he heard from the mouth of Christ that changed him and transformed him into a new creation...

“For the charity of Christ presseth us: judging this, that if one died for all, then all were dead. And Christ died for all; that they also who live, may not now live to themselves, but unto him who died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth, we know no man according to the flesh. And if we have known Christ according to the flesh; but now we know him so no longer. If then any be in Christ a new creature, the old things are passed away, behold all things are made new.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-17)

After reading these words and reflecting on Saint Paul’s life, and coming to the central point of this formation today, we need to answer the following question: WHY DOES THE LOVE OF CHRIST NOT OVERWHELM US?

There are millions and millions of people all over the world who call themselves Christians. But, whether by a rotten tradition or by a lack of formation or a lack of seeking, they don’t know that being a Christian actually means being Christ — being another Christ! It means to live, love and go through life as the Lord Jesus Christ did... or at least to try!

As Catholics we have 2000 years of the Church’s history, the blood of martyrs shed; we have thousands of saints and communion with countless angels and heavenly hosts on our side; we have the presence of the leader of the armies of the Lord — the Virgin Mary; we have communion with the Church Militant (on Earth), the Church Suffering (in Purgatory) and the Church Triumphant (in Heaven); we have priests, we have the seven sacraments, we have the whole Word of God in the 73 books of the Bible, the whole revelation of God to humanity through Christ — and yet, even with all of that, many of us do not know Christ!

I am not talking about a superficial acknowledgement of the historical Christ who came to Earth, lived, loved, died and rose on the third day — because nearly everywhere on Earth the name of Christ has been pronounced (though perhaps not announced). I am talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of humanity, the one who went ahead of us to open and prepare a place for us in the glory of Heaven with God the Father, the one who made himself the Eucharist, the one who is our friend and wants to call us friends, as he called the apostles.

“I will not now call you servants: for the servant knoweth not what his lord doth. But I have called you friends: because all things whatsoever I have heard of my Father, I have made known to you.” (John 15:15)

Can Jesus call you and me his friends? That is, has he made known to us the secrets of the Father’s heart? Have we learned anything from Jesus as a person? Sadly and unfortunately, if we are sincere, we have to answer no.

No, because many of us have only heard about Jesus but have never met him personally as Saint Paul did, to the point of falling from our pride and glory! We have never looked at Jesus as Saint Paul did, to the point of becoming blind — blind to the world and its attractions! We have never heard his voice as Saint Paul did, to the point of becoming deaf to worldly voices...

And, finally, no — because we have never felt the love of Christ to the point that Saint Paul did, whose efforts day and night were to reveal this love...

“For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man, That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts; that being rooted and founded in charity, You may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth: To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14-19)

We are no more than shallow and superficial Christians — no more than that! We do not have the courage to become friends with Christ — if needed, like Zacchaeus, who climbed to the top of the tree to see the Lord, or like Nicodemus, who went to meet Christ by night, hidden from his friends...

The love of Christ doesn’t overwhelm us because we are unaware of this love: we have never felt it, we have never heard of it, we have never seen this love, we have never touched it... Oh, if only we had the same longing as Thomas, who wanted to see and touch Christ’s wounds in order to believe.

Where is our will, our desire? Are we too attached to material things, to worldly things, to pleasures, to people, to positions, to money, to our own security?

Perhaps the best thing you will read today is this: forget about everything for one brief minute and ask Jesus Christ to show himself to you! Ask him insistently until he reveals his love and shows you this breadth and length, height and depth of his love that Saint Paul speaks of!

Ask the Lord to come into your life and be your friend... Tell him from the bottom of your heart that you miss his presence, his grace, the fire of his love to guide your decisions and everything in your life... Ask Christ to inflame and set your heart on fire at this very moment, while you read these words... Stop if necessary and have your own moment of intimacy with Christ! That is enough!!!

“For I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I may live to God: with Christ I am nailed to the cross. And I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. And that I live now in the flesh: I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered himself for me.” (Galatians 2:19-20)

Theologians and people who have studied the Sacred Scriptures deeply reveal that Saint Paul had something truly supernatural: even in the midst of all the suffering and pain he went through, his worry, day in and day out, was his anxiety for the well-being of the Church as a whole. That is why they said his heart became the heart of Christ...

I pray that, through this formation and his intercession, Christ may reveal his heart to each one of us!

God bless you, and may the love of Christ begin — or come back — to overwhelm us!