conversion

Today is the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Happy Feast Day to my Paulist Father friends.

The story of Paul’s conversion has always been an interesting one to me. How many of us are likely to be struck off a horse, made blind and hear the voice of the Lord from the heavens asking why we are persecuting him?

Although really, when you peel back the drama and the literal meaning, we all have opportunities for conversion just as powerful as St. Paul. For me, one such moment was when my mom was sick. Not when she was actually dying but another incident a year earlier when she was also close to death. In its own way that experience threw me off the horse. I certainly couldn’t see the point of anything at that moment in time, sitting by her side at the hospital, watching her struggling to breathe while her heart struggled to beat. And through the experience of prayer and finding grace and strength that only comes from God, I too "heard" the voice of God, inviting me into a deeper relationship where nothing was really better but everything was ok. I had come back to the church a few years before that day, but that was the real beginning of my prayer life. Not to mention the dawning of a mature relationship with my loving Creator.

And there are less dramatic moments than that, which I’ll grant in its own way was quite dramatic. Perhaps God is giving us opportunities for a conversion of heart all the time? Maybe today?

Food for thought. But for now, I must go or I’ll be late for work!