Jan 25: Resurrection in the Body

Master of Jean Rollin II: The Conversion of St. Paul
Koninklijke Bibliotheek, c. 1455

Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, apostle

Reading I: Acts 22:3-16

“The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own voice; for you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard (Acts 22:14-15).”

Father, how grateful we are for the gift of St. Paul. Of all of the writers of Holy Scripture, he is the one who has intensely experienced Jesus in his resurrection and helps everyone to understand the same one Word revealed to us all regardless of when or where we have lived.

Paul makes clear to us, Father, that the destiny to which you called Jesus, and indeed everyone, is a destiny far beyond the land, a destiny of life shared with you in eternity. Nor is it merely a spiritual destiny. Jesus rose from the dead in the body and that, Lord, is the future to which you also call us. Paul assures us that, in the resurrection, the body will be transformed into an immortal body of great power, one no longer subject to the vagaries of this world. Jesus’ resurrection was not a mere physical resurrection nor will be ours. We shall be resurrected from this world into the world to come.

Paul also teaches us, Lord, that the future to which we look begins now, that we are living in the time of “already but not yet,” days which are filled with your grace, which strengthens us and fills us with hope for the future.

And Paul, more than anyone in the early Church, was convinced of the universality of your call. With Paul we recognize, Father, that we are all your chosen people.

Father, we rejoice in recognizing that the truth which is revealed to Paul, truth to which he responded so sensitively, is also truth spoken to everyone even if at times we find it difficult to express in a conscious way. As Paul responded to the truth revealed to him and dedicated his life to bearing witness to the good news of salvation, so also may we, who have heard the same Word spoken at the depth of our being at every moment, also give of ourselves in bearing witness to our belief in you, our Lord and God.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.