Daily Reflection for Friday, May 01, 2020
Peace and Blessings, Friends and Parishioners,
We encourage you to reflect on Friday’s readings at this link:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/050120.cfm
If you prefer to use your own Bible, the readings are:
First Reading: Acts 9: 1-20
Responsorial: Psalm 117: 1BC, 2
Gospel: John 6: 52-59
Our reflection on Friday’s readings: “He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Acts 9: 4
Saul’s conversion story has to be one of the most dramatic conversion stories that I have read in the New Testament! He was persecuting Christians, completely blind to the damage he was doing when Jesus stopped his resolute actions with something he couldn’t ignore. With a bright flash of light from the sky and the voice of Jesus talking to him, Saul was physically blind.
This conversion experience was just what Saul needed to convert, or turn away, from the direction he was headed. Jesus, the Light of the World, came bright and powerfully into his life. After Ananias laid his hands on him and he received the Holy Spirit, the change or conversion was immediate. He regained his ability to see both physically and spiritually and “he at once began to exclaim Jesus in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.” (Acts 9:20B) In other words, when we meet Jesus, we don’t leave that experience unchanged.
Along our journeys of faith, we all have conversion stories to tell. Not just one conversion, but many. God reaches out in just the way we need, subtle or dramatic, and gets our attention. When he does, when he shines His Light into our lives, our lives are changed.
When I was a young teenager, I had volunteered to participate in a youth presentation that involved me singing a verse by myself for a Christmas Eve service. As the day neared, I became more and more nervous. When I practiced, I wondered why I had volunteered to sing, when I didn’t even like the sound of my voice! I anticipated how I would feel after my older brothers delivered their ridicule because I had made a fool of myself at church. The day of the service, I felt broken. There was nothing more I could do, but I felt the urge to pray and I did. I asked God to help me sing. That night, much to my surprise, when I opened my mouth, the sound that came out was different than I had ever heard! It sounded beautiful! That moment was a conversion experience. The Light of Christ entered my life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Later as a young adult, when I heard the Gospel of John proclaimed and that Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, became present in the bread and the wine during Mass. I was all in! Converted again, the Light of Christ entered, and I sought to join the Catholic church.
Take time to reflect on your stories of conversion, when God showed you in some subtle or dramatic way that a change was needed. How did the Light of Christ enter your life? What was your life like before you met Jesus? Have you met Jesus in a new way? How did your encounter with the Light of Christ change you? Share that experience with others so that in your proclaiming, you can point others to the source of your conversion, Jesus, the Son of God!
Blessings for the journey!
Paula Paul