Conversion of St. Paul - Rector's Rambling for January 24, 2021

On January 25 we celebrate the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle.

Paul is an apostle, but unlike the other apostles commemorated, his feast day is kept on the day of his conversion, rather than the day of his death.  A person’s day of death is considered one’s “heavenly birthday”, since it is through earthly death that we pass to eternal life.  And in the case of all the apostles, except St. John, their death was by martyrdom – being killed because of their faith in Jesus Christ.  St. Paul was also martyred.  The church believes that under the general persecution of Nero in 64 and 65, both St. Peter and St. Paul met their deaths for being followers (and promoters) of Jesus Christ.  Peter, not being a Roman citizen, was crucified (tradition says head-down) and St. Paul, being a citizen, was given the quicker execution of being beheaded.

But the church commemorates St. Paul’s conversion to the faith.  It is one of those stories that is powerful because he was not just a non-believer in Jesus, he was an active persecutor of those who believed that Jesus Christ is Lord.  He consented to St. Stephen’s stoning, his executioners laying their jackets at his feet. (Acts 7:58, 8:1)  His journey to Damascus was to arrest followers of Jesus and bring them to Jerusalem for trial. (Acts 9:2)  Paul’s conversion is unique, but gives us hope that no matter what our, and others’, spiritual condition may be, God can intervene!

January 25 is also the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which began last Monday.  At St. John’s we have been praying for the unity of the Church not only this past week, but every day since Our Lord prayed that we all be one as he and the Father are one. (John 17:21)

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A reminder that next Sunday, at 1:30 PM, we will be having our Annual Parish Meeting via ZOOM, since we are still prohibited by the authorities of the four dioceses in Michigan from having larger gatherings of people.  To get the link to the meeting, please send an e-mail to Rector@stjohnsdetroit.org and you will also receive by the end of the week the PDF copy of the booklet for the meeting.