Our Lady of Guadalupe

Date: January, 25

Saul, a student of the great Pharisee rabbi Gamaliel, had persecuted Christians. He had acquired a zealot’s hatred of all Jesus stood for, as he began to harass the Church: “…entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts of the Apostles 8:3).

However, he was suddenly converted on the road to Damascus when Our Lord appeared to him in His resurrected glory (see Acts 9:1-9). From this point, he took the name Paul and would become the “Apostle to the Gentiles.” From then on, Paul’s life became tireless, proclaiming and living out of the message of the cross.

His work was to “present everyone perfect in Christ.  For this I labor and struggle, in accord with the exercise of his power working within me” (Colossians 1:28-29).  “For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and [with] much conviction” (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

PRAYER: 

Saint Paul, you were filled with zeal throughout your life. First, you were zealous in persecuting the early Christians in an attempt to defend the Jewish interpretation of the Law of Moses. After you encountered Jesus, Whom you were persecuting, you completely changed your life and became one of the most zealous evangelists in the history of the world.

Please pray for me, that I may embrace the same zeal you had and allow Jesus to convert my soul as fully as you allowed Him to convert you. Saint Paul, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You.