Bible Diary

Daily Reading

Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle

LECTIONARY
519

FIRST READING

Acts 22:3-16

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to our ancestral law, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. “While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.’ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. I asked, ‘What am I to do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told everything that has been assigned to you to do.’ Since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus. “A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according to the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there, came to me; and standing beside me, he said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ In that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. Then he said, ‘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. And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’

PSALM

117:1bc, 2

Response: Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.

Praise the Lord, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!

For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.

GOSPEL

Mk 16:15-18

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Daily Reflection

How does God choose the ones he wants for ministry? What criteria does he use?

The first reading throws light on one such choice – St. Paul – and how God chooses, converts and transforms him completely. He experiences the Risen Lord and Jesus asks him just one simple question – “Why are you doing this?” This soul-searching question is really the beginning of the transformation of St. Paul.

The Gospel gives us the “signs that will accompany the followers” of Jesus. The signs are essentially the same as those given by Jesus himself - healings, exorcisms, raising the dead. But the essence of becoming a follower lies in “Proclaiming the Good News”. And every proclamation must begin with the basic question “Why am I doing this?”

So, let me ask myself, with a genuine desire to seek the truth, “Why do I do the things I do?”