The Conversion of Saint Paul

Rather it came from the outside: it was not the fruit of his thought but of his encounter with Jesus Christ.  In this sense it was not simply a conversion, a development of his "ego," but rather a death and a resurrection for Paul himself.  One existence died and another new one was born with the Risen Christ.  There is no other way in which to explain this renewal of Paul….

In this deeper sense we can and we must speak of conversion.  This encounter is a real renewal that changed all his parameters.  Now he could say that what had been essential and fundamental for him earlier had become "refuse" for him; it was no longer "gain" but loss, because henceforth the only thing that counted for him was life in Christ…. The Risen Christ is the light of truth, the light of God himself.  This expanded his heart and made it open to all.  At this moment he did not lose all that was good and true in his life, in his heritage, but he understood wisdom, truth, the depth of the law and of the prophets in a new way, and in a new way made them his own….

Turning now to ourselves, let us ask what this means for us.  It means that for us, too, Christianity is not a new philosophy or a new morality.  We are only Christians if we encounter Christ.  Of course, he does not show himself to us in this overwhelming, luminous way, as he did to Paul to make him the Apostle to all peoples.  But we too can encounter Christ in reading Sacred Scripture, in prayer, in the liturgical life of the Church.  We can touch Christ's Heart and feel him touching ours.  Only in this personal relationship with Christ, only in this encounter with the Risen One do we truly become Christians.  And in this way our reason opens, all Christ's wisdom opens as do all the riches of truth.  Therefore let us pray the Lord to illumine us, to grant us an encounter with his presence in our world, and thus to grant us a lively faith, an open heart, and great love for all, which is capable of renewing the world.