Have you ever left the confessional feeling like a new person? Have you had a conversation with a friend that completely changed your perspective?
Keep those memories in mind — we’ll return to them in a moment.
Today, we celebrate the conversion of St. Paul. In your mind’s eye, maybe you see Caravaggio’s famous oil painting, The Conversion of Saint Paul — or you might imagine a great light from heaven blinding Saul, or the scales falling from his eyes.
Continue down the page of St. Paul’s narrative of his conversion in Acts 22, and you’ll find another image worthy of our attention today:
“‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’”And at that very moment, I regained my sight and saw him.Then he said,‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will,to see the Righteous One and to hear the sound of his voice;for you will be his witness before allto what you have seen and heard.’”Acts 22:13-15
Who speaks these words of healing to Saul? An angel? God himself? No. It’s Ananias, a “devout observer of the law” sent by God to minister to Paul (Acts 22:12).
Wait a second: if God was the one who blinded Saul in the first place, shouldn’t God have restored Saul’s sight himself? Why did God choose a messenger to do his will?
We know from our own experiences — and countless stories in Scripture — that God uniquely commissions individuals to do his work here on earth. God calls Jonah to convert the people of Ninevah; God calls Samuel to mentor and guide the young King David; God calls Zechariah to be the father of St. John the Baptist; God calls St. Joseph to take Mary as his wife.
Let’s return to those memories we recollected at the beginning: God has called his people to minister to you. Likewise, God has called you to minister to his people.
You matter that much to him. Saul mattered that much to him.
Now what?
In the same way that God gave Ananias a unique mission, we see God’s will for Saul revealed in the following two verses.
“The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice; for you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:14-15; emphasis added).
In other words, having been restored of his sight, Saul is called to go forth and help others regain their sight.
That’s a weighty responsibility, a serious mission.
It is also our mission.
The Gospel Acclamation for today’s feast reads: “I chose you from the world, to go and bear fruit that will last, says the Lord.” This offers us a few clues:
God set you apart for a unique mission (“to go and bear fruit”).
This unique mission has eternal implications (“fruit that will last”).
Before choosing a mission for you, God chose you.
That last detail is the most important. To understand our mission to minister to those individuals God has placed in our care, we cannot begin with the details, objectives, KPIs, metrics or strategies. We must start with identity. God has chosen you.
Correspondingly, Saul’s first task from Ananias is this: “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16). By our baptism, we are restored to our original identity as God’s beloved sons and daughters. No wonder Saul receives a new name: Paul is literally a new creation, restored to relationship with the God of the universe.
What’s true for Paul is true for us. By our baptism, we can “see the Righteous One and hear the sound of his voice.” In a fallen world rife with suffering and persecution, God’s beloved sons and daughters are called to draw others back into that original relationship.
We have seen and heard the Word of God. We cannot help but share it to the ends of the earth.
How do we live out our mission?
Today’s feast comes at a special time: the Jubilee Year of Hope. In the Old Testament, the Jubilee Year was a time when debts were forgiven, captives were freed, travelers returned home, and the land and people rested.
However, the Jubilee Year of Hope cannot be understood in the abstract. What if that person in the memory you called to mind earlier spoke these words to you?
Your debts are forgiven.
You have been freed.
You can return home.
You can rest.
To put it differently: “Saul, my brother, regain your sight.”
In some moments, we are called to be Ananias — to witness to the baptismal identity of each one of God’s beloved sons and daughters. In other moments, we are called to receive the blessing of an Ananias in our lives, reminding us who we are in Christ.
The Jubilee Year of Hope, then, is a time to embody the mission we share with Paul: to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. But we must remember Ananias’ example, too. We begin with those God has entrusted into our care: our family, loved ones, neighbors and friends.
We have a responsibility to them to remind them who they are and to live in hope.
It could not have been easy for Saul to live in his restored identity as Paul. It is no easy task for us to live as God’s beloved sons and daughters. This is why we sometimes need others to remind us of our identity. This is why God has gifted us to each other as his hands and feet.
Just as our mission to witness to the Gospel is more than a set of rules and requirements, hope is more than a concept in the abstract. We can be hope to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Living as a new creation is no easy task, but our hope-filled witness can melt away the Saul to reveal the Paul in our neighbor. This is our joyful duty here on earth.
May we say with Ananias: My brother, regain your sight.
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