Pope at Audience: Christ converts
our hearts to love others
In his catechesis at the weekly General Audience, Pope
Francis reflects on how God converted the heart of Saul, the persecutor of
Christians, and transformed him into the fearless preacher we know as Saint
Paul.
By Devin Watkins
In the Acts of the Apostles, Saul was a religious ideologue
who persecuted Jesus’ early followers.
That same sinful man became Paul after his dramatic
conversion to Christianity, offering us an example of the power of God’s love
for each of us.
Pope Francis reflected on that model of life-changing love
in his catechesis at the Wednesday General Audience, and he compared St Paul’s
unconverted actions to those of modern dictatorships.
Dictatorial persecution
He said Saul hunted and captured early Christians, under the
authority of the High Priest.
“You who come from those peoples who were persecuted by
dictatorships,” said the Pope, “you understand well what it means to hunt and
capture people. This is what Saul did.”
Pope Francis added that religion, for Saul, had become a
religious, social, and political ideology.
Saul’s anger and conflictual attitude, he said, are an
invitation to ask ourselves whether we meet other people
or set ourselves up against others.
“Do I belong to the universal Church – with the good and the
bad, all of us – or do I hold a selective ideology? Do I adore God or a
dogmatic formulation?” he asked.
Conversion to Christ
God, said Pope Francis, converted Saul by touching his
heart. He was blinded by a light along the road to Damascus, and Saul heard a
voice asking him why he was persecuting Jesus.
“An attack against a member of the Church is an attack
against Christ himself! And those who are ideologues because they desire the
so-called “purity” of the Church are attacking Christ.”
After his conversion, Paul’s life is transformed, and what
he previously considered his “glory” became “dross” to be discarded in Christ’s
name.
Baptized into new life
Pope Francis said Paul then accepts Baptism, transforming
the course of his life.
“Baptism marks – as it does for all of us – the beginning of
a new life, which is accompanied by a new view of God, ourselves, and others,
who are turned from enemies into brothers and sisters in Christ.”
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