St Paul - Or is it St. Saul ?

Paul addressed the people in these words:
"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,
but brought up in this city.
At the feet of Gamaliel, I was educated strictly in our ancestral law
and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
I persecuted this Way to death,
binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
Even the high priest and the whole council of elders
can testify on my behalf.
For from them I even received letters to the brothers
and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem
in chains for punishment those there as well.

"On that journey as I drew near to Damascus,
about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me,
'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
I replied, 'Who are you, sir?'
And he said to me,
'I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.'
My companions saw the light
but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.
I asked, 'What shall I do, sir?'
The Lord answered me, 'Get up and go into Damascus,
and there you will be told about everything
appointed for you to do.' 
Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light,     

Acts 22: 3 - 16

I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.

"A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law,
and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
came to me and stood there and said,
'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 all
to what you have seen and heard.
Now, why delay?
Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away,
calling upon his name.'"

Today, the Church celebrates the life of St. Paul the Apostle. You have to give credit where credit is due. Paul went at things wholeheartedly with a lot of enthusiasm and with an eye for getting the job done. He hailed from a city named Tarsus which was the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia on the southeast coast of what we call Turkey.  He was no country bumpkin as the city he was from was a port city and center of commercial trade.  If you told someone you were from Nazareth they might ask you, "Oh, where is that?" But if you told someone you were from Tarsus, they knew exactly where you were from. 

Paul was an educated man.  He learned his religion, that of a Jew, at the feet of Gamaliel who is known even today as a famous Jewish teacher. Paul was what we might call today a radicalized follower of the Jewish religion. As a matter of fact, he and Gamaliel were on the outs for a while because Paul disagreed with Gamaliel's open-minded attitude when it came to the Christian sect.  Paul was of a mind to go after the Christians and nip this Jesus thing in the bud. 

Paul was a Roman citizen, he inherited it, and this is important because it gave him certain rights that could not be violated.  For example, at one point, this happened after his conversion, of course, he was going to be interrogated and to encourage his cooperation, they were planning to scourge him.  They prepared him and before they got the conversation started he asked them if they really wanted to do this to a Roman citizen?  The soldier assigned to the task went back and asked if his excellency really wanted to scourge a Roman citizen who had not been condemned to death.  They let him go.  Paul as a citizen of Rome had one other right, and that was to have his case decided by the emperor.  He claimed that right and was sent on his journey to Rome.  Paul reaped one final benefit as a Roman citizen, after he was condemned by Nero, instead of being crucified, which was terribly painful and long-lasting, he was sent home by being beheaded, a quick and painless way to die. 

Often in the Bible, when someone's name is changed it shows that their mission has changed.  Our hero was known as Saul and in Acts 13:9 we are told, "But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit looked at him..."  In this case, Saul and Paul are actually the same names but Paul is easier to say in Greek with whom Paul had many conversations. 

As we know, Paul was thrown from his horse, saw a great light and heard Jesus ask why Paul was persecuting Him.  From that moment, Paul converted and with his whole heart, he took on the establishment and pushed Christianity and helped it grow.  His conversion was, to put it mildly, a shot out of the blue.  We are called to convert just as Paul did, we are supposed to move from being an enemy of Christ to be an ambassador for Him.  We Catholics know that conversion is a lifelong struggle.  We don't just say the "sinner's prayer" and get on with our lives.  We have to work at it day by day and sometimes minute by minute.  As we remember today Paul of Tarsus, let us also remember the day our conversion started and let us look and see where we are at and what we need to do to get where we need to go. 

I keep beating this into the ground, but it is IMPORTANT.  One day, maybe today, it is possible that you will die and end up in purgatory.  Wouldn't you want those who loved you in life to show that they still love you by praying for you now?  For heaven's sake, don't forget the Poor Souls.  They may include your parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, nieces, and even if it doesn't pity the Poor Souls and pray for them.  They cannot help themselves, they depend on us.