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2013년 1월 25일 금요일 성 바오로 사도의 회심 축일
제1독서
사도행전.22,3-16<또는 9,1-22>
그 무렵 바오로가 백성에게 말하였다. 3 “나는 유다 사람입니다. 킬리키아의 타르수스에서 태어났지만 이 도성 예루살렘에서 자랐고, 가말리엘 문하에서 조상 전래의 엄격한 율법에 따라 교육을 받았습니다. 오늘날 여러분이 모두 그렇듯이, 나도 하느님을 열성으로 섬기는 사람이었습니다. 4 또 신자들을 죽일 작정으로 이 새로운 길을 박해하여, 남자, 여자 할 것 없이 포박하고 감옥에 넣었습니다. 5 대사제와 온 원로단도 나에 관하여 증언해 줄 수 있습니다. 나는 그들에게서 동포들에게 가는 서한까지 받아 다마스쿠스로 갔습니다. 그곳에 있는 사람들도 결박하여 예루살렘으로 끌고 와 처벌을 받게 하려는 것이었습니다.
6 그런데 내가 길을 떠나 정오쯤 다마스쿠스에 가까이 이르렀을 때, 갑자기 하늘에서 큰 빛이 번쩍이며 내 둘레를 비추었습니다. 7 나는 바닥에 엎어졌습니다. 그리고 ‘사울아, 사울아, 왜 나를 박해하느냐?’ 하고 나에게 말하는 소리를 들었습니다.
8 내가 ‘주님, 주님은 누구십니까?’ 하고 여쭙자, 그분께서 나에게 이르셨습니다. ‘나는 네가 박해하는 나자렛 사람 예수다.’
9 나와 함께 있던 이들은 빛은 보았지만, 나에게 말씀하시는 분의 소리는 듣지 못하였습니다.
10 ‘주님, 제가 어떻게 해야 합니까?’ 하고 내가 여쭈었더니, 주님께서 나에게 이르셨습니다. ‘일어나 다마스쿠스로 들어가거라. 장차 네가 하도록 결정되어 있는 모든 일에 관하여, 거기에서 누가 너에게 일러 줄 것이다.’
11 나는 그 눈부신 빛 때문에 앞을 볼 수가 없어, 나와 함께 가던 이들의 손에 이끌려 다마스쿠스로 들어갔습니다. 12 거기에는 하나니아스라는 사람이 있었습니다. 그는 율법에 따라 사는 독실한 사람으로, 그곳에 사는 모든 유다인에게 좋은 평판을 받고 있었습니다. 13 그가 나를 찾아와 앞에 서서, ‘사울 형제, 눈을 뜨십시오.’ 하고 나에게 말하였습니다. 그 순간 나는 눈을 뜨고 그를 보게 되었습니다.
14 그때에 하나니아스가 말하였습니다. ‘우리 조상들의 하느님께서는 당신을 선택하시어, 그분의 뜻을 깨닫고 의로우신 분을 뵙고 또 그분의 입에서 나오는 소리를 듣게 하셨습니다. 15 당신이 보고 들은 것을 모든 사람에게 전하는 그분의 증인이 되라는 것입니다. 16 그러니 이제 무엇을 망설입니까? 일어나 그분의 이름을 받들어 부르며, 세례를 받고 죄를 용서받으십시오.’”
복음
마르코.16,15-18
그때에 예수님께서 열한 제자에게 나타나셔서 15 이르셨다.
“너희는 온 세상에 가서 모든 피조물에게 복음을 선포하여라. 16 믿고 세례를 받는 이는 구원을 받고, 믿지 않는 자는 단죄를 받을 것이다. 17 믿는 이들에게는 이러한 표징들이 따를 것이다. 곧, 내 이름으로 마귀들을 쫓아내고, 새로운 언어들을 말하며, 18 손으로 뱀을 집어 들고 독을 마셔도 아무런 해도 입지 않으며, 또 병자들에게 손을 얹으면 병이 나을 것이다.”
Friday, January 25, 2013 Daily Mass Reading
January 25, 2013
Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, the apostle
Reading 1
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,
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.’”
or
Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord,
went to the high priest and asked him
for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that,
if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way,
he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.
On his journey, as he was nearing Damascus,
a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
He said, “Who are you, sir?”
The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.”
The men who were traveling with him stood speechless,
for they heard the voice but could see no one.
Saul got up from the ground,
but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing;
so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus.
For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias,
and the Lord said to him in a vision, AAnanias.”
He answered, “Here I am, Lord.”
The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight
and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.
He is there praying,
and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias
come in and lay his hands on him,
that he may regain his sight.”
But Ananias replied,
“Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man,
what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem.
And here he has authority from the chief priests
to imprison all who call upon your name.”
But the Lord said to him,
“Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine
to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel,
and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.”
So Ananias went and entered the house;
laying his hands on him, he said,
“Saul, my brother, the Lord has sent me,
Jesus who appeared to you on the way by which you came,
that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
Immediately things like scales fell from his eyes
and he regained his sight.
He got up and was baptized,
and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength.
He stayed some days with the disciples in Damascus,
and he began at once to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues,
that he is the Son of God.
All who heard him were astounded and said,
“Is not this the man who in Jerusalem
ravaged those who call upon this name,
and came here expressly to take them back in chains
to the chief priests?”
But Saul grew all the stronger
and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus,
proving that this is the Christ.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (Mark 16:15) Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Praise the Lord, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.
R. Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.
or:
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them:
“Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.
These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Proclaim the Good News
The Irish Express newspaper
carried a front-page story telling
how manager David Hay of the
Scotland Glasgow Celtics forbade
his soccer player to bless
themselves on the playing field.
He said it might be acceptable
practice in other nations, but not
in Scotland , where it tended to be
inflammatory. He said, "Religion
is a private matter...I want to nip
this whole thing in the bud before
a matter of controversy."
Whether or not it is appropriate
to witness to one's beliefs on a
playing field is open to question.
But what is not open to question.
is that we must witness to the
Gospel. Jesus made this
unquestionably clear.
What kind of witness do we give
to the Gospel?
Not the cry, but the flight of the
wild duck leads the flock to fly
http://www.franciscanretreats.net/
Conversion amounts to a change of attitude, emotion or viewpoint from one of indifference, disbelief or antagonism to one of acceptance, faith or enthusiastic support. It usually brings about a personality change. This describes accurately the spiritual awakening of the 12th Step of the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. The one changed becomes a new person with new values and attitudes and a new way of living and behaving.
Today we celebrate the Conversion of St. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. He changed from a rigid Jew who persecuted the followers of Christianity to one of its greatest promoters and preachers. He was indeed a new person. The story of this conversion can be found in the Acts of the Apostles. It is good for us to read this story on this feast. Note particularly the part played by God in this conversion. Without God having had a part in it, there would have been no conversion. And so it is with us and our changes. If we desire a change, God must be a part of it or it will all be to no avail. Many people are not aware of this and it delays things unnecessarily.
What would you like changed in your life right now? Be willing and open to wanting the change, ask Jesus’ help in changing, and it will happen in one way or another.
Conversion, repentance, the proverbial U turn is possible to all with Jesus’ help.
http://www.evangeli.net/gospel/gospel.html
Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation
Today, the Church commemorates the conversion of St. Paul, apostle. The short fragment of the Gospel according to St. Mark contains part of the address on the mission bestowed to the apostles by Jesus, resurrected. His exhortation to go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News includes the thesis that faith and baptism and necessary essentials for salvation: «The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned» (Mk 16:16). Furthermore, Christ guarantees that preachers will be given the faculty to work out miracles or prodigies which will support and confirm their missionary preaching (cf. Mk 17:18). The mission is big —«Go out to the whole world»—, but it will not be without the Lord's escort: «And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age» (Mt 28:20).
Today's collect, tells us: «O God, who, by the preaching of your apostle Paul, has caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: grant, we beseech you, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show forth our thankfulness to you for the same by following the holy doctrine which he taught». A gospel God has allowed us to know and that so many souls would desire to have: we have the responsibility to transmit this wonderful heritage to whatever extent we are able to.
St. Paul's conversion is a great event: from persecuting Jesus' followers he converted into a servant and defender of the cause of Christ. Quite often, perhaps, we have also been “persecutors”: and, as St. Paul, we need to convert from “persecutors” into servants and defenders of Jesus Christ.
With the Virgin Mary, we should realize the Almighty has also noticed us and has chosen us to share and carry out the priestly and redeeming mission of his divine Son: Regina apostolorum, Queen of the apostles, pray for us!; give us courage to bear witness of our Christian faith in this world of ours.
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle. The first reading for today describes Paul’s conversion. The lectionary for today proposes two alternate readings. They are fairly similar, but I have chosen to reflect today on the first of the two proposed readings. In this reading some time has passed since Paul’s conversion and he has returned to Jerusalem after his first missionary journey. In Jerusalem Paul encounters a crowd of Jews hostile to the Christians. He is badly beaten and is saved from death by the Roman soldiers who arrest him in order to prevent a riot. Paul then begs the Roman officer to be allowed to speak to the crowd. His words to the crowd are today’s first reading.
Several things occur to me about Paul’s words. First of all I think it ironic that Paul had to endure enmity from both sides, the Christians and the Jews. At the time of his conversion he had to convince the Christians that his conversion was genuine and that he was one of them. Now he encounters the enmity of the Jews who see him as a traitor to their cause by his conversion to Christianity. As I read Paul’s words I am impressed by his courage and determination. He had just been beaten and it must have taken all his strength to stand up to those who minutes before had been beating him. It also must have taken great courage to speak to them at all since they were very hostile to him. After he concluded his words and was led off, the crowd remained hostile to Paul. Some in the crowd had probably been among those who stoned St. Stephen. Although he did not convince them, Paul tried very hard to change the hostility directed toward him. He gives a very honest and precise description of what happened to him in his conversion experience. I get the feeling that Paul wanted to know if any of his hearers would have done differently if they had had the encounter with Jesus that he did.
The Conversion of St. Paul is an outstanding example of the mysterious way that God sometimes works. Paul had an encounter with Jesus that was unlike that had by any of the other apostles. He went very quickly from being an implacable foe of the Christians to being one of their great champions and an outstanding apostle. The feast of Paul’s conversion is a major feast celebrated by the Church throughout the world. It reminds us of the great work done by St. Paul. And this feast calls upon all of us Christians to try and imitate the virtues and the example of this great apostle.
http://www.rc.net/wcc/readings/
"Go into all the world and preach the gospel"
Mark ends his gospel account with Jesus' last appearance to the apostles before his ascension into heaven. Jesus' departure and ascension was both an end and a beginning for his disciples. While it was the end of Jesus' physical presence with his beloved disciples, it marked the beginning of Jesus' presence with them in a new way. Jesus promised that he would be with them always to the end of time. Now as the glorified and risen Lord and Savior, ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven, Jesus promised to send them the Holy Spirit who would anoint them with power on the Feast of Pentecost, just as Jesus was anointed for his ministry at the River Jordan. When the Lord Jesus departed physically from the apostles, they were not left in sorrow or grief. Instead, they were filled with joy and with great anticipation for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus' last words to his apostles point to his saving mission and to their mission to be witnesses of his saving death and his glorious resurrection and to proclaim the good news of salvation to all the world. Their task is to proclaim the good news of salvation, not only to the people of Israel, but to all the nations. God's love and gift of salvation is not just for a few, or for a nation, but it is for the whole world – for all who will accept it. The gospel is the power of God, the power to forgive sins, to heal, to deliver from evil and oppression, and to restore life. Do you believe in the power of the gospel?
This is the great commission which the risen Christ gives to the whole church. All believers have been given a share in this task – to be heralds of the good news and ambassadors for Jesus Christ, the only savior of the world. We have not been left alone in this task, for the risen Lord works in and through us by the power of his Holy Spirit. Today we witness a new Pentecost as the Lord pours out his Holy Spirit upon his people to renew and strengthen the body of Christ and to equip it for effective ministry and mission to every land and peoples. Do you witness to others the joy of the gospel and the hope of the resurrection?
Conversion of Paul the Apostle
Many Christians celebrate today the conversion of St. Paul who became an apostle to the Gentile nations. Paul testified how he first opposed the gospel and persecuted Christians, but was converted when Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus (Acts 22:3-16). Paul's encounter with the person of Christ radically changed his life and opened his eyes to the truth of the gospel. Benedict XVI reflects on the significance of Paul's conversion for the whole Christian people:
"Paul's conversion matured in his encounter with the Risen Christ; it was this encounter that radically changed his life. What happened to him on the road to Damascus is what Jesus asks in today's Gospel: Saul is converted because, thanks to the divine light, "he has believed in the Gospel". In this consists his and our conversion: in believing in Jesus dead and risen and in opening to the illumination of his divine grace. In that moment Saul understood that his salvation did not depend on good works fulfilled according to the law, but on the fact that Jesus died also for him the persecutor and has risen. This truth by which every Christian life is enlightened thanks to Baptism completely overturns our way of life. To be converted means, also for each one of us, to believe that Jesus "has given himself for me", dying on the Cross (cf. Galatians 2: 20) and, risen, lives with me and in me. Entrusting myself to the power of his forgiveness, letting myself be taken by his hand, I can come out of the quicksands of pride and sin, of deceit and sadness, of selfishness and of every false security, to know and live the richness of his love." (from <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/angelus/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20090125_en.html" target="_blank">address</a> given on January 25, 2009)
“Lord Jesus, through the gift of your Holy Spirit, you fill us with an indomitable spirit of praise and joy which no earthly trial can subdue. Fill me with your resurrection joy and help me to live a life of praise and thanksgiving for your glory. May I witness to those around me the joy of the gospel and the reality of your resurrection.”
Psalm 117:1-2
1 Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us; and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever. Praise the LORD!
http://www.daily-meditations.org/index2.html
Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. Once a murderous persecutor of Christ’s followers, he encountered Jesus in a supernatural way and was forever changed.
Perhaps one could argue that because St. Paul had a supernatural experience of God, it was easier for him than it is for us to mend our ways. Though to some extent that might be true, it is still worthy for us to meditate on how we encounter God and the opportunities it gives us to significantly change ourselves and others.
In truth, aren’t all encounters with God extraordinary? How about the rising and the setting of the sun, the myriads of singing songbirds, the variety and coloration of blooming flowers, and the uniqueness of each falling snowflake? Aren’t these extraordinary experiences and manifestations of God?
If so, what then of the Holy Sacraments? Have they, like so many other things, been relegated to the realm of the ordinary so that becoming an heir of the Kingdom, having forgiveness of our sins, and receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, are no big deal?
If that seems to be the case, let us pray for the grace of conversion, to get knocked off of OUR high horse, to be blinded by the LIGHT and then healed not only for our own salvation, but as it was for St. Paul, for the conversion and salvation of the world.
http://www.contemplative.com/weekday_readings.htm
(The Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul; meditation is of the weekday Gospel.)
Mark 3.13-19
It is important to come to terms with the reality of the hierarchical Church that is the Body of Christ. The whole Body is in immediate communion with the Persons of the Holy Trinity, sharing in divine life of knowing and loving. This communion is the Church governed and taught by the hierarchy of bishops and pope in matters of Revelation and in the dispensation of the Sacraments, the mystical means of union with God in Christ Jesus. The path of Christ is in obedience and faith. Better to avoid all the rebellion and dissidence that absorb many in their life of faith. The battle is not over the democratization of the Church; what matters is the work of obediential union with Christ our Head through the ministry of the Church. Jesus went up to the mountain and then called to himself whom he would and constituted them the Twelve. Their ministry continues today in the bishops in communion with the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome, to whom Jesus gave the name, Peter, the Rock, which signifies his office as the universal pastor and teacher of the Church. Because we are able to rest on the rock of doctrine we can pass beyond into divine union.
http://goodnews.ie/calendar.php
Jews look to Jerusalem, Muslims to Mecca, but Christians are not asked to regard any city as more sacred than another (Rome has quite a different meaning for Christians than has Jerusalem for Jews or Mecca for Muslims). Christians were sent out to the whole world and were not told to look back. We are free in many more ways than we want to know. There is a hymn that says, “Let us build the city of God....” Your own village is the city of God. The city of God is not made of stones but of people, “living stones,” St Peter said (1 Peter 2:5).
What are we to make of those “signs that will accompany those who believe”? St Augustine (354 – 430) gave a broad imaginative interpretation of them. “What else are hearing, reading and copiously depositing things in the memory, than several stages of drinking in thoughts? The Lord, however, foretold concerning his faithful followers, that even ‘if they should drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them.’” Then he adds that if they read with discrimination, even if what they read is false, it will not poison them. “Even if they commit to their memory heretical statements which are declared to be worthy of disapproval, they receive no harm from the poisonous and depraved nature of these sentences.” The implication is that they can go out not only to the whole geographical world but also to the whole intellectual and cultural world without fear.
Gregory the Great (540 - 604) was at pains to play down the importance of these signs. “Is it, my brethren, because we do not have these signs that you do not believe? These were needed at the church’s beginning. The new faith needed to be nourished by miracles to grow. When we plant a vineyard, we must water the plants till we see they have begun to grow in the earth, and when they have once taken root we cease to water them constantly…. But true life cannot be obtained by means of these outward signs by those who perform them. For although corporeal works of this kind sometimes do proclaim an inner holiness of life, they do not bring it about.”
http://www.presentationministries.com/
CHOSEN ONES | ||
"This man is the instrument I have chosen." 뾃cts 9:15 | ||
St. Paul was chosen to:
You too are chosen by God. You are chosen in many of the same ways that Paul was. You also have been chosen in certain unique ways. The Lord says to you: "It was not you who chose Me, it was I Who chose you to go forth and bear fruit" (Jn 15:16). You are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people He claims for His own" (1 Pt 2:9). "Because you are God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility, meekness, and patience" (Col 3:12). You are a chosen child of God. You are blessed. Your life is very important. You are always loved. You are chosen. | ||
Prayer: Father, may we see many miraculous conversions today. | ||
Promise: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation. The man who believes in it and accepts baptism will be saved; the man who refuses to believe in it will be condemned." 뾏k 16:15-16 | ||
Praise: St. Paul wrote: "Love never fails" (1 Cor 13:8). |
http://biblereflection.blogspot.com/
More Homilies
January 25, 2011 Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, the apostle
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