[ Today's Readings ]
Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.
We are all called to "Go out to all the world and tell the Good News." Our sphere of "all the world" may be smaller or larger than Paul's but no one is exempt. Paul's story is one of great hope for us. Even though he chooses the wrong path God does not give up on him. He persecutes the Church. This is the very opposite of the calling God has for him. But God does not thereby write him off and find someone else. God has a special plan for Paul and does not give up on that plan. He does not look only for hearts that are ready to follow him. He looks also for hearts willing to come to the light, to see things in a new way, and to be changed.
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?"
God wants to use all of us. If we have been blind to him today is the day to let him open our eyes.
"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.
Let us not doubt the dignity of the call. We can each say that we are chosen instruments of God. Our human failings serve only to highlight the divine strength at work within us.
"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?"
God has the same desire for us as for Paul, "to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice" and then to witness what we have seen and heard to others. It is made possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why the proclamation is accompanied by miraculous signs.
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.
We need not worry whether or not we are worthy of such great gifts. We aren't. But God desires to use us nonetheless.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever.
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