God speaks in many different ways to His people. For example, in the Old Testament He spoke to Moses in the burning bush, and to Elijah not in the storm but in the gentle breeze. In the New Testament, He spoke to Mary through the Angel Gabriel and to Peter through His Son, Jesus, as Peter carried on with his everyday life as a fisherman. And today we celebrate His speaking to Saul of Tarsus, knocking him “off his horse”. Saul was a Jewish zealot, and a vehement persecutor of God’s people. Saul’s life-direction was dramatically changed and forever, and very personally.
The Acts of the Apostles is the “history” of the early Christian community, a recounting of the ways Jesus’ followers gathered in prayer and in the work of continuing His mission. Because these “followers of the Way” live the very life of Jesus, they are different. The Holy Spirit imbues them with joy and generosity, with great hope in humanity.
Blinded by the flash, Saul could no longer see: he is brought to Straight Street to see the Truth. Saul was passionate aa Jew and equally as one whose very identity was changed. Even his name was changed to Paul. Converted, he turns from persecutor of the Church to proclaimer of the Word, an apostle, a proponent of the Way. What a conversion story!
So, what does all this say to us? There is much conversion that has already taken place in each of us – and still more to come. Why? Because there is so much sin, selfishness that puts us up on our own high horses. But the Spirit of God keeps calling us back to our senses, to the “straight way” (see the play on words!), to learn from our mistakes.
New experiences, different people, even setbacks to our dreams, that at first create some fear and knock us off our horse (of self-righteousness), can turn us toward the “Light”. Fears often temporarily blind and imprison us. But it is also our fears that can free us to find new answers to important questions that can change the “way” we live. That’s conversion.