Daily Gospel Reflection
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January 25, 2020
Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.
“And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
I grew up in rural New Mexico—rattlesnake country—where handling snakes was an antic reserved for interstate reptile farm employees or wily, audacious drifters on trapping expeditions. Picking up a snake was never a sign of “good news.” Yet, in today’s Gospel, Christ calls this seemingly crazy antic a sign of belief.
It would be presumptuous to explain away Christ’s words by accusing him of merely speaking symbolically. Perhaps Jesus knew that the early witnesses of the faith would require something drastic and uncanny to be shocked into a new vision and to open their hearts to his Gospel. Maybe his disciples would have to literally handle the physical manifestations of evil in order to show his transcendent power over it. It’s possible that “signs and wonders” were the linchpin for conversion for a culture that was entirely removed from the kingdom of God.
Perhaps it’s not so different today.
Belief, more than simply assent, transforms our actions. If we take the strange, unnerving figure of Jesus Christ for who he really is, something becomes of us that, like the snake handler, the healer, or the one who speaks in tongues, is miraculous and otherworldly. If we love the very one who is Love Itself, we gain an uncanny and mysterious power that defies that our pre-conceived notions—a power that rises from humility.
Allowing Christ to work through us, as today’s Gospel affirms, gives us authority over the devil, who cannot do his work in a heart that has forced him out and replaced him with the presence of Christ. When we follow Jesus, we become conduits of the divine will. Through our humble submission, our lives become his signs, his wonders, his means for drawing all back to himself. Far from symbolic, our belief incarnates Christ into the world.
Today’s Gospel reminds us to go beyond our intellectual and philosophical assent and truly become a wonder for a world that desperately needs salvation.
Prayer
Lord God today we join with the Church throughout the world to celebrate the feast of the great apostle to the Gentiles. Called by the risen Christ, Paul no longer lived for himself or for his own justice but only for Christ and with Christ. May we who follow in his footsteps never seek to build up ourselves but always to give of ourselves in building up the body of believers. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Paul has one of the most dramatic and famous conversion stories of all time.
Saul was born a Roman citizen in Tarsus. Saul was a highly educated Jewish man who was trained in classical disciplines such as rhetoric and in the strict observance of Mosaic law. Saul was a zealous Pharisee and had returned to Tarsus before Jesus began his public ministry in Palestine.
In fact, Saul was so zealous about the law that he persecuted Christians because they departed from it in their following of Jesus. He was in the crowd that murdered St. Stephen, the first martyr, and violently persecuted other Christians. He would drag Christians out of their homes, shackle them with chains, and throw them in prison.
He asked permission to round up all the Christians in Damascus and march them, in chains, to Jerusalem as an example. On his way to Damascus, he was surrounded by an intensely bright light from heaven and was struck to the ground. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me,” a voice called out. “Who are you, sir?” Saul cried out. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9).
Saul was converted at that moment, and the Lord instructed him to go into Damascus, where he would be told what to do. Saul got up, but realized he could not see—he had been struck blind by the vision.
He was led into the city and sheltered there until a Christian named Ananias was told by the risen Lord to find Saul and lay hands on him and heal him. Ananias had heard about this Saul and was reluctant, but followed Jesus’ instructions and laid hands on him. Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he regained his sight.
Saul was baptized and changed his name to Paul, and almost immediately began preaching in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. He went on to make missionary journeys through southern Europe and Asia Minor, and converted many—especially among people who were not Jewish. Fourteen of his letters are preserved as part of the New Testament.
Paul was killed in Rome by beheading, the method of execution for Roman citizens, which is why he is often depicted with a sword (as he is with this window in the chapel of Morrissey Hall, shown above). His relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica, including part of the column where he was beheaded. His conversion is depicted in a stained glass window there.
St. Paul, apostle whose encounter with the persecuted Christ changed the course of your life and Christian history—pray for us!