DAMASCUS EXPERIENCE

Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul
Mk 16:15-18

A notorious man was once the fear and shame of a community. He had been jailed several times for various criminal offenses. But one day, the whole community woke up finding a totally different man in him. Out of the blue, he was a completely changed man: he was sober, respectful, considerate, law-abiding, and God-fearing. The following Sunday, everybody, including the parish priest, was dumbfounded to see this man sitting in the front pew of the church during the early morning Mass. “That man,” commented one of the parishioners, “must have had a ‘Damascus experience’.”

A “Damascus experience” means a “sudden change” from deep within. Is such a change possible? Yes, it is. We have today an example: Saul from Tarsus who later became Paul the Apostle.

But Paul’s “Damascus experience” was not at all something that sprang from nowhere. He saw the steadfastness that the early Christians had with their faith. He was a witnessed to their fraternal love for one another and for those who did not share their faith. He heard the words of forgiveness from the lips of Stephen whose execution he approved. Evidently, these shining examples of the early Christians were sown in the heart and mind of Paul. Those seeds were just waiting to sprout and bear fruit. We can just imagine how restless the former Saul felt deep within him until the Lord Himself met him on the road to Damascus.

As today’s Gospel echoes the Lord’s command that we proclaim the Good News to the ends of the earth, we cannot but reflect on what tremendous effects our genuine Christian witnessing through words and deeds have on others, including some heart hardened people. May we persevere in preaching the Gospel through our words and deeds.

That notorious man in our opening story had a “Damascus experience” because, most probably, there were good Christians in his community. Good Christians have been converting countless men and women since the time of Paul up until our days. Damascus is one long stretch of a dusty road where good Christians once led a Saul to being a Paul.