The Holy Prophet Jeremiah (625-585 BC); Coronation of Pochaiv Icon of the Mother of God (1773); Passing into Eternal Life (1951) of Blessed Klymentii (Clement) Sheptytsky, Archimandrite of the Studites and Confessor
Read
Acts 8:40-9:19; John 6:48-54
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
At the beginning of the reading Paul is “breathing out threats” against the Christians, but by the end of the reading, he breathes in the holy spirit at the hands of Ananias. The change that takes place in Paul’s life is remarkable, for it seems immediate. For us Christians, who already belong to Christ, our conversion seems hard-won. Perhaps it would be better if God struck us with blinding white light and impelled us to change. The fact is, God did. At our baptism, we received the pure light of God. We are reminded of it with the gift of our baptismal candle. Pious tradition encourages that we put that candle in our Paschal basket, and light it every year. Like our baptismal candle, Paul carried that experience of that light with him, emboldening him to be called an apostle. In fact, Paul is called “the” apostle by the tradition. He didn’t even meet Jesus during his earthly life! Much like Paul then, our encounter with Christ happened in an instant. We need to spend the rest of our life catching up to that grace.