"Following the holy doctrine which he taught": why I rejoice on this feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul
Each year I look forward to the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. Let me seek to explain why. Firstly, today's feast provides a focus of thanksgiving for time in my life lived in a community named after Saint Paul. When I weekly pray the General Thanksgiving - "but above all for thine inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory" - I am, of course, giving thanks for the grace bestowed upon me through the Sacraments and those other holy ordinances "after the example of thy holy Apostles". On this day, however, I recall with thanksgiving that my initiation into and formative years as a member of "the mystical body of thy Son" occurred in a particular place and in a particular time, a community named after Saint Paul, in the first 25 years of my life. (The stained glass window of the Apostle's conversion is from the parish.) When I return to my home parish, I look a...