5th Sunday of Easter
(Cycle “B" – May 14, 2006) )

Q. 371:   There is a saying, “What goes around comes around.”   Is Saul (Paul) finally getting his ‘inevitable’ due, by becoming one of the persecuted?   Is that the message for each one of us?

A. 371:   In the First Reading today (Acts 9:26-31) we discover that “Saul” finally experiences what he had been doing himself: the Jewish “persecutor-hunter” now becomes the Christian “hunted,” as some of the Greek-speaking Jews with whom he had been debating in Jerusalem now want to kill him.   But this is not a case where theories come into play, such as “karma” and/or the “Rev. Ike prosperity gospel” – that good things will happen to good people.   One only has to read the Book of Job to see that the “prosperity principle” collapses under the weight of evidence.   The reverse “hardship principle” also falls by the wayside, after the teachings of Jesus (e.g., Luke 13:1-5).

Two of the several messages for us in today’s First Reading deal with transformation and consequences.   First, Saul had been completely transformed by Jesus through his experience of the Risen Lord on his journey to Damascus.   But even that transformation did not convince the disciples in Jerusalem to trust him; so it took a believer like Barnabas to explain to them the change in Saul.   Barnabas was receptive to seeing the power of the Lord at work in other people.   Are we receptive also, or have we put everyone in “little boxes”?

Secondly, Saul (St. Paul) did in fact experience consequences from his actions of proclaiming his new-found faith.   He became a target for attack.   This is always a possibility, even a probability for Christians today who proclaim their faith boldly.   But do we proclaim our faith, or do we remain silent from fear or from ignorance of our scripture and tradition?

KNOW YOUR CATECHISM!   The Church is almost “guaranteed” persecution, trials that will come to help her become perfected in obedience to Christ (CCC #769).(CCC #675).  Nevertheless, we are called to keep the faith, profess it, and live it, even under persecution, because all these things are necessary for salvation (CCC #1816).

Deacon Paul Rooney
Mary Our Queen Parish, Omaha

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