Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, apostle
(Acts 22:3-16; Mark
16:15-18)
Today’s Feast of the
Conversion of St. Paul marks the end of the Week of Prayer for Church
Unity. For over fifty years Christian
churches have prayed from January 18 until today, January 25, that they might
be united in worship. The latter date
was evidently chosen because as Paul was converted from a persecutor of
Christians to its most accomplished promoter, so Christians today must
experience a change of heart and mind if Christian unity is to be realized.
Catholics are by no
means exempt from the necessity to change.
We must not think of Protestants as outside the possibility or the
probability of salvation. We also must
recognize the virtues of Protestants and Orthodox. Protestants have emphasized catechesis from
childhood through adulthood. Sunday
school for children and Sunday evenings with a second lesson have been
standards for many Protestant communities.
Orthodox greatly value liturgy, probably more so than Catholics. They have a palpable sense of singing God’s
praises outside the Eucharist as well as inside.
Sometimes it seems
that Christian churches are farther apart now than ever. Many Protestant churches’ ordaining women as
bishops constitutes a singular barrier to reunion. But the situation is not all grim. Evangelical Christian churches see doctrine
and, to an extent, church structure very similar to Catholics. Orthodox and Catholics also are transcending
historical differences in questions like the dating of Christmas. We should not give up on seeing Christians
united but pray all the harder that it becomes a reality.
