Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul

Good morning.  Today we celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul In the first reading for today’s Mass Saint Paul gives a testimonial of his conversion experience. It is a reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 22:3-16).  And, in the Gospel from the book of Mark (Mk 16:15-18) we read that we are all called to conversion and that we are called to proclaim the Good News of the Christ. This process of conversion is an active and ongoing process and this is seen quite clearly in the Sacrament of Christian Marriage.  In Christian Marriage we are called to love, to let go of doing for your self and begin doing for the other; that is what love is…a gift of self.  As indicated this conversion process is active and ongoing, it is a process of recommitting ourselves to the covenantal life promise we made with our spouse before God and His Faith Community. 

This covenantal promise we make is not always easy, in fact all married couples experience difficulties in their marriage.  Research shows that most couples will have times where they experience doubts about their relationship and times where they feel a loss of closeness and connectedness.  There will be times when we find ourselves questioning whether this relationship fits with what we had in mind, whether it is what we signed on for. There will be times where we feel angry, exhausted, resentful, tired, and unfulfilled.  It happens to all of us, but it doesn’t have to always be that way, it CAN be the marriage you signed on for, but it requires a daily effort, commitment, and a focus upon those things which are important. As indicated, Jesus calls each of us, married or single, to change, to move out of our present ways and to accept His call for conversion; for those of us who are married this means ongoing conversion and renewal of our marital promises. One way to begin is to ask yourself what things about your spouse you are grateful for.  Studies suggest that gratitude strengthens a marriage, and that gratitude in one partner tends to encourage gratitude in the other partner.  What do you appreciate about your spouse?  Make a great day!

Today we celebrate the conversion of Saint Paul