January 25.  Conversion of St Paul. ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”    “I don’t know many Jews,”  Anthea said,  “but I suppose I know plenty of Gentiles. In fact I wonder if most of us Catholic Christians are like those Gentiles Paul wrote about. Is our faith, as a system of beliefs and way of life, a real part of our lives, or an add-on that we pick up on Sundays or when we go to sodality conferences or pilgrimages or special occasions.  St Paul himself was on fire at first against the followers of Jesus and after his conversion he spent the rest of his life on fire for Jesus, preaching, writing and ultimately suffering death.   Are we in our own families and beyond, followers, missionaries or persecutors of people’s beliefs and their activism?  Becoming an eco-friendly family:    Take some action to become an environmental missionary.

As he journeyed he approached Damascus and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him.  And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  And he said, “Who are you Lord,” and he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”  Read Acts 22:3-16    Pope Francis:  Social love moves us to devise larger strategies to halt environmental degradation and to encourage a culture of care which permeates all of society.   When we feel that God is calling us to intervene with others in these social dynamics we should realize that this is part of our spirituality.  LS231.