Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?

Fr. Scott Haynes

Meditation on the Conversion of Saint Paul

“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?”

(Acts 9:4)

I. Saul the Zealot: A Persecutor Convinced He Was Right

Before he was Paul the Apostle, he was Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee trained at the feet of Gamaliel, steeped in the Law, fiercely devoted to the traditions of Israel. Saul was not a casual enemy of Christianity. He was its most ardent persecutor precisely because he believed himself to be serving God.

Why did Saul hate the Christians? Because he believed Jesus of Nazareth was a fraud. A crucified Messiah was, in Saul’s mind, a contradiction in terms. “Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree” (Deut. 21:23). To proclaim such a man as Lord and Christ seemed to Saul a blasphemy that threatened the covenant itself.

The Church Fathers repeatedly emphasize this point. Saul sinned not from indifference, but from misdirected zeal. As Saint Augustine of Hippo observed, Saul persecuted Christ “thinking that he did God service,” and yet God did not abandon him to his error. Instead, Christ pursued him.¹

II. The Damascus Road: When the Risen Lord Intervenes

On the road to Damascus, armed with letters authorizing arrest, Saul was struck down by a light brighter than the sun. The Resurrected Christ did not argue with him. He revealed Himself.

“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?”

This question forever changes human history. Christ identifies Himself with His Church. To strike Christians is to strike Christ Himself. Saul, blinded and trembling, asks the only question that matters: “Who art Thou, Lord?”

The answer shatters everything: “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.”

The Fathers saw here not only Paul’s conversion, but the pattern of all true conversion. Saint John Chrysostom remarks that Christ casts Saul down not to destroy him, but to raise him up anew, teaching that grace precedes repentance.²

Saul’s blindness is symbolic. He must lose his former sight in order to see truly. Only when Ananias lays hands on him does Saul regain his vision and receive Baptism. The persecutor becomes a disciple. The enemy becomes an apostle.

III. From Jew to Apostle of the Gentiles — Without Ceasing to Be a Jew

Paul’s conversion does not erase his Jewish identity. It fulfills it. He comes to know that the Law and the Prophets were always pointing to Christ. What Saul persecuted as novelty, Paul now proclaims as fulfillment.

This is why Paul insists that Christ is the Messiah promised to Israel, and why his preaching always goes first to the synagogue. Christ Himself had commanded this order:

“Go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Mt. 10:6)

The Church Fathers are unanimous on this point. Saint Irenaeus of Lyons taught that the Old Covenant was not destroyed as evil, but completed as imperfect.³ The sacrifices of the Temple were figures. Christ’s sacrifice is the reality.

To cease calling the Jewish people to Christ would therefore be neither love nor respect, but neglect. St. Paul himself warns that salvation is found only in Christ, for Jew and Gentile alike. Love demands truth, but truth must be spoken with charity.

IV. The End of the Temple and the New Sacrifice

The destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70 was not an accident of history. The tearing of the veil at Christ’s death had already revealed its meaning. Access to God would no longer be through animal sacrifice, but through the Blood of Christ.

The Epistle to the Hebrews explains this with clarity:

“There is indeed a setting aside of the former commandment, because of the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.” (Hebr. 7:18)

And again:

“For if that former had been faultless, there should not indeed a place have been sought for a second.” (Hebr. 8:7)

Saint Leo the Great teaches that what the Temple prefigured, the Cross accomplished, and what the Cross accomplished, the Holy Mass makes present.⁴ Christ is the Eternal High Priest. His sacrifice is once offered, yet eternally living.

Thus, the Church does not replace Israel by force. She receives Israel’s promises fulfilled in Christ.

V. Peter’s Call to Israel and the Universal Call to Conversion

On Pentecost, Saint Peter preached first not to pagans, but to Jews:

“Do penance: and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ… For the promise is to you and to your children.” (Acts 2:38–39)

The Fathers insist this order is deliberate. Salvation comes from the Jews, but it is for the world. Paul’s conversion becomes the turning point by which the Gospel spreads outward, without ever denying its Jewish roots.

Saint Jerome notes that Paul’s mission proves God’s mercy is not limited by past sin or past error. The persecutor becomes teacher. The blind become guide.⁵

VI. The Feast’s Message for Today

The Conversion of St. Paul reminds the Church of a truth both consoling and demanding: every human person is called to conversion. No culture, no religion, no past devotion excuses one from turning to Christ.

If Jesus is truly Lord, then silence about His Messiahship is not humility but omission. Yet if He is Lord, coercion is equally false. Conversion must be proposed through truth spoken in love, never by fear or force.

Paul himself teaches us this balance. He weeps for his brethren according to the flesh, yet never ceases to proclaim Christ crucified and risen.

Conclusion

On January 25, the Church rejoices not merely in Paul’s story, but in her own. The same Christ who struck Saul down still calls sinners to rise. The same Lord who revealed Himself on the road to Damascus still reveals Himself in the Holy Mass.

Every conversion begins with the same question: “Who art Thou, Lord?”

Every true life begins with the same answer: “I am Jesus.”

Sources

1. Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 279

2. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles

3. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, IV

4. Leo the Great, Sermon 59 on the Passion

5. Jerome, Commentary on Galatians