Turnaround

Perhaps the most spectacular conversion of all time was that of Saul of Tarsus, who went from being a persecutor of the Church at its most vulnerable to becoming Paul, one of the most powerfully effective Apostles.

The wonder of this turnaround spread quickly and widely, as we hear in today's first reading (Galatians 1:13-24):

But they had heard only,
That he which persecuted us in times past
now preacheth the faith
which once he destroyed.
And they glorified God in me.

This was a turnaround not only for Saul but also for the Church: for Saul had helped drive that first murderous persecution when the total number of believers in Christ was only in the thousands and primarily confined to a small part of the world, but then he become one of the most effective instruments by which God spread the faith across a vast empire to people who had not even heard of Jerusalem.

Such is the power of God's grace: in those days and in our own time.

Whenever we feel vulnerable, whenever we despair, whenever we are afraid, we need to remember the power of God's grace in and through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We may endure sorrows and times of darkness, following in the footsteps of our Lord himself, and sometimes that darkness may seem too great, but greater still is the wondrous love and mighty power of God's grace and greatest of all will be the turnaround God has prepared for those who love him.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
Now is come salvation, and strength,
and the kingdom of our God,
and the power of his Christ...
(Revelation 12:10a)