FROM SAUL TO PAUL

Homily for Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter 07 May 2020, John 13:16-20

We have been hearing about Saul for the past few days now. How he turned from a persecutor of the early Christians to a propagator of the Christian faith he had persecuted. But I wonder if you noticed that he will start to be called “Paul” only from this chapter on, from verse 9 until the end of the book.

In this chapter, Paul delivers a speech, and, towards the middle of his speech, he mentions his historical namesake, or “tocayo”, the first king of Israel Saul son of Kish. This man was chosen by God and anointed by the prophet Samuel to become king of Israel for forty years. But eventually God himself, through the same prophet Samuel, would remove him from power because his ego had become so bloated and had gotten the better of him. In place of this arrogant King who had been intoxicated with power, God raised up a lowly shepherd boy by the name of David.

I have a feeling that the author of this book, St. Luke, is trying to say, that the arrogant and murderous “Saul” was no more. We would never again hear about him being called Saul. In Paul, he had, as it were, become a totally new person, transformed by his personal encounter with Christ on the way to Damascus. Like I said a few days ago, he had to blinded first before he could regain his sight, he had to experience a fall first before he could be raised up into Paul, the apostle who would open the doors of the Church to the rest of the world.

Incidentally, my name is Pablo, the Spanish of Paul and my family name is David, the man who replaced Saul. And even if in the sight of many I am a big man both physically and figuratively, I often remind myself that the name “Paulos” literally means “the little one.” In Kapampangan they call me AMBO, which means “the stand from which the Word of God is proclaimed”. And I say with pride, “Yup, that’s who I am; I am nothing but a stand from which God’s Word is proclaimed. When I stand on the pulpit, I always remind myself that it is NOT MY WORD, BUT GOD’S WORD that must be heard through me. From experience, it is difficult to make that happen when we are full of ourselves. Like Paul, we can only reflect Christ’s greatness if the ego is diminished. John the Baptist said that in another way. He said, HE MUST INCREASE, I MUST DECREASE. It is the mission of the messenger.

Jesus himself would say something to this effect in the Gospel: “No servant is greater than his master, or a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” To a Messenger, what is of foremost important is never himself but his message and the One who sent him to communicate his message.

Let me end by quoting that beautiful poem written by Neil Diamond and later made into a song that became the theme of the movie Jonathan Livingston Seagull. In a very poetic way, it expresses the messenger’s role: to be a page, or to be a song. It says,

“Be as a page that aches for a word, that speaks of a truth that is timeless…
Sing, as a song in search of a voice that is silent
And the one God will make for your way.”