This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost.
But for that reason I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life. (1 Timothy 1:15-16 NABRE)
Saul persecuted Christians and oversaw their imprisonment. He sought to eradicate them, and he saw it as his duty to God.
We now call him Saint Paul. We marvel at his conversion, his change of heart. And we should realize that as a result of the change which was brought about in him that he is a model for each of us. Paul describes his former self in this way, "I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man." (1 Timothy 1:13) In today's passage, he goes so far as to say he is the worst of all sinners!
And his conversion is our hope! God's mercy is for all of us, right down to the very worst one. Let us pray for a change of heart--a conversion of heart and mind--for ourselves and for all people who have not yet come to know and accept the truth about Jesus Christ.
Today, I will pray the rosary for peace and healing among all people.
Saint Cyprian, important in the development of Christian thought and practice in the third century, pray for us.
There are just 3 days remaining in this shared prayer journey of ours. Please continue to join your prayers with mine here, for a daily minute of reflection. As Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20) Though we gather together online, may our joining here reflect our deep desire to have Jesus in our midst.
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