Homily | April 24, 2026 | God’s Call Not Based On the Past But On His Power (Episode 101)

A few days ago we heard a name almost in passing.

At the stoning of Stephen, the witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.

Just a detail, almost easy to miss.

But today he's no longer in the background.

He is front and center.

And what do we find?

Not a seeker, not a believer, but a man breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord.

He's convinced he's right.

Convinced he's defending God.

Convinced he's on the side of truth.

That's what makes this so dangerous.

Because you can be completely sincere and be completely wrong.

And then everything changes.

A light, a fall, a voice, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

Notice what Jesus did not does not say.

He doesn't say, Why are you persecuting my followers?

He says, Why are you persecuting me?

Because to touch the church is to touch Christ.

There's no separation.

And Saul is struck blind.

But the reality is he was already blind.

Blind in his certainty, blind in his pride and his ego, blind in his belief that he saw clearly.

And sometimes the only way God can make us see is to first take away what we think is sight.

Three days, no vision, no food, no control, just silence, waiting, just being undone.

And then comes Ananias.

And this part matters because Ananias doesn't want to go.

Lord, do you know who this man is?

In other words, this man is dangerous.

This man has done real damage.

This man is not the worth, not worth the risk.

But God answers with something that should shake us.

This man is a chosen instrument of mine.

That man?

Yes.

Yes, that man.

Because God does not choose people based on their past.

He chooses them based on what he can do through them.

So Ananias goes and listen to the first words he says: Saul, my brother, not enemy, not threat, but brother.

And in that very moment, everything changes.

The scales fall, Saul is able to see, he's baptized, and immediately begins to proclaim Jesus.

Now, if we go to the gospel, Jesus says something just as radical.

Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.

There's no softening to that.

No metaphor to hide behind.

This is as direct as it gets.

This is demanding.

And people struggle with it.

They argue, they resist because this is not comfortable religion.

But here's the connection: Saul had to be knocked down to be raised up.

He had to be emptied in order to be filled.

He had to lose control in order to receive truth.

And the same is true for us.

Because the Eucharist is not just something you receive, it is someone who transforms you.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

That's union.

That's transformation.

That's not surface-level faith.

But here's the condition.

We need to surrender.

We need to let go.

We need to allow ourselves to be changed.

And that's where most people hesitate.

Because we want Jesus, yes, but without losing control.

We want to be able to have a grasp on all contacts.

We want grace without conversion.

We want the Eucharist without transformation.

But it doesn't work that way.

Saul didn't stay Saul, he became Paul.

His identity, his mission, his life all changed.

So here's the question: What in your life needs to be knocked down so that something greater can be raised up?

Where are you still holding on to?

Where are you still resisting?

Where are you still blind?

Why?

Because Jesus is not just calling you to believe in him, he's calling you to be transformed by him.

And that transformation begins here, at this very altar, where Christ becomes present in the Eucharist.

So today receive Him, surrender to Him, and let Him do what only He can do.

Let him open your eyes so that you may change your life forever.

Amen.