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The Light of the World
the eternal reward which awaits us. “Behold, what I desired I now possess; I am already joined
to Him in heaven, whom I so ardently desired on earth” (Benedictus antiphon).
Christianity made Agnes so happy that she gladly surrendered human love, parents, possessions,
and even her life. She gives an inspiring example to us Christians who laboriously perform our
duties with fear and anxiety, lacking the courage, joy, and the spirit of sacrifice that Agnes had.
Why this difference? Agnes rose to the level of Christ. Now she looks above herself at
Christ, her all. She is fully aware of her richness and strength and the eternal reward to which
she is entitled by reason of her baptism and Holy Communion. She knows that she is loved,
that Christ belongs to her, and she to Him. We look only to ourselves; we measure everything
according to our own strength and effort. We adhere to our own methods, and consider only
our own progress, restraints, and difficulties. We do not see further than ourselves; we do not
live in Christ. For us, Christ, the Sun, has not yet risen. Therefore we do not find that boundless,
triumphant confidence in Him that inspired Agnes. Even in our piety, self comes first; it
obstructs in us the free, joyful view of Him who is our all. Epiphany! May the Lord manifest
Himself in us as He did in Agnes, the youthful martyr.
Prayer
O almighty and eternal God, who has chosen the weak things of the earth to confound the
strong; grant us, we beseech Thee, that we who devoutly celebrate the feast of Thy martyr
Agnes, may profit by her intercession. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
January 25, Conversion of St. Paul
The conversion of St. Paul is also a manifestation of the power of God. A change as wonderful
and sublime as the transformation of water into wine takes place in this transformation of Saul
into Paul; the fiercest enemy and persecutor of Christ and His Church becomes His most zealous
follower and apostle, a vessel of election for the conversion of the Gentile world (Acts 9:15). In
the words of the Introit of the Mass, we rejoice: “For I know whom I have believed, and I am
certain that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day” (2 Tm 1:12).
“In those days Saul, as yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the
Lord, went to the high priest and asked of him letters to Damascus” (Epistle). Fanatical in his
devotion to his race and religion, Saul hated the Christians and spared no means to destroy them.
He took part in the stoning of Stephen, the deacon; then he began to search out the Christians
as far as Damascus, in Syria, in order to bring them back to Jerusalem to appear bound in chains
before the council of the Jews. That is the man Saul, full of violence and intolerance, yet in good
faith; he hated Christ and His followers because he thought it the duty of a zealous Jew to do
so. But Christ appeared to him on the way to Damascus. A marvelous epiphany! Paul has but
one question: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” Saul, the persecutor, is changed into Paul,
the apostle of Christ. This change is wrought by the appearance of the Lord and by the grace
of the crucified Christ.
Paul recognized the grace which he undeservedly and unexpectedly received on the
way to Damascus. He surrendered all, even what he had up to this time considered most
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