Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
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Paul would see the appearance of Jesus to him as a call or commissioning. His description of it evokes God’s call of Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (1:5). Paul uses the key terms in narrating his own vocation: “[God], who from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him to the Gentiles” (Gal 1:15-16). Paul sees in his call the working of God’s plan to extend his grace to the Gentiles. God accomplished this in his Son Jesus and Paul is called precisely to bring this good news to those who do not belong to God’s people.
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SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord 2020,” ST. PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; Fax 632895-7328; E-mail: publishing@ stpauls.ph; Website: http:// www.stpauls.ph.
