People of the Light - transformed

WORD 2day - Friday, Third week in the Eastertide

April 19, 2024 - Acts 9: 1-20; John 6: 52-59

The Light infact blinds us, only to make us see everything more clear and more resplendent. That is what we see in the experience of Paul, or any other apostle or disciple. When they encountered the Risen Lord, they were blinded, they could not really get what they were seeing, but very soon, they began to see everything in a new light... because they were transformed; people of the Light are transformed, they begin to see everything new, clear and renewed. 

Transformation here could mean three important internal experiences of a person: conversion, renewal and proaction.

We see Saul who turns away from his past, with an absolute detachment to the old ways of life. Jesus' call to his followers was a break from the past too - they had to unlearn what the old bread meant and behold the new bread that was being offered. That required accepting the challenge of transformation. Conversion, as a definitive break from a tendency that keeps us away from our way to perfection is an essential first step towards transformation.

Paul becomes a new man, all new that he was able to proclaim, "I live, but not I, it is Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20). Is it not what Jesus promised too: he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him? Transformation is not about touching up some corners of our life, but being born anew, becoming a new person, a total Renewal into Christ every time we encounter the Risen Lord in intimacy.

We see a sense of urgency in the transformed Paul. He is emphatically dedicated towards preaching Christ without lamenting or crying over the forgettable past. Whoever eats me will draw life from me, says Jesus - a new life, a new way of life, a new meaning to life. Transformation is all about this Proaction - it is not explaining to all what has happened to me, but letting my actions speak, letting my life manifest the new lease of life in me. 

People of the Light are transformed people, with an enviable experience of conversion, renewal and proaction. Are we?