Today is the day we celebrate the conversion of Saint Paul.
Saint Paul, who was originally named Saul, was a man who persecuted Christians.
“...entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts 8:3)
He enjoyed capturing Christians and placing them in jail. He even took part in the stoning ff Saint Stephen. While traveling to Damascus, Saul was blinded by a bright light. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Saul was scared and confused. He asked the voice "Who are you?" The voice answered, "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting." Saul then asked Jesus, "What do you want me to do?" Jesus told Saul to continue on his way to Damascus and he would be told what to do when he got there. Saul continued on to Damascus. Once there he spent three days in prayer. Jesus sent Ananais to visit Saul. Ananais laid his hands on Saul and told him. " The Lord has sent me." Saul opened his eyes and could see. Saul was overjoyed. He asked Jesus for forgiveness and was baptized by Ananais. He changed his name to Paul. He became a Christian and helped spread the Word of Jesus throughout the land. He traveled to Cyprus, Greece, Asia Minor, and Rome. He was jailed in Rome and it is believed he was martyred in Rome around A.D. 62-64.
Paul is a wonderful example of how we can change our ways and follow Jesus. It is never to late to give up our evil ways and follow Jesus. Are we willing to follow Jesus like Paul?
To celebrate the conversion of Saint Paul, we read a few stories about Saint Paul's conversion and did a timeline coloring page.
The coloring page we used can be found here.
