Vatican City, Apr 15, 2016 / 15:35 pm
Pope Francis on Friday encouraged Christians to embrace the humiliations that God allows in our lives to draw us closer to him and open our hearts, just as Saul did after he was knocked down on the road to Damascus.
During Mass at the chapel of Santa Marta House in the Vatican on April 15, the Holy Father focused his homily on the day's first reading found in the Acts of the Apostles.
The passage recounts the famous conversion story of St. Paul, as Saul became known, who was knocked down while traveling on the road to Damascus to hunt down more Christians to persecute.
Although Saul was "a strong, brave young man, zealous in his faith," he was one "with a closed heart" who "did not want to hear about Jesus Christ" and went so far as to seek out Christ's followers to persecute them, Pope Francis said.