St Paul "preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus" according to St Barnabas in today's first reading (Acts 9:27).
But how could St Paul have changed instantly from feeling shame for persecuting the Church to boldness in his preaching? Was there no lingering guilt to dampen his spirit?
In the second reading (based on my own translation rather than the Lectionary’s), St John explains how we become bold: "Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God" (1 John 3:21).
St Paul’s heart did condemn him; he felt horror at what he had done, but he worked through this feeling, for as St John teaches:
