Father Paul: The conversion of Saul took place on the road to Damascus. Saul was a persecutor of Christians, an enemy of the Church, heading to Damascus to round up believers, take them prisoner. But as you know, as he neared Damascus, he saw a light so bright it knocked him to the ground. And he was blinded. And then Jesus spoke to him. Days later the scales fell from his eyes and Saul became a follower of Christ and then became the Apostle Paul. It was on this same road outside the city that Monsignor Pruitt, bewildered and confused, wandered from his tour group for the last time. They must not have noticed he was missing. First his failing mind didn't help him, and out he wandered, out into that desert. No, Monsignor... Lost, confused, lost in the world, lost in his mind, separated from his group, certain to de out there in that desert, on the road to Damascus, when a horrible sandstorm overtook him. There had been, recently, horrible storms in that area. He'd heard this. These astonishing storms, seismic storms. Storms that had, he'd heard, even unearthed ancient ruins in the desert, that churned the ground, stirred the earth, and pulled from it the mouths of structures and buildings from long ago. Ruins long sealed in the earth. And so as Monsignor Pruitt wandered, lost in the storm, the sand scratching his eyes, cutting into his face, he saw before him, there was a darkness in the dunes. Mouth of a cave, perhaps. A door to some ancient ruin. And his failing mind only sought shelter, so in he went, eagerly into the darkness of the thing. The cave-like entrance that had just opened up in front of him. Until all light went...
