Season 8 – Mission Series

Episode 1: Damascus – Blinded to See
(Acts 9:1–19)

Welcome, truth-seekers, to 2 Minutes with the Lord. You’re listening to Season 8: The Mission Series. I am your host on Fr. Veigas Dominic SVD, and in this season, we travel with St. Paul across the ancient world, exploring the cities where his faith was tested, his mission unfolded, and the Gospel took root.

Our journey begins in Damascus — the city where Christ’s mission of salvation overturned Saul’s mission of persecution. Damascus was not only Paul’s first encounter with the risen Lord, but also the birthplace of his apostolic call.

Where was Damascus?

Damascus, one of the world's oldest inhabited cities, stood as a crossroads of the Roman Empire, bustling with trade routes, caravans, and diverse cultures. But for Saul, Damascus represented something else: a stronghold of the dangerous new sect called “the Way.” Early Christians were growing in number, and Saul, zealous for the Law, sought to eradicate them.

Armed with letters from the high priest, Saul set out with authority to arrest believers, drag them back to Jerusalem, and silence the movement once and for all. His heart was filled with rage, his mind set on destruction.

But God had a different plan. On the road, a great light from heaven surrounded him. Saul fell to the ground and heard the voice of Jesus:
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4)

This encounter shook Saul to his core. Blind and helpless, he was led into Damascus by his companions — not as a conqueror, but as a broken man. For three days, he ate and drank nothing at all. And then came Ananias, a disciple who, though fearful, obeyed God’s call to lay hands on Saul. Through prayer and baptism, Saul regained his sight and received his mission.

Damascus became the city of transformation — the place where Saul died to himself and rose as Paul, apostle to the nations.

Our key verse for today is “Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptised.” – Acts 9:18

Have you journeyed with Saint Paul through all the cities.... 12 Cities where St Paul spread the Kingdom of God.

In Season 8 of 2 Minutes with the Lord, we follow St. Paul across 12 cities — discovering the Gospel truths that still speak to us today.

• In Damascus, Paul was blinded to see.
• In Antioch, the Church was first called Christian.
• In Philippi, hymns at midnight broke chains.
• In Thessalonica, faith stood firm under fire.
• In Berea, believers hungered for the Word.
• In Athens, Paul proclaimed the Unknown God.
• In Corinth, grace shone in a messy church.
• In Ephesus, believers went all in for the Gospel.
• In Troas, the fallen were raised to life.
• In Caesarea, Paul was ready to suffer.
• In Malta, shipwreck turned into mission.
• And in Rome, Paul was chained — yet the Gospel was free.

Each city carries a lesson, each story a challenge, each stop a call to mission.

Join me for Season 8 – The Mission Series: Paul in 12 Cities.
Because the Gospel is unstoppable, and the mission continues.

DAY 40 — THE EMPTY TOMBSTONE

A sculptor was commissioned
to carve a tombstone for a wealthy man.

He worked for days on the stone—
but strangely,
he left the center completely empty.

When the client asked,
“Why is there no inscription?”
the sculptor replied,
“Because in God’s story,
no grave deserves the final word.
Your life is not defined by this stone—
it is defined by what comes after it.”

The wealthy man stood silent—
never thinking of death as a passage,
only as an end.

Lent ends at the doorway of Resurrection.
It reminds us that sin does not have the last word—
grace does.
That suffering does not have the last word—
healing does.
That death does not have the last word—
Christ does.

Your failures don’t finish you.
Your pain doesn’t name you.
Your grave moments don’t define you.

Lent prepares your heart
to walk out of tombs
you thought were permanent.

God leaves the stone blank
because He is still writing your story.
And resurrection is the final chapter.

DAY 39 — THE ROPE THAT BURNED

A mountain guide taught his students
how to descend using a controlled rope.

One student clung to the rope so tightly
that his hands began to burn.
He shouted,
“It hurts!”

The guide called back,
“It hurts because you’re gripping too hard!
Loosen your hold—
let the rope support you.”

Terrified, the student loosened his grip slightly—
and immediately felt his body supported
and his descent smooth,
safe,
and controlled.

His pain had come
not from the rope,
but from refusing to trust it.

We cling to many things that burn us:
control,
security,
ego,
anger,
relationships past their season,
fears we can’t release.

God does not tighten the rope—
we do.

Lent is God whispering:
“Loosen your grip.
Let Me support you.”

Letting go feels dangerous,
but holding too tightly
is what causes pain.

True freedom comes
not from gripping your life harder,
but trusting God enough
to release what exhausts you.

DAY 38 — THE TWO SHADOWS

Two students stood in front of a wall
on a sunny afternoon,
watching their shadows stretch across the ground.

One shadow looked longer;
the other looked shorter.
The shorter one sighed,
“Your shadow is bigger.
You must be more important.”

The taller student laughed and said,
“My shadow is longer only because
I’m standing closer to the sun.”

The instructor overheard and said,
“Shadows are not measures of worth.
They only show where you stand.”

Both students walked away silently—
thinking less about shadows,
and more about the light.

Comparison is one of the greatest spiritual traps:
“Look how holy they are.”
“Look how much better they pray.”
“Look how weak my faith is compared to theirs.”

But shadows deceive.
You do not know another’s wounds,
their struggles,
their hidden disciplines,
or the grace assisting them.

Your journey cannot look like theirs
because God is shaping you differently.

Lent calls you to stop comparing shadows
and to start moving toward the Light.
Holiness is not measured by others—
but by how close you stand to Christ.

DAY 37 — THE HALF-BUILT WELL

A village suffered a long drought.
A man began digging a well behind his house.
Every day he dug,
and every day he hit hard soil,
dry sand,
solid rock.

People mocked him:
“You’re wasting your strength.
There’s no water here.”

Discouraged, he quit after weeks of digging.
A traveler later passed by,
studied the half-dug pit,
and dug just three more feet—
and water burst upward in a clear, living stream.

The man cried when he saw it, whispering,
“I stopped… just before the water.”

Most spiritual breakthroughs happen
right after the moment you feel like quitting.

Temptation during Lent is not always sin—
sometimes it is the temptation to stop digging:
to stop praying when prayer feels empty,
to stop forgiving when forgiveness is painful,
to stop trying when change seems slow,
to stop hoping when hope feels foolish.

The enemy doesn’t fear your effort—
he fears your perseverance.

Lent says:
“Don’t stop three feet before the water.”
Your breakthrough may be beneath
one more swing of obedience.

DAY 36 — THE DOUBLE-EDGED BRUSH

An artist was known for his beautiful murals.
One day a wealthy patron visited his studio
and watched him paint a vibrant wall of colors.
The patron said,
“Your work is breathtaking. Are you doing it for an exhibition?”

The artist paused.
Then he picked up a second brush from the table—
one side dipped in bright paint,
the other dipped in gold dust.

He whispered,
“This brush betrays me.
When I use the gold side,
it’s not art I’m chasing…
it’s applause.”

The patron asked,
“So which side will you choose now?”

The artist dipped the plain bristles into color and said,
“Today, I paint only for God’s eyes.”
Lent asks you to confront not just your actions—
but your motives.
You can do holy things for unholy reasons:
to be admired,
to be praised,
to feel superior,
to look spiritual,
to impress God instead of love Him.

Sin hides not only in behavior
but in intention.

Lent is where you ask yourself:
“Am I doing this for love…
or for recognition?”

God sees your heart,
not the gold dust on your brush.
Purifying motives is one of the hardest
and holiest works of Lent.

DAY 35 — THE MELTING CANDLE

In a dark chapel,
a single candle burned quietly on the altar.

A visitor watched as the flame grew smaller,
wax dripping,
the candle slowly disappearing.

He whispered,
“What a waste.”

A priest standing behind him replied,
“No.
A candle fulfills its purpose
by giving itself away.”

The visitor looked again—
and saw not loss,
but offering.

Lent is a season of sacrifice:
time, comfort, habits, attachments.

But sacrifice is not destruction—
it is illumination.
What you offer to God
does not reduce you;
it brightens the world.

A candle doesn’t fear burning away
because it knows
the flame is the point.

Your sacrifices this Lent
are not about losing something—
they are about becoming light
in a dark place.