Day 196: Conversion of the Baptized (1427-1433)

• It’s Day 196!!

• This is truly a call to CONVERSION

• Every time we approach the Lord, we are called to convert and transform our minds

• “METANOIA” is a Greek word that means TRANSFORMATION OF THE MIND 

• It changes not just our external behaviors

• But to allow our hearts to be changed and our minds to be changed 

• THE CONVERSION OF THE BAPTIZED

• There is a call to conversion for everybody by Jesus before Baptism and after Baptism

• We are called to continually be converted

• INTERIOR PENANCE

• Paragraph 1431 says, “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life…”

• Let’s say a prayer!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise. We thank you. We give you glory. You are good. You are God and you call us. You call us not just to be good. You call us to be like you. You don’t just call us to say NO to certain things in our lives. You call us to say NO to our very selves. You call us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow after you. Help us to have hearts that are like your heart. Help us to love what you love. Help us to hate what you hate. Help us to be like you. We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen”

• So there we have it!!

• THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!!

• POWERFUL!!

• CONVICTING!!

• Whether you are baptized or not, we are called to be converted

• We are called to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow after Jesus

• Paragraph 1427 says, “Jesus calls to conversion…In the Church’s preaching this call is addressed first to those who do not yet know Christ and his Gospel…It is by faith in the Gospel and by Baptism that one renounces evil and gains salvation…”

• Paragraph 1428 says, “Christ’s call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians. This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church…”

• When did your conversion happen?

• A lot of times people have an encounter with the Lord that radically reorients and changes their lives

• Fr. Mike is telling a story…

• Multiple conversions…

• Paragraph 1431 says, “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life…”

• This is not just an exterior work or human work

• Paragraph 1430 says, “Jesus’ call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, ‘sackcloth and ashes,’ fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures, and works of penance.”

• If we go through all the steps and check all the boxes and our faith can feel like we are just going through the motions

• We are told that we have to go to Confession at least once a year or when we have mortal sins

• We are told that we have to receive Holy Communion at least once a year and go to Mass every Sunday 

• We are checking the boxes

• Without changing our hearts or allowing our hearts to be changed…

• How many times do we go into prayer expecting to leave prayer CHANGED?

• How many times do we show up for Mass and we anticipate that by the end of Mass our lives will be altered

• Maybe not radically re-altered

• But we expect to be different at the end of Mass

• A lot of us tend to show up, even if we are happy to be there, and the heart of religion is WORSHIP and the heart of worship is SACRIFICE

• We are here to have Communion with Jesus in the Eucharist

• Yeah, we are here to pray

• BUT…

• How many of us show up not expecting that by the end of Mass that we will be changed?

• God will have altered our hearts

• God will have done something in us that is new

• AND YET…

• THAT IS OUR CALL!!

• Remember that the SECOND CONVERSION is an uninterrupted task for the WHOLE CHURCH AT ALL TIMES

• It is an act of grace to love the Lord with all of our hearts

• None of us can do that on our own

• We need God’s help to even turn to God

• Paragraph 1431 says, “Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed.”

• It’s not just falling more and more in love with Jesus

• It’s also letting our actions be changed

• Hatred for sin is a critical part of conversion

• Sometimes we are tempted to beat ourselves up over our past sins

• There is a big difference between learning from one’s past and living in one’s past

• There’s a big difference between beating ourselves up over our past and saying, “Lord, I once again renounce that sin. I once again let it go. I once again place it under your dominion.”

• A lot of us will look back over our past and maybe that past is more recent than we like

• “Ok, God, I can’t do anything to change that. This is what I have chosen. This is what I have done. This is part of my story. I place that part of my story, that sin, that evil under your dominion, I let you, God, be the Lord not only of my present and my future. I let you, God, be the Lord of my past. Be the Lord of that brokenness. Be the Lord of the wounds that I can’t go back and undo. I place them under your dominion.”

• THAT IS SO POWERFUL!!

• THAT HELPS US HAVE REPUGNANCE FOR SIN!!

• To not LIVE in the past but to LEARN from the past and move forward

• Paragraph 1431 continues, “At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one’s life, with hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of his grace.”

• When we go to Confession, we have to have some desire to change from sin to live a life of grace

• If you have ever gone to Confession once, you have probably gone more than once

• You have probably gone to Confession for the same thing more than once

• It’s easy to get discouraged and despairing

• Can we even change?

• Maybe you might wonder if you even desire to change? 

• Maybe you might wonder if you even desire God’s life?

• Maybe you keep turning back to this sin

• What does this mean about your heart?

• IT MEANS YOU HAVE A BROKEN HEART!!

• THAT IS US!!

• We have talked about CONCUPISCENCE before

• We are inclined to sin

• There are things in our lives that shouldn’t be

• There are things in our lives that are evil and we want them

• THAT IS CRAZY BUT THAT IS US!!

• So we need hope in God’s mercy and trust in the help of His grace

• Or else we will be so discouraged looking at our own sins and faults and the way that we continue to mess up in the same old ways

• We might just give up

• Here is the truth…

• WE MUST NEVER GIVE UP!!

• YOU MUST NEVER GIVE UP!!

• Part of conversion is HOPE IN GOD’S MERCY AND TRUST IN THE HELP OF HIS GRACE

• Yes it will cause pain in our hearts

• Paragraph 1431 continues, “This conversion of heart is accompanied by a salutary pain and sadness which the Fathers called animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) and compunctio cordis (repentance of heart).”

• Better to have a heart that is HURT than a heart that is HARDENED

• THAT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR US!!

• Paragraph 1432 says, “The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new heart. Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts return to him…It is in discovering the greatness of God’s love that our heart is shaken by the horror and weight of sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being separated from him.”

• HATE SIN AND LOVE GOD EVEN MORE!!

• The goal of the Christian life is not just to become good or a nicer person or less jerk-y

• The goal of the Christian life is to become like Jesus

• The goal of the Christian life is to become like the Father

• THAT IS AN ACT OF GRACE!!

• To become like the Father, we have to turn away from the things that He hates

• To become like our Savior and Lord Jesus, we have to make the decision to turn away from the things that make our hearts not like His

• THIS IS THE WORK OF A LIFETIME!!

• THEREFORE BE PATIENT WITH YOURSELVES!!

• At the same time… 

• DO NOT PROCRASTINATE!!

• BE PATIENT BUT ACT NOW!!

• THERE IS NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT!!

• ALL WE HAVE IS NOW!!

• So call to mind what are the things in our lives that have led us away from Jesus?

• What are the things in our lives that, if they stay there, we will NEVER BE LIKE HIM?

• “Jesus, in your name, I repent of this sin.”

• Wherever you are, pray that prayer!!

• “In the name of Jesus, I renounce this sin.” 

• “In the name of Jesus, I renounce the thing that leads me to this sin.”

• “In the name of Jesus, I renounce the curiosity that brings me to this sin.”

• “In the name of Jesus, I renounce the situations that bring me to this sin.”

• “In the name of Jesus, I renounce the near occasion of sin.”

• Fr. Mike is inviting YOU to take a moment to pray

• TAKE A MOMENT TO PRAY!!

• THIS IS THE UNINTERRUPTED TASK OF OUR LIVES!!

• THE SECOND CONVERSION!!

• “IN THE NAME OF JESUS, I RENOUNCE THIS SIN!!”

• Fr. Mike is praying for YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!