Peace be with you!
“Conversion” is one of those words we use, without really considering what it means. This week, Fr. Freeh will explore the deeper meaning of conversion in the context of our spiritual growth.
You can’t really “convert” unless you realize you need it. You have to recognize that something’s wrong. And you have to desire to make it right.
Our culture isn’t big on conversion. It encourages us to believe “I’m OK, you’re OK,” even though a half-hour news show gives us a daily proof of just how “not OK” we are. But since we’re “OK,” we reconcile God to our sins, our behaviors, our attitudes…rather than taking a hard look at ourselves in the light of the deposit of faith and acknowledging our need to repent and reform our lives.
Recovering a sense of sin, personal sin, is the first step toward true conversion. As Fr. Freeh pointed out, the “poor in spirit” are those who realize that they’re very empty, apart from God.
But once we figure out we’re sinners…and owe a debt to Divine Justice…if we have any sense at all, we experience the debtor’s terror for the loan shark’s thugs when the unpayable debt comes due.
This fear of the Lord is real; an honest response to the terrifying consequences of our sin. But while fear of the Lord is necessary, it’s not enough for complete conversion. Peter’s fear led him to ask Jesus to “depart, for I am a sinful man.” Judas’ fear and guilt led him to self-destruction. The servant in this Sunday’s Gospel reading goes off and buries his talent out of fear of his master.
The only path forward out of paralyzing fear is trusting in God’s love and mercy.
All of the above makes solid sense to me. And then we come to the mystery of the Christ. His Incarnation, Passion, Death, and Resurrection is the proof of just how much God loves us. And here the waters get pretty deep. Paraphrasing Fr. Freeh’s comments: Jesus’ death was filled with the justice of God, His resurrection with God’s love and mercy. Only Jesus’ saving act satisfies Divine Justice while revealing Divine Mercy.
Fr. Freeh has mentioned before the theological proposition that the Word became Man in order to more fully become the Son of the Father.
Every time he says that, I think my head might explode. That the Word of God wrapped His completion as Son of the Father around flawed and faulty humanity…. Perfection stoops to imperfection in order to become more perfect….
The paradox is so deep, there must be God in there somewhere. It takes some thinking. I’m reminded that the Blessed Mother used to “ponder these things in her heart.”
And then Vicki pulls me back onto solid ground with an example of how one turns away from self and toward God and others simply by helping a colleague at work. Conversion is expressed in our actions. Helping the friend. Or the stranger. Challenging ourselves to study those aspects of the faith that are the most counter-cultural and understand the “why” behind them, rather than accept the false doctrines of a secular society.
Because in the end, every minute of every day of ordinary life presents us with the challenge of conversion: to submit ourselves to God’s will, accepting His love and mercy. Only then, like the Word of God, will we find our purpose and become who we are meant to be. Which is much more than merely “OK.” We will become children of God, who live in the light.
And, having pondered, the Blessed Mother has some very good advice to offer for those challenging moments: “Do whatever He tells you.”
Good News Spirituality 