Conversion of a Heart

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I believe it was in his series on the Gospel According to Saint Paul. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. Jesus begins His public ministry echoing the words of John the Baptist: Conversion, even when considered as becoming Catholic, is not merely becoming Catholic, going through a ceremony and attending Mass every Sunday. Conversion is becoming Catholic, becoming more and more deeply and authentically Christian, more and more faithful to Christ, His teachings and His church; becoming more and more united to Him through living as a Catholic, through hearing, praying and meditating on the word of God in the Scripture; and receiving the Word of God, who is Christ Jesus, and receiving Him worthily in Holy Communion as Saint Paul exhorts us to do in his epistles; receiving the Word made flesh who dwelt among us and dwells among us still in every tabernacle in every Catholic church throughout the world.

Conversion is to turn to Christ and allow Him who is the Light of the world to enlighten and inflame our hearts. Conversion is to allow Christ to pour His grace into our hearts and transform our minds and our lives and our very being into Him. Conversion is to become more and more fully true branches on the True Vine.

Conversion is to turn to Christ every moment of every day for the rest of our lives. To keep our eyes fixed upon Christ and Him crucified.

To learn from Him and to follow Him, refusing nothing to Him who did not refuse death for us, even death upon a cross. I was received into the Church many years ago. But I am still becoming Catholic. How I long to hear those words with which Fr. Corapi so often ends his talks:. You are commenting using your WordPress. That child-like attitude is to be our attitude after a true conversion of our heart. God never goes bankrupt, always has infinite power, and He wants what is best for us. God is on earth in the presence of His Spirit, so His power, love, and resources are available to us in this life—while we wait for the promised eternal life.

All through Scripture, God states His love for us, so there should be no fear in the present and no worry about the future. We are to 1 Peter 5: Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. All requests are placed before God— then His peace can be enjoyed 7. The divine power of God, and all the resources at His disposal, are waiting to be given to the believer who will trust Him in child-like faith.

A loving parent will do everything possible to make life pleasant for their children. If anyone professes to be a child of God, they will have to live up to that profession. We do not reach that place all at once, but we must be willing to learn; to increase in knowledge , and to grow in faith.

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This child-like trust is the standard by which we are to conduct our life of faith. Jesus would not tell us to become like a child —concerning faith and trust on God—if it were impossible— Matthew But with God everything is possible. God is waiting to lavish on His children anything that would make us happy and contented. All these gifts are supplied to believers on earth while God prepares our home in heaven. If we are stubborn, self-willed, rebellious, and refuse the guidance of His Spirit, God is not able to help us, and His prepared place will be given to those who will learn and will accept the guidance of His Spirit.

It is spiritually fatal to be stubborn and headstrong, because Hebrews 3: So that, though a person has been guilty of every so many sins before baptism, yet if, after receiving this sacrament worthily, he should immediately die, nothing could hinder him from the immediate possession of eternal bliss. Here the divine justice gives up all its claim against the offender himself; being perfectly satisfied with the satisfaction of Christ, so fully applied for that purpose; here the infinite merits of Christ have their full effect; and here the mercy of God appears in all its lustre.

Why does not God treat sinners in the same manner when they repent of the sins committed after baptism? It does not belong to us to inquire into the reasons of the divine conduct; our great care should be to be satisfied with, and above what he has done; and all the testimonies which we have seen above prove, beyond reply, that it is his will to trust us in a different manner for the sins we commit after baptism, than for those before it.

Yet a little reflection will show us, that his conduct in this is most reasonable, and that both justice and mercy concur to require it. With regard to justice, we must observe, that, when we are first received into his favor by baptism, for the sake and in honor of the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, he treats us with unlimited mercy.

Justice with regard to the offender, seems to forget its own rights entirely; for all that he requires of us, to entitle us to such amazing mercy, is to believe in Jesus Christ, and be sorry for having offended him, with a solemn promise of being faithful to him for the future; and even this faith, repentance, and promise, he does not actually require from us when we are baptized in our infancy, but is constant with the promise made in our name. If, notwithstanding all this goodness, we should afterwards return to sin, and break this solemn vow we made, this contains such a contempt of God, after having experienced so much favor, such a horrid malice, after having full knowledge of the evil and such unparalleled ingratitude, after having received such inestimable benefits from his bounteous mercy, that in all justice, the sinner deserves the most rigorous punishment; and it would be unreasonable, and, in some degree, even unjust, to receive him again into the possession of the same glorious privileges, upon the same easy terms as before; and, therefore, the divine justice here resumes all its rights against the sinner, and absolutely requires he should now suffer in his own person.

Even among ourselves, we see this is what common sense dictates to us. If, on receiving any great injury, we should cheerfully forgive our enemy, be heartily reconciled to him, and do him good offices, without requiring any other satisfaction than his asking pardon, and promising amendment; yet, if this person should repeat the same, or other greater injuries, would we receive him into our friendship on the same easy terms?

Hence the Council of Trent says, "The fruits of the sacrament of penance are different from those of baptism; for by baptism we put on Christ, and become in him altogether a new creature, receiving the full and entire remission of all our sins; but if we lose this happy state by sin we can by no means acquire the same newness and integrity by the sacrament of penance, without great weeping and labors upon our part, the divine justice so requiring it. But does not this seem to exclude mercy entirely?

By no means; the mercy of God, even here, appears in the strongest light. For, considering the dreadful evil of sin, when committed after baptism, a sinner, by committing it, forfeits all title to mercy, and God could, without the least injustice, condemn him to the eternal punishment his sins deserve, treating him with the same rigor of justice with which he treated the fallen angels. It is therefore the effect of infinite mercy in God to be willing to receive us again into favor on any terms; and it is through the infinite merits of Christ alone that he is moved to do so.

In baptism he forgets his justice with respect to the sinner, and applies to us the infinite effects of mercy alone; but when, after so much goodness from Him, we return to our sin, and by so doing render ourselves altogether unworthy of any mercy, he alters his conduct towards us; He is still willing, through the merits of Christ, to receive us into mercy, but it is upon condition that we endeavor to satisfy his justice also.

He treated the fallen angels with the most rigorous justice, without mercy, without regard to the interests of his justice; but, in being reconciled to us for sins committed after baptism, he positively requires that justice and mercy should go together, and be no more separated. Through the merits of Christ, on our sincere repentance, he grants us mercy, he forgives us our sins, and the eternal punishment due to them; but he absolutely demands, that, by penitential works, we punish ourselves for our shocking ingratitude, and satisfy the divine justice for the abuse of her mercy.

So that the effect of mercy here is not to free us entirely from the punishment, as in baptism, but to change the eternal punishment which we deserve, and which we cannot undergo but to our utter destruction, into a temporal punishment which we can perform, and the performance of which is attended with the greatest advantages to the soul. What still further shows how much it is the effect of the greatest mercy itself to require the doing penance from us, is this, that, "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God," Heb.

Almighty God, in commanding us to do penance, remits, in a manner, his own right to punish us, and puts it in our own hands, accepting of small things done willingly of ourselves, in place of much more severe chastisements which we would have to suffer, if afflicted by his divine justice. What were all the penances done by Achab and the Ninivites in comparison to what God had decreed to inflict upon them himself?

Besides all this, the great design of the divine mercy, in pardoning sinners, is doubtless to procure their salvation. Pardoning past sins would not effectually procure this, if proper care were not taken to prevent the sinner from falling back to sin again. Seeing, therefore, that all the unmerited mercies bestowed on him in baptism were not sufficient for this purpose, there is a necessity of taking a more severe method after this, in order to secure his perseverance; and this is done by laying him under the necessity of doing penance for his past sins, which, on many accounts, is the most powerful means to fortify him against relapsing!

What are the advantages that doing penance brings to the soul? It makes us sensible of the grievousness of ours sins. Our great misfortune is, that we have not a just notion of sin; we all think too lightly of it; and, if we had nothing to suffer for it in this world, we would be apt to lose all horror of it entirely, and consequently would take no care to avoid it; but, when we see that Almighty God absolutely requires that we should do penance for sin, and that there is no remission of the guilt of sin without a sincere and efficacious resolution to do penance for it, this opens our eyes, lets us see there is something more dreadful in sin that we imagined, puts us in mind experimentally of what we have to expect in the next life, since a good and just God requires sin to be strictly punished here, and consequently makes us more cautious and careful to avoid it.

The very pain of doing penitential works is a great check to our proneness to sin, and experience teaches, that those who diligently punish themselves for the faults they commit, find in this a great and powerful help to amendment. A great number of the penitential works strike directly at the very roots of our sins, and weaken and extirpate those inordinate affections, and vicious inclinations from which our sins chiefly proceed.

Many of them also tend to destroy the bad habits of sin which we have contracted, by obliging us to the practice of the contrary virtues. They powerfully oppose the wrath of God enkindled by ours sins and by showing the fervor and sincerity of our repentance, more perhaps than any other thing we can do; they move him to be liberal in his graces to us, to enable us effectually to preserve our innocence, and make progress in solid virtue. What is the conclusion to be drawl from all these truths?

It is comprehended in these following particulars: First, That the doing penance for our sins is a necessary part of true repentance. Second, That by sin we contract a heavy debt of punishment due to the divine justice, both temporal and eternal. Third, That our repentance for our sins is not sincere, neither will it obtain the remission of the guilt of sin, nor of the eternal punishment due to it, unless it be accompanied with a sincere will and resolution to discharge the debt of temporal punishment by doing penance.

Fourth, That, therefore, this debt of temporal punishment remains due, even though the guilt of sin and its eternal punishment, be remitted. Fifth, That, as justice absolutely demands this debt from sinners, it must be paid, either by voluntary penance inflicted on ourselves, or by more severe sufferings sent by God, and received by us in a penitential spirit.

Sixth, That, if a person should die in the grace of God, but before his debt be discharged, he will be sentenced to purgatory, where he shall remain till he has paid the full penalty. Seventh, That, as no man can known the full amount of this debt, and is perhaps daily increasing it by his daily venial sins and imperfections, it is therefore the greatest Christian wisdom to endeavor constantly to discharge some part of it, by leading a daily penitential life of self-denial and mortification, according to what our Savior enjoins us, saying, "Be at agreement with thy adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him, lest, perhaps, the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge, deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Amen, I say to thee, thou shalt not go from thence till thou pay the last farthing," Matt. The present life is the way, the divine justice our adversary, God the judge, purgatory the prison. And to the same purpose the Church of Christ, in one of her greatest and most important general councils, declares, that, "The whole life of a Christian ought to be a perpetual penance. What is meant by the spirit of penance? The spirit of penance is nothing else but that sincere sorrow and contrition for our sins, the necessity of which we have seen above; it is that "sorrow, according to God, which worketh penance, steadfast unto salvation," 2 Cor.

The effects which this sorrow worketh in the soul, arise from the various lights which it brings to the soul, in the view of which it excites the sinner to the exercise of those penitential works which contribute most powerfully to secure his eternal salvation. First, The true spirit of penance shows the sinner, in their true colors, the multitude and grievousness of his sins, excites a horror and detestation of them, and makes him willing to undergo any sufferings as a just punishment for them.

In this view the spirit of penance is a spirit of justice, condemning the criminal to condign punishment.

Second, It shows the sinner the greatness of the injury done to the great God of heaven by sin, fills him with grief and sorrow for having so often and so grievously offended and dishonored so good a God, excites in him a sincere desire of repairing the honor of God to the best of his power, and for this purpose makes him cheerfully condemn himself to works of humiliation and penance.

Third, It convinces the sinner that his own flesh, that is, his unmortified passions and affections, are his greatest enemies, as well as the declared enemies of God having so often dragged him into sin, and put him in danger of eternal damnation; it therefore excites in his soul a just hatred against these his mortal enemies, by which he rigorously chastises his body, and brings it into subjection, both as a just punishment for past offenses, and to prevent its betraying him again, lest he should at last become a cast-away. So the spirit of penance is a spirit of hatred and revenge against our self-love in all its branches.

Fourth, It gives the sinner a just sense of all the sufferings of Jesus Christ, and of the infinite obligations we have toward him; shows him the horrid ingratitude of renewing these sufferings by sin, and excites in his soul a tender compassion and ardent love of Jesus Christ, a sincere sorrow for having been the guilty cause of so much torment to him, and an earnest desire of resembling him and bearing the cross along with him; in consequence of this, it makes him cheerfully condemn himself to works of penance, that he may honor the sufferings and follow the example of his beloved Master.

In this view the spirit of penance is a spirit of compassion and love of Jesus Christ, and of conformity to his holy example. What are the signs by which we may know if we have the true spirit of penance?

True Conversion of Heart

Paul, in these words: First, Carefulness ; to wit, about the great concerns of salvation, convincing the sinner of the supreme importance of that great affair, and of the vanity of all other pursuits; and, therefore, makes him careful and diligent to secure it. Second, Defence; this carefulness is not an idle anxiety of mind, but an active principle, which makes us use all necessary means for defending our soul against all its enemies, by prayer, spiritual reading, frequently the holy sacraments, and other such helps to salvation.

Third, Indignation, and hatred against sin, and all the dangerous occasions of sin, which the spirit of penance makes us fly from and avoid, though otherwise as useful or dear to us as a hand or an eye. Fourth, Fear of the judgment of God, and of hell fire, and especially the fear of ever offending again so good a God, which is the beginning of true wisdom, and makes us "work out our salvation with fear and trembling.: Fifth, Desire, to wit, of flying as far from sin as possible, and of daily advancing our soul in the union and love of God, giving "us a hunger and thirst after justice.

Seventh, Revenge, vindicating the rights of the divine justice, by cheerfully punishing ourselves for our past sins. Happy those in whom all these blessed fruits of the true spirit of penance are found! What are the means by which we may obtain the spirit of penance? First, The spirit of penance is the gift of God, as our holy faith teaches; for when St.

Conversion of Heart

Peter gave an account to the brethren of the conversion of the Gentiles, in the person of Cornelius and his friends, "they glorified God, saying, God then hath also to the Gentiles given repentance unto life," Acts xi. Paul exhorts Timothy, "with modesty to admonish them that resist the truth, if peradventure God may give them repentance to know the truth," 2 Tim. It is one of the most necessary gifts we can receive from God, for without it there is no salvation for sinners. The scripture assures us, that "our heavenly Father will readily give his holy spirit to them that ask it," Luke xi.

Hence the first and principal means to obtain the holy spirit of penance, is humble and fervent prayer. This the holy servants of God well knowing, were assiduous in their prayers for this purpose, "Convert me, O Lord, and I shall be converted," saith Jeremiah, "for thou art my God," Jer. All these things dissipate the heart, fill the mind with a world of idle ideas, carry off the thoughts from every thing serious, and are quite opposite to, and destructive of, the spirit of penance; and, therefore, are particularly unbecoming, and unworthy to be thought of in penitential times.

Third, We must apply ourselves seriously to the consideration and practices of those things which promote and excite the true penitential dispositions in the soul; such as serious meditation on the last things, and the great truths of eternity, the practice of self-denial and mortification, with works of charity and mercy; for experience shows, that as those who live pleasant lives, and pamper the body, never acquire the true spirit of penance whilst they live in that manner; so those who practise the works of penance, soon obtain the true spirit of it.

Fourth, Serious and frequent meditation on the great evils of sin, which contribute in a particular manner to excite the true spirit of penance in the soul, by giving us a just sense of the heinous evil of sin, of the greatness of the injury done by it to God, and of the dreadful consequences it has with regard to ourselves, and the want of this knowledge, or the not reflecting upon it, is one of the principal causes why we fall so easily into the misery of sin.

What is understood by works of penance? By works of penance is understood any kind of punishment which the sinner willingly undergoes in order to satisfy for his sins, and, as the nature of punishment requires that it be painful and afflicting to self-love; so any thing whatsoever that is naturally painful and afflicting to us, and which we willingly undergo with the view of doing penance for our sins is a penitential work.

Why do you say that is naturally painful and afflicting to us? Penance or punishment is what naturally gives pain; if it gave no pain it would be no punishment. Now, it may sometimes happen, that a penitential work which naturally gives pain, yet in certain circumstances may give a person no pain at the time he uses it; but it does not cease on that account to be a penitential work even to that person. Thus some find no difficulty in abstaining from flesh; others find little or no pain in fasting; yet, if these people, when obedience requires it, perform these works out of a penitential spirit, they are truly penitential works to them.

In like manner, a person may be so far advanced in the love of God, and in the virtue of holy mortification, as to have, in a great measure, conquered the natural inclinations of flesh and blood, and even to find pleasure in those things which are naturally painful to us; yet this is so far from lessening the value of the penitential works of that person, that is greatly increases it, and shows the ardor of his love to God, from which they proceed.

Why do you say, with a view of doing penance? Because, thought he work be ever so painful, yet, if we undergo it without the view and intention of doing penance, it will be no penance at all; and, if done with any bad view, will even be displeasing to God: The reason is, because, in ordre to be a penitential work, it must proceed from the spirit of penance. This is the root, this is the principal part of penance, without which the exterior works signify nothing.

And God Almighty puts such a value upon this internal disposition, that though the external work be but very small, yet, if it proceed from, and be accompanied with, a true penitential spirit, it becomes of great value before him. What can be of less value than to give a cup of cold water to a thirsty person? In like manner, what can be a smaller penitential work, than to deprive one's self of a drink of water? Yet it is recorded in sacred writ, as a very great action of David, that when three of his valiant men, at the risk of their lives, brought him water out of a cistern, which he had taken a longing for, "he would not drink, but offered it to the Lord," 2 Kings Sam.

This ought to be a great comfort to those who are not able to do great things: Into how many classes are penitential works divided? First, Those which we are commanded to undergo, under pain of sin.

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Second, Those which are left to our own free choice, according to our particular wants, without any other command but the general one of doing penance for our sins. Third, Those which we are forced to undergo by the order of Providence, but it is left to ourselves to make the proper penitential use of them. What are the penitential works which we are commanded to undergo, under pain of sin?

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First, The confession of our sins in the sacrament of penance. This is a great penance and humiliation to our corrupt nature, and to self-love; but it is imposed upon us by Almighty God, in place of that shame and confusion which will begin with sinners of the last day, and last for all eternity, and which is one of the greatest punishments of sin in the next life. As the penitential works of this life are laid upon us by the justice and mercy of God, in exchange for those of eternity.

He has been pleased to appoint the momentary shame and confusion of confessing our sins here to one man like ourselves, in exchange for that eternal confusion which we must otherwise undergo in the next life. Hence, this is a penance laid by God himself upon all, without exception of persons, who have offended God by mortal sin; and it is commanded with such strictness, that the guilt itself of the sin will not be washed away from our souls, unless it be properly complied with.

Second, All those penitential works which our confessor enjoins us in the sacrament of penance: This also is a penance which we are obliged to perform, by the express command of God; and it is, without doubt, one of the most profitable for our souls; because, being a part of the sacrament, it is sanctified by the grace annexed to the sacrament; raised up to a much higher value in the sight of God, than other penitential works, though perhaps more painful, which we might do of our own choice; and it has also the merit of obedience annexed to it, which gives it still a greater value before God.

The obligation we lie under of performing this sacramental penance, is shown from the words of our Savior, to the pastors of his Church, in the persons of the Apostles, when he said, "Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven," Matth.

For as by the latter words, he assures us, that when our confessor looses us from our sins here on earth, we are loosed from them in heaven; so by the former part of this text, he equally declares, that when we are bound on earth by them to do our penance, this obligation is ratified in heaven; for the general term whatsoever, includes all. But we must not imagine, that, when we have faithfully performed our sacramental penance, we have by it discharged all we owe to the divine justice.

In ancient times, the penances imposed on sinners were exceedingly severe, and often continued for years together; but, as charity waxed cold among Christians, the Church was obliged to moderate this discipline, lest the weakness and tepidity of Christians should neglect to perform them at all. At present, then, the penances imposed in the Sacrament are but small; the rest is left to the penitent's own devotion, and, if they are deficient, it must be made up by God himself, either here or hereafter, to their cost.

Third, The public fasts commanded by the Church: These also we are obliged, by the command of God, faithfully to observe; and, if we do it with a true penitential spirit, they will prove exceedingly useful to discharge what we owe to Divine Justice; especially as by them we also partake of what the whole Church is doing at the same time. What are those works of penance which are left to our own choice? They are divided into three classes, and consist in punishing ourselves either in our external senses, or in the passions and affections of the mind and heart, or in the flesh.

The two first are seldom attended with any danger from excess, and in them consists the exercise of that self-denial and mortification of the will, so much recommended in the gospel, and so strictly required by Jesus Christ from his followers; and, therefore, in practicing them, we are sure of doing what is most agreeable to God. The third class contains bodily mortifications, by which with St.

In service, conversion of heart is the first step, says Pope Francis

Paul, we "chastise the body and bring it into subjection; "but, as the indiscreet use of these may be attended with consequences dangerous to the health, proper caution and advice ought to be taken in practicing them. The practice of each class is as follows: First, As to the external senses of seeing, hearing, tasting, etc. Thus, Job "made a covenant with his eyes, that he should not so much as think upon a virgin," Job xxxi.

And David would not hear another speak ill of his neighbour in his presence. Daniel also says of himself, "Desirable bread I did not eat, and wine and flesh did not enter my mouth.

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