Last week we reflected on the first theme of Lent, repentance. This week we will look at its twin theme: conversion. Some of the greatest writers, thinkers, and practitioners of the Christian Faith, from St. Paul and St. Augustine to C.S. Lewis and Peter Kreeft, have been converts. We use that term “convert” to refer to someone who was previously not a Christian but has, by the grace of God and an act of his own will, become one.  Many Christians hold and a very deep faith from their infancy, but there does indeed seem to be something more intentional and more intense about the faith of one who has converted. In fact, when we look at what Bishop Robert Barron calls the “pivotal players” in the history of the Church we see that converts outnumber “cradle Catholics” about 2 to 1.

The truth is that this distinction between “converts” and “cradle Catholics” is an misconception, and Lent is the perfect time to put it to rest. All Christians are Converts because we are all called to life-long conversion to the will of God. Whether our baptism came five days or five decades after we were born, we are a Church of converts.  St. Francis of Assisi, our school’s spiritual patron, is a perfect example. Baptized when he was only hours old, Francis’ youth and young adulthood was spent indulging in parties and sensual encounters, and chasing after fame. It was not until his mid-twenties that Francis underwent the profound conversion that made him a saint.  Our spiritual life is ALWAYS a work in progress. This means that we are called to a life of on-going change. Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman(himself an English convert to the Catholic Faith) wrote that, “In a higher world it is otherwise, but here below- to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” Oh, but how we resist change. It’s uncomfortable. Unsettling. Difficult. But then, so is the cross, and our Lord made it clear, “If anyone would be my disciple he will take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)  So what does this change, this cross look like?

A convert is often driven by a deep desire to know God, His son, Jesus Christ, and His bride, the Church. A convert desires to love God and to be united with Him even in this life and in eternity. A convert wishes to serve God in all things, especially in people who are poor and marginalized.

Conversion means committing ourselves to living habits of prayer, study, and service. God does not demand of us that we become theologians. But He does invite us to be Saints, and a saint is simply one whose life of conversion has run its course and whose soul has been welcomed in to the heavenly Kingdom of the God who loves us. Philosopher (and convert), Peter Kreeft wrote that “The saints understand the Bible better than theologians because they understand the Bible’s primary author, God, by loving Him with their whole heart and their whole mind.” This is what conversion looks like.

During his pastoral visit to Germany in 2011, Pope Benedict XVI recounted an episode in which Mother Teresa (Now St. Teresa of Kolkata) was asked by an interviewer, “what must change in the Church?” Her prompt and succinct reply: “You and I.” Indeed, to be a Christian is to undertake, wholeheartedly, this challenge of conversion, so that by our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, we are conformed ever more closely to Christ our Lord. Next week we will turn our attention to the first of these pillars of Lent. Until then, “Encourage each other daily while it is still ‘today.’” (Hebrews 3:13).