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CONVERSION: A FAMILY AFFAIR Last week I spoke about conversion, and about its demands and rewards. Now, I want to talk about how it happens. There are many outstanding examples of conversion for us in the last 2000 years of Christianity, many saints who have shown us that it really is possible to undertake radical change in our lives and, with God's grace, be transformed into new persons in Christ. One outstanding example is St. Paul. As the New Testament records the well-known story (Acts 9), he was going in exactly the wrong direction in his life. He was sincere and self-confident and utterly convinced of the rightness of his mission, which was persecuting the followers of Jesus. Then one day he was struck from his horse and heard a voice that said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" He realized he had to rethink everything, and begin to walk on a new path. He For most people, conversion does not seem so dramatic. It is usually a quiet affair in which no one sees us in our lonely moment of choice except God himself. Next week, I'll speak about how conversion comes about quietly in the lives of many. In fact, conversion is almost never one step, but a series of steps. Paul did not have to learn to accept Christ. He realized that Christ had taken the initiative to reach out to him and call him, and that it was the Holy Spirit who led him to faith. Paul's conversion in other words, was in the final analysis what God did in him. That is the mystery of the power of God's grace. And the fact is, we can't do anything without it. But what is given to us is to choose to say yes or no to the call of Christ. Each of us experiences the call in a unique way and at a unique moment. One of the primary situations in the lives of most Christians when they hear the call of Christ and learn to respond to it is in their own homes, under the influence of the Christian faith of the members of their own families. Jesus speaks of bringing division rather than peace. He says he's come to set a man at odds with his father, a daughter with her mother... in short, to make a man's enemies those of his own household (Mt 10:34-39). In so speaking, he means he only wants us to achieve unity in holiness and the love of God. Parents play a primary role in the conversion of the in children. They are their first spiritual guides and counselors, their first models of the faith. Parents should take their children to church, teach them the faith in the home and not depend on the parish religious education program to do that. They should teach them how to pray and pray with them. They should help their children to understand and embrace Christian moral standards, so that they do not automatically imitate what they see on television and in the theater. They should teach their children that fidelity to God is the most important thing in life and that in all things they should seek God's will for them. Parents should not advise their children to fit in and be like everyone else. When young people say they want to do their own thing, parents should challenge them to find and do God's thing. In other words, the divisions Jesus talked about will occur only in families that are not one in Christ. Any other unity is false, and it will not last. Jesus has to break down false unities to build up true unity. Christian parents should be models of saying yes to Jesus. They should teach Christian standards to their children by the example of their own lives, and they should challenge them to live the gospel authentically and fully. The final decision of “yes” or “no” to Jesus' call must be made while we are still on earth. The peace of Jesus is the cross. But that cross and death of Jesus, for those who have said “yes,” are both life and resurrection in him: “Whoever loses his life for my sake”, says Jesus, “shall find it.” (Matthew 10:39) +Bishop Raymundo J. Peña last updated 09-Jun-2010 10:44 sitemap |
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