Medjugorje Message: May 25, 2013
“Dear children! Today I call you to be strong and resolute in faith and prayer, until your prayers are so strong so as to open the Heart of my beloved Son Jesus. Pray little children, pray without ceasing until your heart opens to God’s love. I am with you and I intercede for all of you and I pray for your conversion. Thank you for having responded to my call. ”
I PRAY FOR MY CONVERSION
“Pray for my conversion ; pray for your conversion.”
Now there’s something we don’t hear fervent, believing, practicing Catholics say to one another very often. Yet , our Blessed Mother tells us simply and clearly that She most definitely is praying for our conversion . . . for your conversion and for my conversion.
The biography written by Fr. H.P. Bergeron, CSC, entitled The Wonder Man of Mount Royal depicting the life of Montreal’s own St. André Bessette (Brother André) , is an awesome read. It recounts details of miracles that were occurring practically on a daily basis at St. Joseph’s Oratory up until the good Brother’s passing in 1937. Hearing about contemporary miracles, tends to stir up the embers of faith in our souls and there is lots which is “stirring” in that particular book. But what always struck me , as much as the miracles, even after reading the book a fourth time, is the fact that St. André had the habit of asking his friends :
Pray for my conversion.
CONVERSION IS A LIFELONG PROCESS
If we wish to make any progress in our spiritual life , we must be able to recognize the truth – in every situation. What our Blessed Mother is saying in her true, gentle way, is that every one of us is still in need of conversion. This applies equally to those who may have already had a major conversion experience in their lives – even one as dramatic as St. Paul’s : We are still all in need of conversion ; and conversion – yours and mine, is a lifelong process .
Nowhere does this become more evident to us personally, than in the confessional.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches about the need of an ongoing conversion in each one of our lives :
1427 Jesus calls to conversion. This call is an essential part of the proclamation of the kingdom: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." In the Church's preaching this call is addressed first to those who do not yet know Christ and his Gospel. Also, Baptism is the principal place for the first and fundamental conversion. It is by faith in the Gospel and by Baptism that one renounces evil and gains salvation, that is, the forgiveness of all sins and the gift of new life.
1428 Christ's call to conversion continues to resound in the lives of Christians. This second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole Church who, "clasping sinners to her bosom, [is] at once holy and always in need of purification, [and] follows constantly the path of penance and renewal." This endeavor of conversion is not just a human work. It is the movement of a "contrite heart," drawn and moved by grace to respond to the merciful love of God who loved us first.
1429 St. Peter's conversion after he had denied his master three times bears witness to this. Jesus' look of infinite mercy drew tears of repentance from Peter and, after the Lord's resurrection, a threefold affirmation of love for him. The second conversion also has a communitarian dimension, as is clear in the Lord's call to a whole Church: "Repent!"
St. Ambrose says of the two conversions that, in the Church, "there are water and tears: the water of Baptism and the tears of repentance."
http://catholicism.org/br-andre.html
http://saltandlighttv.org/blog/saints-and-blesseds/cco-rise-up-keynote-address-brother-andre-bessette-montreal%E2%80%99s-miracle-man-who-was-caritas-in-veritate
Last edited by NeedImprovement on Tue Jun 18, 2013 9:33 pm; edited 2 times in total
