CLE 10 Reviewer – Q1
L1 – Jesus Calls Us to Conversion (page 5-14)
The Three Apostles who went with Jesus to his crucifixion:
Peter – the “rock”; the first rock of the Church
- denied Jesus thrice
James
John
The Kingdom of God – center of conversion
The Holy Trinity:
1. God the Father
2. God the Son
3. God the Holy Spirit
The Three Dimensions of Faith
1. Doctrine
2. Morals
3. Worship
“Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away.” -Acts
3:19
Psalm 51:3-10
3
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5
Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Matthew 26:69-75 (summary of Peter’s Three Denials)
- Finds Peter sitting outside in the courtyard of the high priest's home. Inside, Jesus
is being unfairly convicted and condemned to die. Three times, Peter is accused of
being a Jesus-follower. Three times, he denies even knowing Jesus, swearing oaths
and cursing himself if he is lying.
- Peter is recognized by various people as a follower of Jesus while the Lord's
religious trials carry on inside the homes of high priests. Despite his earlier
promises, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times, each with increasing vigor.
- Peter denied Jesus Christ three times. Realizing his unfaithfulness, he went out and
wept bitterly.
- Peter represents a characteristic of us people, who sometimes fail to remain
faithful to God and one another. In some ways, we come to hurt others who have
put their trust in us. We fail them. We take for granted the good relationship we
have with them. With acceptance of our shortcomings, like Peter, that can be a start
for us to repent and renew ourselves.
Conversion – means change.
- change is understood in relation to the Greek word “metanoia,” which means
change of heart, change of the inner man, repentance.
- can be challenging. This difficulty arises when we rely solely on our own capacity.
- “No one can change me except I who is free.”
- “Conversion is a personal act.”
- “It is also a gift, a grace.”
- word of the grace of the Holy Spirit.
CFC – Catechism for Filipino Catholics
CFC 740 – The repentance needed for the Kingdom demands a total personal
conversion, a change of lifestyle and of priorities.
Change – means change in the way we live our lives, starting with how we look at
things, how we communicate, and how we conduct ourselves before God and
others.
*The call to conversion is an essential part of preaching the Kingdom of God.
*One must be renewed, following the mission and person of Jesus Christ. For He is
“The Way, the Truth, and the Life.” – John 14:6
John the Baptist appeared in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sin. (Mark 1:4) From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) So they went off
and preached repentance (Mark 6:12) God has overlooked the times of ignorance,
but now He demands people everywhere repent. (Acts 17:30)
- The call to conversion is not only change in ways and priorities but also conversion
on the inside. This is called an interior conversion which true change takes place.
CCC – Catechism of the Catholic Church
CCC 1431 – Interior conversion “is a radical reorientation of our life, a return, a
conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with
repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed.”
CCC 1432 – The human heart is heavy and hardened. God must give man a new
heart. Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes our hearts
return to Him: “Restore us to Thyself, O Lord, that we may be restored.”
God – a God of love who would not allow His children to be in sin.
- continues to give us a new heart and strength to overcome sin.
- the grace of God overflows through the redemptive act of His Son.
- “The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from
our sins, and to communicate to us ‘the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus
Christ.” (CCC 1987)
The Holy Spirit – He is like a fire that burns us from our sinfulness and transforms us
into adopted children of God.
- He is like a dove who gently touches the very core of our being and awakens us
with His whisper.
- third of The Holy Trinity
Peter – ‘the rock’/the first rock of the Church
- the first pope
CCC 1989 – The first work of the grace of the Holy Spirit is conversion, effecting
justification in accordance with Jesus’ proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel:
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Moved by grace, man turns
toward God and away from sin thus accepting forgiveness and righteousness from
on high. “Justification is not only the remission of sins, but also the
sanctification and renewal of the interior man.”
Why should one be converted? :
- One should repent and be converted from sinful ways to new life in Christ in order
to bring back harmonious relationships with God, others, and the world.
- In the beginning, God shared His glory with Adam and Eve in a world that is truly a
paradise. Unfortunately, when they disobeyed Him and sinned, their lives were lost.
- God never abandoned His people. He sent the patriarchs, judges and kings to
remind them of the covenant and the need for repentance.
CFC 739 – “The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the
Gospel!” (Mark 1:15) In this basic proclamation, there is, first, the condition for
entry into the Kingdom: repentance. As sinners, our first step must always be
reform of life.
- We cannot share in God’s glory without repenting and being converted.
- He doesn’t want to but because sin is abominable before the Lord. With sin, we are
against God. With Christ, we are for God and the life.
Romans 6:3, 6, 11; CFC 740 – “Thus we are ‘baptized’ into Christ. Jesus are
baptized into His death. . . so that we might be slaves to sin no longer. . . but dead
to sin, alive for God in Christ Jesus.”
- With the grace of the Holy Spirit, we become more and true witnesses to Christ.
CFC 740 – “Conversion is the first and perduring condition for Christian moral
living.”
Conversion means receiving the Sacrament of Penance or Reconciliation. There
cannot be true conversion without the admission, contrition and penance for
the sins committed.
Three basic realities in receiving the sacraments:
a. God who in His infinite mercy grants forgiveness and reconciles us to Himself and
to one another in this sacrament celebrated in the context of His Word in Scripture.
b. the Church, the Christian community, as continuing Christ’s ministry of
forgiveness and reconciliation; and
c. continued personal conversion and heartfelt repentance for sins against God and
neighbor, supported by the charity, good example, and the prayers of the whole
community (CFC 1772)
With the sacrament, the truths are revealed to us that:
1. God, whose mercy is infinite, forgives and reconciles us to Himself and to one
another;
2. The Church is given the authority to continue Christ’s ministry of forgiveness; and
3. The personal conversion and heartfelt repentance are a continual process of love,
good example and prayers.
Means of Conversion
1. Almsgiving
2. Prayer
3. Fasting
The Seven Corporal Works of Mercy
To feed the hungry;
To give drink to the thirsty;
To clothe the naked;
To harbour the harbourless;
To visit the sick;
To ransom the captive;
To bury the dead.
The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy
To instruct the ignorant;
To counsel the doubtful;
To admonish sinners;
To bear wrongs patiently;
To forgive offences willingly;
To comfort the afflicted;
To pray for the living and the dead.
Hindrances to Conversion
Pride
– the sin that not only bring us to a sinful condition, and lead us to sin, but can keep
us in sin.
- an attitude that fails us to recognize God as God and others as brothers and
sisters.
- “Nothing is wrong with me. I am perfectly and always okay.” It makes one believe
that “I did nothing wrong” and always points the blame to others
Ignorance
- failure to realize one’s spiritual lost condition
- “like a sick person who does not know that he/she has illness and that he/she
exerts no effort to check on his/her health condition.”
John 17:3 – Eternal life is this: to know you, your only true God, and him whom you
have sent, Jesus Christ.n
False Belief
- one’s beliefs can provide a basis for his/her thoughts and actions
- may let the person do things that are consistent with or aligned with the beliefs,
practices, or traditions of the Church.
- Our Lord, Jesus Christ, warns us to “Beware false prophets, who come to you in
sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15)
Temptation
- In “Our Father” or “The Lord’s Prayer,” we say, “lead us not into temptation.”
- is an invitation to sin.
- a constant pull toward sin for its alluring, deceiving beauty with a false promise to
joy.
- “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics
of the devi. (Ephesians 6:11)
Preoccupation
- “If we cannot change things, the least we can do is to go with the flow”
- for some, they do not only go with the flow, but let the current take them
wherever it goes.
- becoming slaves to “work”
Fear
- fear of becoming unpopular or an outcast
- as a consequence of doing what is “unpopular” with the people around
The Process Toward Conversion (Based on CFC/Catechism of the Catholic Church)
a. interior contrition and purpose of amendment (cf. CCC 1450-54)
b. the actual confession of sins and priestly absolution (cf. CCC 1455ff)
c. being restored into the fellowship of the Christian community (cf. CCC 1443)
Interior contrition and purpose of amendment
- accepting
– feeling sorry for the sins
- making up for the hurt or damage done
Actual confession and priestly absolution
- going to confession and receiving the priestly absolution.
- Sincerity and humility are important in this process.
To be restored to the fellowship of the Christian community
- to celebrate and continue the renewed relationship with oneself, others and God.
- living a new life, leaving the old ways
Conversion is…
- a continual process of renewal
- a life-long process of moving toward closer union with Christ, our savior, in His
community, the Church and away from sinful ways and bad habits. (cf. CCC 1430-
31)
- Hence, it does not refer only to a single act of moving from atheism to belief in
God nor from one religion to another. (CFC 1789)
The Signs of True Conversion
- interior experience of true conversion is joy. The exterior expression is love
for God and others.
The two direct of “This Love”
Fulfilling the commandment “Love your neighbor as you
Fellowship (koinoia)
love yourself.” (Romans 13:9), creates community
Service (diakonia) fellowship, the “Fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” (2
Corinthians 13:13)
Sin - We bear one another’s burdens and serve “in all
humility” (Acts 20:19), “in the newness of the spirit”
- it divides
- it hurts
Love
- unites
- promotes the well-being of a person,
Bartolo Longo
- born on February 10, 1841
- born in a wealthy family in the small town of Latiano, near Brindisi, in southern
Italy.
Parents of Bartolo Longo:
Dr. Bartolomeo Longo (Father)
Antonina Luparelli (Mother) (died on 1851)
- devout Catholics who pray the rosary daily
- drifted away from Catholic faith when his mother died
- left on his own devices
- studied law at the University of Naples
- involved with New Age pagan group
- ordained him a satanist priest
- unsatisfied while practicing his new pagan religion
- felt to ridicule Christianity and did everything in his power to subvert Catholic
influence
- none of these activities brought him joy; his life was marked by extreme
depression, paranoia, confusion, and nervousness.
- began to show “demonic obsession”, as opposed to demonic possession
- inflicted by diabolical visions and continually declining poor health.
- ultimately experienced a mental breakdown
- his deceased father urged him to “Return to God! Return to God!” In fear and
desperation, Longo turned to Professor Vincenzo Pepe, a friend from his hometown
for guidance.
- got introduced to Dominican priest, Fr. Alberto Radente.
- Fr. Alberto helped him to further reclaim his life.
- experienced a deep sense of despair and almost committed suicide
- The Blessed Virgin Mary said: “If you seek salvation, promulgate the rosary.”
- raised a medal of Blessed Virgin Mother and cried out “I renounce m spiritism
because it is nothing but a maze of error and falsehood.”
- March 25, 1871 – became a Third Order Dominican, taking the name Brother
Rosario in honor of the rosary
- died of a saintly death
- beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 26 th, 1980
- “Apostle of the Rosary.”
Faith Words
absolution – an act of forgiving someone for his/her wrongdoing.
almsgiving – act of performing charity work
fasting – imposing limits on the kind or quantity of food and drink
grace – God’s self-giving and the consequent multiple favors offered to all persons
justification – saving grace that includes the forgiveness of sins, sanctification,
renewal of self through Christ.
