Deeper Conversion: Extraordinary Grace for Ordinary Times

By Sister Ann Shields S.G.L.

"If we choose to be disciples of the Lord, not bystanders but true followers, then we must be conformed to his Word." ―From the Introduction.

Are you connected to the latest technology cell phone, PDA, iPod, Internet but not connected to the Word of God as it comes to us in Scripture? The Bible not only nourishes us, Pope Benedict XVI has said, it also dispels the darkness of fear and lights up the path in difficult times. Meditating on Scripture is essential for every Christian, especially in a culture that disregards the gospel message.

Deeper Conversion will help you examine your life in the light of the Bible so that you can harvest the Word and apply it to your daily circumstances. Sustained and transformed by your encounter with the Lord, you will find strength for your own journey and healing wisdom to share with a weary world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jan 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781635824872

Book preview

Introduction

…

GOD’S HOLY WORD

As I prepared to write this book, I thought of all of you to whom I have ministered through conferences, retreats and parish missions; through TV, radio and the Internet. Over the last thirty-five years, in thirty-seven different countries, I have tried to help people know the love of Jesus Christ and follow his Word. I wanted to write this book for you, because my sense is that a very difficult time lies ahead for us, in society and in the Church, signs of which we already see.

I’ve been praying for myself, that my faith may not fail me, but I have also prayed for all of you to whom I have ministered. I’ve asked myself, what responsibility do I have to prepare you for what lies ahead? What is it that is most important?

A recent editorial in The Catholic World Report points to some of the challenges facing Christians today:

Western history is moving out along the lines Pope Benedict XVI suggested in his pre-conclave sermon, revolving around the struggle between an increasingly despotic man-centered culture and the God-centered one from which the West came. As the secular West girds itself against an encroaching dictatorship from the Muslim world, it blindly sustains a dictatorship of its own; it worries about losing freedom to the terrorists,then robs God-given liberty from Westerners in the name of its own skewed ideology.

If the dictatorship of relativism succeeds—if all who enter the public square are eventually forced to submit to secularism’s inversion of morality—Western culture will have vanished long before the arrival of Islamic terrorists. The Church is nothing less than the West’s last hope.¹

The last sentence here is particularly telling: The Church is…the West’s last hope. And what has the Church taught us? What has the Church upheld through very, very difficult times, over thousands of years?

That teaching is very effectively summarized in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a book I encourage you to keep by your side. My contribution is not to add to that teaching but to spotlight, through Scripture, certain things that Christians need to hold on to in this modern day.

TRUTHS TO HOLD FIRM

The first thing we need to hold on to is our dignity as sons and daughters of God. When we were baptized, we were washed clean in the waters of the font and made children of God. That relationship with God is more real than the earthly families from which we came. We have a dignity that is unparalleled, a dignity for which God himself came to earth, taught, lived, suffered and died.

Saint Paul tells us, All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Romans 8:14–17).

You are of the royal family of the Messiah. That is the truth about who you are and why God, at every moment of every hour of every day and every night, works for your salvation, works that you might inherit the kingdom forever. Don’t lose sight of your dignity. Don’t let the world nibble away at it or skew it or dilute it. Take hold of your dignity as a son or daughter of God, with both hands!

The next thing to hold on to is the fact that God has destined us to live forever. Saint Paul tells us, If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11).

We cannot imagine what that moment was like when Christ broke from the tomb, glorious, never to die again. And that’s going to happen to us! By the same Holy Spirit we are destined to live forever. That’s fantastic!

Don’t let anyone rob you of this truth by pointing out your sin, your weakness, your failure. For another gift God gives us is the forgiveness of our sin. In the midst of our mistakes, our treacheries, our immorality, God gives us a way back. He promises to forgive us; he tells us so clearly in Psalm 103:

[He] forgives all your iniquity,

…heals all your diseases,

…redeems your life from the Pit,

…crowns you with mercy and compassion,

…satisfies you with good as long as you live

…so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.…

The LORD is merciful and gracious,

…slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

He will not always chide,

…nor will he keep his anger for ever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so great is his mercy toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father pities his children,

so the LORD pities those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

he remembers that we are dust.

(Psalm 103:3–5, 8–14, emphasis mine)

God has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Note that the psalm does not say that he forgives some of our iniquity, that he heals some of our disease. He forgives all, and he heals all. He redeems and restores all those who turn to him and repent of their wrongdoing with their whole heart. Hang on to this truth. Place your hope in God, not in your own righteousness.

OUR PART: OBEDIENCE

God is calling us to express thanksgiving for all that we have been given: our dignity as sons and daughters of God, eternal life and forgiveness of our sins. We express this thanksgiving by living according to his purpose, by obeying his will. Psalm 103 also says:

The mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting

upon those who fear him,

and his righteousness to children’s children,

to those who keep his covenant,

and remember to do his commandments.

(Psalm 103:17–18, emphasis mine)

One of the false notions that plagues our society today is that if obedience is valid at all, it is only for small children who have yet to learn enough about life to be on their own. The common thought among adults is I can do what I want, how I want, when I want. I’ve studied; I’ve graduated; nobody is going to tell me how to run my life. Sound familiar?

This arrogance and pride militate against who we really are and how we were created to live. Now, sometimes we get stuck in such attitudes because of people who have hurt us. But we have to decide to embrace God’s purpose in creating us rather than allowing our lives to be controlled by the sins of others.

Sometimes it is not rebellion and arrogance but our good works that build a barrier to a deeper relationship with the Lord. I teach catechism classes, or I serve in the prison, or I am a priest, a religious, and so on. We think our good works and titles will gain God’s approval. But God says, This is the man to whom I will look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word (Isaiah 66:2).

A passage in the First Book of Samuel (see 1 Samuel 15) had a profound effect on my life. In this passage the prophet Samuel severely reprimands Saul for not obeying God’s direction. God had told Saul to destroy the Amalekites and all that they had. But Saul took their king alive and then allowed his soldiers to bring back the best of the spoil, ostensibly to use as sacrifice to God in thanksgiving for the victory.

On the face of it, you could say that Saul was kind in sparing the defeated king and that he used the spoil of battle to do good. Yes, but he was not obedient. Samuel tells Saul how God sees his actions:

Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the LORD?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to listen than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of divination [witchcraft],

and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

(1 Samuel 15:22–23)

That word was like a sword going through my heart, challenging my pride and arrogance. How many times have I chosen my will over God’s will?

God is asking us to lay down whatever keeps us from a closer relationship with him—whether it be our rebellion or our works. One of the greatest helps he has given us to do precisely that is