Gospel Reading Today Mark 16:15-18
"Go throughout the world and preach the gospel to all mankind." Mark 16:15
CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL
Because today is the feast day of the Conversion of St. Paul, I am going to try to do my best to talk about conversion. First of all, I apologize up front if the posts lately have seem hurried....I feel hurried lately in writing because I only have a short window of opportunity to write; therefore, I just let the Lord lead my hands and half the time I don't even proof-read the post! I am not the most knowledgable person on our Catholic faith, so please feel free to write comments to correct me in my teaching of the Faith. I just trust that the Lord is putting the words on my heart and that they are correct!
So on the subect of conversion....at each point in our lives we will start our conversion. I can tell after getting to know someone if they have had their "conversion" or not. I can also tell when people are going through their conversion. A conversion has a birth, and like a child, it grows up and becomes stronger and bigger with each passing day. But like we feed our children, we have to feed our conversion. By being in daily prayer and scripture, this will help nourish our conversion. If you haven't had the complete conversion yet, you are probably starting the process if you look to Lord each day for inspiration, whether it is through this blog, through scripture, or even by turning on christian talk radio...something is changing within you. The fire is starting to kindle in your hearts and you thirst and hunger for more each day. THIS is the beginning of your great conversion. Alot of times, it takes something drastic to happen in a person or a really tough season in their lives to start their conversion by getting on their knees and desperately calling out to the Lord for help. Or through hard times, you start frantically thumbing through scripture for answers and coming back to church more often.
If you find yourself starting to tear up in Mass because of the beautiful music and prayers, this might also be the start of your conversion, for when tears are shed in mass, the Holy Spirit is on fire in your heart. The birth of our children can help kick-start the conversion because of your overwhelming love for the precious soul entrusted to you and the struggles and frustrations that come in the packet of Motherhood. What my prayer is for mothers and I feel God is strongly calling me to do, is for mothers to have a light-bulb moment in their faith as they start looking at motherhood as a beautiful form of self-sacrifice which equals love. Through self-sacrifice, there is no other option then to receive graces from Heaven and in turn your heart starts transforming. If you begin seeing your work daily for your family as a prayer, if you start seeing the suffering mentally and physically of caring for your family as an example of Christ's suffering on earth and on the cross, your conversion will grow deeper and your heart will become more free.
I have always loved the Lord since an early age. I was in Mass every sunday in college (after a long weekend of partying) and would be moved to tears in Mass....the Holy Spirit was on fire in my heart (even though my greatest concern in college was my social calender and second worry was school). I would go to the church after classes and sit and silence and pray. God was already working greatly in my heart. I believe this was all part of my conversion and then it really started kicking into gear after Clint and I got married and suffered job loss, financial strain, family turning their backs, and strain on our new marriage. I would be in scripture every morning and sometime yell at the top of my lungs at God. Through starting our business and all of the pain-staking hard times we have endured, my faith is growing ever more each day. God has proven to me that He never leaves my side and He always provides. So I wouldn't trade the hard times for the world.
So wherever you are in your faith journey, know that the constant prayer in Heaven for you is your great conversion. Look at where you are on this path and do whatever you can to nurture and take care of that conversion as best as you can. I guarentee there is a war between heaven and hell at where you stand in your conversion. All of the worries and stresses of this world only leaves your soul parched and hungry and your conversion stagnant. But when you "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding" and start looking at your work as a mother and wife as working for the Lord, your soul will be nourished and your conversion will continue to blossom.
Blessings to you this Monday!
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