Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Conversion, Part 2

The "want to" stage of conversion is a very hard level to arrive in, especially since it involved the heart of the individual. As I said in the first chat about conversion, it has to come from within. As the old saying goes, "you can take a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." is true here as well. There is no known recipe for achieving this goal of converting a person that works across the board.
Oh, but wait! Yes there is! It is two equal parts of patience and prayer....now that is not so novel is it? St. Monica waited and prayed for years until St. Augustine converted, but when he did, it was big!! and St. Augustine ended up being a Doctor of the Church and extremely well respected in all his writings and teachings, so go figure, we must wait and pray for our loved ones that are not converted, either completely or partially.

But as for the two main ingredients of imperative importance, so is knowledge. But alas, one must be interested in knowing...so back again to the patience and prayer. Some of the authors and teachers that are most valuable to have on hand and read are:
St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Teresa Avila
Bishop Fulton Sheen
John Paul, II (The Great!) Those he is abit hard to read due to his extreme intelligence.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict VXI)
St. Faustina, the Mercy Chapels and prayers....very important prayers and meditations

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