Conversion is a lifelong process involving growth in four areas: beliefs, celebration, morality, and prayer. The document provides extensive summaries of Catholic teachings on these topics from the Catechism, including beliefs about God, revelation, salvation history, and the nature of faith. It also discusses Catholic practices like the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation, and moral teachings including the Ten Commandments. The final section reflects on the Our Father prayer and its significance.
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Conversion: A Lifelong Process of Growing in Faith
1. Conversion, A Life Long Process
Conversion involves growing ever more
like Christ in
1) what we believe, 2) how we celebrate,
3) morality, & 4) prayer.
2. Part 1, the Profession of Faith (What We Believe) includes an
extended reflection on the Apostlesâ Creed
3. â1. What is the plan of God for man?
âGod, infinitely perfect and blessed in
Himself, in a plan of sheer goodness
freely
created man to make him
share in His own blessed life.
In the fullness of time, God the Father
sent His son as the Redeemer and
Savior of
Mankind, fallen into sin, then calling all
into His Church
and, through the work of the
Holy Spirit, making them adopted
children and heirs of
His eternal happiness.â
How Cool is That!!!
4. â9. What is the full and definitive stage of God's Revelation?
âThe full & definitive stage of Godâs revelation is accomplished in His Word made flesh,
Jesus Christ âŚ.Revelation is now fully complete, although the faith of the Church must
gradually grasp its full significance over the course of centuries.â
http://www.virtualtoursantosepolcro.org/index_en.htm
5. â11. Why and in what way is divine revelation transmitted?
âGod âdesires all men to be saved and to
come to the knowledge of the Truthâ
(1 Timothy 2:4), that is, of Jesus Christ.
For this reason, Christ must be proclaimed
to all according to His own command,
âGo forth & teach allââ
God wants all people to be saved.
How Cool is That!!!
6. Just as a collection of historical works, the Bible is so undeniably
unique that no intelligent person would want to be ignorant of it
(Yet, plenty are!).
Intelligent non-believers do not say that Jesus is a fictional
character. The worst they can do is dismissively treat Him as a
mere moral teacher. Yet, via His actions & Words, Jesus
repeatedly claimed to be God! What sane, moral "fella" goes
around claiming Heâs God - if He's not?
When Jesus was buried, the worldâs most powerful empire
stationed an armed guard. The easiest way to discredit Jesus would have been to
come up with His body and disprove His resurrection. No one ever did so!, and no
one ever will!
"it is important to understand a common misconception and faulty mind-set held by
most antagonists of the Bible: the presupposition of anti-supernaturalism" (Josh
McDowell, The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict, p. 349).
"The anti-supernaturalist bases his thinking on the presupposition that God has not
intervened in history. Therefore he rejects evidence indicating the supernatural no
matter how convincing" (p. 368).
7. A one year reading plan for the Bible, learning more about Godâs Salvation History:
Apologeticsanyone.blogspot.com
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14. Ultimately âbelief in
Godâ involves much
more than
acknowledging facts!
To believe in God
âmeans to adhere to
God Himself,
entrusting oneself to
Him and giving assent
to all the truths which
God has
revealed because God
is Truth.
It means to believe in
one God in three
Persons, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.â
â27. What does it mean in practice for a person to believe in God?
15. Part 2 (The Celebration of the Christian
Mystery) includes an extended reflection
on the Seven Sacraments
Perhaps, the Celebration of
the Eucharist and the
Sacrament of Reconciliation
are the most readily available
in our lifelong process of
conversion.
16. We âgo to heaven when we go to
Mass, and this is true of every Mass we
attend, regardless of the quality of the music
or the fervor of the preachingâ (p.5).
âIt is not enough that Christ bled and died for
our sake. Now we have our part to playâŚ.If
you want to mark your covenant with God, to
seal your covenant with God, to renew your
covenant with God, you have to eat the Lamb â
the paschal lamb Who is our unleavened bread
â (p. 26).
âFaithfulness to our routines is a way of
showing love. We donât just work, or thank, or
offer affection when we really feel like it. Real
loves are loves we live with constancy, and
that constancy shows itself in routineâ (p. 41).
(Scott Hahn, The Lambâs Supper, 1999, pp. 66 - 69).
17. â297. Why is there a sacrament of Reconciliation after
Baptism?....
âthe new life of grace received in
Baptism does not abolish the
weakness of human nature nor the
inclination to sin⌠Christ instituted
this sacrament for the conversion of
the baptized who have been
separated from Him by sin.
298. When did he institute this sacrament?....
âThe risen Lord instituted this sacrament on the evening of Easter when he
showed himself to his apostles & said to them, âReceive the Holy Spirit. If you
forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are
retained.â (John 20:22-23).
â309. Is a confessor bound to secrecy?....
âevery confessor, without any exception & under very severe penalties, is
bound to maintain âthe sacramental sealâ which means absolute secrecy about
the sins revealed to him in confessionâ
18. PART THREE, LIFE IN CHRIST (Morality) includes an extended
reflection on the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes
â357. How is the Christian moral life bound up with faith
and the sacraments?
âWhat the symbol of faith professes, the
sacraments communicateâŚ.through them the
faithful receive the grace of Christ & the gifts of
the Holy Spirit which give them the capability of
living a new life as children of God in Christ
whom they have received in faithâ
19. As to Jesusâ interpre-
tation of the law,
âYou shall love the Lord
your God with all
your heart, & with all
your soul, & with all
your mind.â This is the
greatest & 1st
commandment.
& the second is like it:
You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.â
(435)
20. â358. What is the root of human dignity?
We are created âin the image & likeness of Godâ & âcalledâŚto eternal beatitude.â
(âeternal beatitudeâ = authentic happiness) Jesus taught the Beatitudes within
the Sermon on the Mount
21.
22. Part 4, Christian Prayer, includes an extended reflection on
the Our Father
23. Our Father Who Art in Heaven:
We dare draw near to God in full confidence âBecause Jesus, our
Redeemer, brings us into the Fatherâs presence & His Spirit makes us
His childrenâŚ.â (582)
âThe invocation, Father, lets us enter into His mystery with an ever new
sense of wonder & awakens in us the desire to act as His childrenâ
(583)
âTo pray the âOur Fatherâ is to pray with all people & for all people that
they may know the one true God & be gathered into unity.ââ(585)
The phrase âWho art in heavenâ means âa way of being: God
transcends everything. The expression refers to the majesty, the
holiness of God, & also to His presence in the hearts of the justâ (586)
âHeaven, or the Fatherâs house, constitutes our true homeland toward
which we are moving in hope while we are still on earthâ (586)
24. Hallowed Be Thy Name:
âTo hallow or make holy the Name of God is above all a prayer of
praise that acknowledges God as holy.â (588)
Thy Kingdom Come:
âThe Church prays for the final coming of the
Kingdom of God through Christâs return in glory. The Church prays also
that the Kingdom of God increase from now on through peopleâs
sanctification in the Spirit and through their commitment to the service of
justice and peace in keeping with the Beatitudes.â (590)
25. Thy Will Be Done on Earth as It is in
Heaven:
âThe will of the Father is that âall men be savedâ (1 Timothy 2:4). For
this Jesus came: to perfectly fulfill the saving will of his Father. We
pray God our Father to unite our will to that of his Son âŚ.We ask that
this loving plan be fully realized on earth as it is already in heaven.â
(591)
26. Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread:
âAsking God with the filial trust of children for the daily nourishment
which is necessary for us all we recognize how good God is, beyond
all goodness. We ask also for the grace to know how to act so that
justice and solidarity may allow the abundance of some to remedy the
needs of others.â (592)
âSince âman does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes
from the mouth of Godâ (Matthew 4:4), this petition equally applies to
hunger for the Word of God & for the Body of Christ received in the
Eucharist as well as hunger for the Holy Spirit. We ask this with
complete confidence for this day â Godâs âtodayâ â and this is given to
us above all in the Eucharist which anticipates the banquet of the
Kingdom to come.â (593)
27. Forgive Us Our Trespasses as We
Forgive Those Who Trespass Against
Us:
âBy asking God the Father to pardon us, we acknowledge before him
that we are sinners. At the same time we proclaim his mercy because
in his Son and through the sacraments âwe have redemption, the
forgiveness of sinsâ (Colossians 1:14). Still our petition will be
answered only if we for our part have forgiven first.â (594)
28. Lead Us Not into Temptation:
âWe ask God our Father not to leave us alone & in the power of
temptation. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us know how to discern, on
the one hand, between a trial that makes us grow in goodness & a
temptation that leads to sin and death &, on the other hand, between
being tempted & consenting to temptation. This petition unites us to
Jesus who overcame temptation by his prayer. It requests the grace of
vigilance & of final perseverance.â (596)
29. We conclude by asking
âBut deliver us from evilâ
because ââEvilâ indicates the person of Satan who opposes God and
is âthe deceiver of the whole worldâ (Revelation 12:9). Victory over the
devil has already been won by Christ. We pray, however, that the
human family be freed from Satan and his works. We also ask for the
precious gift of peace and the grace of perseverance as we wait for
the coming of Christ who will free us definitively from the Evil One.â
(597)
âAt the end of the prayer, you say
âAmenâ
and thus you ratify by this word that means âso be itâ all that is
contained in this prayer that God has taught us.â (Saint Cyril of
Jerusalem)