Saint Frances Cabrini Parish

Father Kleppner - April 6, 2008

We are all converts
In the mind of the Church, Easter has long been associated with conversion. The tradition of Lent began, in fact, as a process for catechumens in the ancient Church to prepare themselves for baptism and the reception of Christ’s Body and Blood, a liturgical ritual that to this day takes place on Holy Saturday.
Easter is the story of discovery and transformation. How fitting, therefore, that the feast is associated with the conversion of those who would become followers of Christ. Like the breathless apostles peering into the empty tomb, they have seen and believed.
While the vast majority of Catholics are “cradle Catholics,” baptized as infants and raised in the Church of our ancestors, we are attracted to stories of adult conversion. From St. Paul to St. Augustine, from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to Cardinal John Henry Newman, from Dorothy Day to Scott Hahn, the stories become part of the Catholic experience: transformation and discovery.
In the Church Militant, of course, such stories were often read in the context of the centuries long struggle with Protestantism. Within that context of conflict and competition, the convert validated the claim that ours was the one true Church.
Today, we may not be quite so triumphal. The Church we love has been beset by scandals. As a recent Pew study reports, Catholics have fallen away in droves. We have been made publicly aware of our own sinfulness, and our doubts have grown. By most indicators Catholic identity – that self-knowledge and self-awareness that allows one to see the world through the eyes of faith – has weakened. Too often children wander away from the faith of their parents.
Today, cradle Catholics may read conversion stories with a bit of envy and longing. We wish to recover for ourselves that first fire, that passionate abandon, that sense of coming home.
So it is important for us to remember that the call to conversion is continuous and ongoing. In this troubled world, once is not enough. Ask Peter.
In the liturgy of the Triduum, we hear how Peter, the boldest and most impulsive of Jesus’ followers, denied Jesus. The man who had abandoned his fishing boat when called, who had been at the Transfiguration, who had even drawn his sword for him, still had denied Jesus at his hour of trial. Yet on Easter Sunday, we read in John’s Gospel that Peter goes to the tomb. He had sinned, yet he had been forgiven. He who had denied Jesus became a witness to his resurrection. Indeed, this man who had failed Jesus went on to become the leader of the early Christian communities.
Conversion is tied to repentance, and we are all Peters, called to seek God’s forgiveness and come running to the risen Lord.
There is in most conversion stories a strong note of humility: “How was I, a sinner, so loved by God that I was given this gift of my Catholic faith?” For all of us, called continuously to conversion, there is an invitation to humility. We have all stumbled, all fallen, all denied the Lord in our words or deeds, and yet God’s forgiveness is unqualified and immediate, if only we seek it.
We are all converts, every one of us. Our conversion of heart is ongoing and lifelong, and the stories of our newest brothers and sisters in the faith serve as a reminder of that fact. Let this Easter Season begin our own renewal, rediscovery and transformation in the presence of the risen Lord.
Editorial Board: Greg Erlandson, publisher; Msgr. Owen F. Campion, associate publisher; Beth McNamara, editorial director; John Norton, editor; Sarah Hayes, presentation editor

A Pennsylvania Charitable Trust

115 Trinity Drive
Center Twp., Aliquippa, PA 15001 724-775-6363 Phone
724-775-3848 Fax

www.sfcabriniparish.org