It’s good to be home. As you well know, I spent some time in Italy visiting my family and then I had the opportunity to be at a meeting with 900+ priests from all over the world. We spent time to help each other to live our Christian life better. It was very inspiring seeing how these “older” priests were just as committed as the younger ones to become a true realization of Jesus’ Commandment: “To love one another.”
Love is not easy. We need to convert constantly, always finding new ways to be creative and less attached to our old ways.
In this Sunday’s Gospel we see that the act of conversion to the Lord is described as passing from darkness to light. To witness to Jesus with our lives and to proclaim his Gospel is like bringing the light to the world.
To convert, as he says a prayer of the liturgy, is to ensure that “all our activity has its beginning from God and its fulfillment in God.” Conversion is done by Jesus, his Word, and He is the source of our actions.
The evangelist Matthew tells us that we are called to conversion because “the kingdom of heaven is near.” This expression is used to highlight that God wants to encounter us in order to reveal His love to all of us; His love saves us. To say
that the Kingdom of God is near means that God’s love is entering into our lives, it is offered to the righteous and sinners alike, regardless of our past.
True conversion happens when each one of us realizes that God loves us, each individually, immensely. This becomes the true reason to convert, to change not only our attitudes but also the way we think about others and the world. Let’s pray for one another so that we may all grow in this.