How to Obtain the Conversion of a Loved One

in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit amen in today's gospel we read that jesus went to a city called nyam they went with his disciples in a great crowd and when he arrived near the city behold the dead man was taken away her mother's only son, she was a widow and many people from the city were with her and when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and told her not to cry. We cannot doubt that the church attaches great importance to this gospel and that she does reading this gospel in its holy liturgy three times during the liturgical year today on this Sunday the 15th after Pentecost during one of the fairies of Lent and on the feast of Saint Montag should not surprise us then on all these occasions, especially on the feast of saint monica the church in its night service the matins service has the sermon of the children of saint monica in augustine on this passage of the gospel we must understand then that the church gives primary importance to the interpretation that saint augustine gives to this passage preaches saint augustine that his son was called back to life was the joy of that widowed mother that the souls of men are called to life every day is the joy of our mother the church if we know anything about the life of saint augustine we know we know that He has himself very much in mind when he pronounces these words.

It is enough to consider some passages from his confessions. There we learned that his mother, Saint Monica, approached the holy bishop, Saint Ambrose, to implore him to go find her wayward son and convince him of his errors with sinful arguments. Augustine says that Saint Ambrose rejected his mother with great prudence he says how I understood it then he replied that I was still docile that I was inflated with my novelty of heresy let him be Saint Ambrose said just pray for him to the Lord he will discover by reading what his mistake Saint Monaco He did not agree to what Saint Ambrose said but he continued to implore, go away, the saints said, as long as you live, the son of these tears will not perish.

I know that there is not one family within these four walls that does not understand the pain that was going on in the heart of that beautiful saint. Monaco, not a single family in this church today that does not feel this desire, this pain for all of us, today's gospel speaks as we do our examination and imploration of God to know what we must do to

obtain

the

conversion

of

loved

ones above all We must never forget that the

conversion

of our

loved

ones is the work of God's grace and never our own fulfillment so that no flesh can ever boast.

However, in his eyes we are instruments of God's grace and if we are disciples of Christ we must ask ourselves What should we do especially regarding these more difficult conversions: the conversions of those we know and love, but who also know us and all our faults that stain our message? We would do well to remember the words of Saint Bernard and apply them to this situation on all the others because he tells us we read that there are faith, hope and charity, these three but the greatest of them is charity. He also says that there are words good example and prayer, but the greatest of them is prayer.

How often do we want to simply jump in and begin the work of conversion in reverse order, saying whatever is on our mind because of our longing to hear our own voice, our attachment to our own words, and only then considering the example we set and how much we commend? these souls to God in prayer today is the day to make a good resolution to change things let's start then considering the prayer first of all you have friends or loved ones whose conversion you wish place these souls on the patent as you see the priest holding it at the beginning of the offertory in the mass, recommend them especially in the most august sacrifice, give them to our lord at the moment you receive him in holy communion, always be careful to take them with you to adoration, placing them inside the pierced side of our savior, it is our Most Holy Lady who

obtain

s for them the graces necessary for conversion and disposes them even remotely for the worthy. reception of the sacraments let these souls of yours always be among their beings always think of one of them while you pray a decade of the rosary and never forget the example of saint monica and make a prayer with your tears tears that spring from natural affection you will not obtain the grace you seek, they must shed tears of true charity, unconditional love that seeks not the mere satisfaction of having a friend or family member in the pew, but only the eternal good of that person, regardless of whether you ever receive a thank you or recognition. or if your conversion is something that you can even see or enjoy or take credit for it makes me think for those who are in the religious life how immensely blessed those families are who have a son or daughter who becomes religious.

This is indeed a difficult vocation for people. in the world to understand how human affection can be left almost completely aside to know and love God only in prayer and all his creatures only through him. The hearts of religious people are not hearts of stone, they are a flesh that He does not glory in God's vision but is humbled so that God can perform miracles of grace through them. The humble hearts of the religious are true engines of prayer and bless the family that has cultivated such a vocation. Next we turn to good example and Here we must consider the terrible obstacle to conversion posed by hypocrisy, but I think it is important to distinguish hypocrisy here from simply not living up to the principles we defend, of course, we all fall short of practicing the faith we profess, this doesn't believe means our beliefs are false and it does.

It doesn't necessarily have to be an obstacle for anyone, of course, people of ill will can call us hypocrites, but what we really need to keep in mind is that there is one thing that people almost never forgive or forget and that is arrogance, even if failing to be good Catholics this does not have to distance our loved ones from the faith as long as we are humble the apostle today tells us to bear each other's burdens and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ the text here can be understood not only help each other but also put up with each other if you want to get serious about winning your loved ones for christ start acting like your teachers these are the people before whom above all you must humiliate yourself meekly suffering hurts from them helping them by showing a genuine interest in their lives, apart from any question of faith, finally, lastly, sometimes there are words to say, but even after prayerful discernment, you determine that there are things you need to say in a given situation, always remember that the more you say the worse you say it every time you add a word you cheapen all the previous words as soon as you speak to win an argument instead of winning a soul your fish is now free again saint paul tells us today if a man is surprised in some fault instruct him with a spirit of meekness considering yourself so that you too may not be tempted but of course certain things cannot happen without a word I am thinking here specifically when someone blasphemes the holy name of God this blessed mother or any of the truths of our faith when someone mocks your faith you don't need an intelligent response you need tears of indignation for the wounds your god has suffered at the hands of his creatures or even a raised voice to silence the mouth of the blasphemer saint paul says we must be all things to all people men in order to win them to christ one of those things is to be harsh or even angry when the rights of god demand it very often this is the beginning of a conversion such a person can remember his good manners at least and apologize saying I didn't mean to To get offended you just need to respond you didn't offend me you offended my god and yours too sometimes this means the person will make fun of you instead of god but that shouldn't worry you at all. little that is what it means to be a fool for the love of Christ and that can also be a cause of conversion at least for those who witness it this week we conclude the beautiful octave of the nativity of mary with the feast of our lady of sorrows places your wayward beloved Those who today are under the compassionate care of our heavenly mother remember that we call upon her as our lady of sorrows, not as our lady of worries, her pain has always been deep knowing how many souls reject the gift of redemption of his son, but that pain has always been mixed with joy. not with doubt or concern the tears that flow from your immaculate heart intercede at every moment before the throne of God for those whose hearts are hardened to the truth take courage a child of those tears our lady of sorrows will not perish saint monica saint augustine pray for we in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit amen