ADVENT MEDITATION

THREE DEGREES OF CONVERSION

From Deep Conversion Deep Prayer 

by the late Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M.

Photo: R. Massaro-Sorrowful Mother Shrine, Bellevue, Ohio

THE FIRST DEGREE: 
MORAL CONVERSION

We need to ask first of all: what is a mortal sin? It is the knowing, free and willing rejection of God in favor of choosing something incompatible with him. This alienation from him is not a mere mistake but rather a knowing choice that includes preferring some created idol that excludes loving him and our neighbor. A mortal, deadly sin is a freely chosen rejection of supreme Beauty and Goodness, the blessed Trinity...the first degree of conversion, therefore, is a 180-degree reversal: " I renounce my idol, Lord; I want you instead. I am sorry, very sorry. With your grace I am going to change my life. I freely choose to repent. I shall receive your sacrament of reconciliation."

THE SECOND DEGREE: 
MAKING AN EFFORT TO AVOID SMALL WRONGS, VENIAL SINS

Here the person makes efforts to avoid small wrongs, venial sins. These do not destroy one's essential love for God and neighbor, but they do wound it. Even though they aren't colossal, they remain disorders. The reader should notice that when we speak about "willed venial sins" the first adjective is important indeed.Without intellectual awareness and, therefore, freedom there is no willing, no sin. We are talking about things we can control, not mere mistakes, not mere feelings. For example, it is not a sin to feel impatient when children or adults annoy us by obnoxious behavior...Sin here means guilt. There is no guilt, thus no sin unless we freely choose some wrong action or omission. To snap back at a person usually is a free action and thus with guilt.

St. Teresa of Avila describing the soul in the Third Mansion

THE THIRD DEGREE:
LOVING GOD AND NEIGHBOR WITHOUT LIMIT

As we have noted above, there are several ways of describing this third step of conversion: loving God and neighbor without limit, giving oneself beyond the call of duty, going all the way with God, living like the saints lived. Chesterton called this lofty holiness a revolution. At this stage of growth these individuals are not simply rather better than ordinarily good folk--they are vastly superior in sheer goodness.




Peace be with you!
Rosemarie, ocds