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Signs and Stages of Conversion

“ Conversion is first of all a work of the grace of God who makes

our hearts return to him: ‘Restore us to thyself, O Lord, that

we may be restored!’ (LAM 5:21) It is in discovering the greatness

of God’s love that our heart is shaken by the horror and

weight of sin and begins to fear offending God by sin and being

separated from him.” (CCC 1432) (RCIA 247)

Coming to Conversion

… for you have made us for yourself, and our heart

is restless until it rests in you. ~ ST. AUGUSTINE, CONFESSIONS

FACILITATING CHANGE

The Church sees conversion as an ongoing process that never ends. Conversion, seen as a progressive process,

involves various stages of change. Simply stated, conversion involves a turning from something coupled with a

turning towards something else. “The Christian faith is, above all, conversion to Jesus Christ.” (GDC 53) This

turning occurs in many areas, including:

  • In prayer ~ in conversation with God
  • In communio ~ in our relationships and experience of Christian witness
  • In the moral life ~ in living out our growing Christian convictions
  • In perspective ~ in learning to see things through a Catholic worldview
  • In seeking and study ~ in growing in hunger for knowledge of God

FROM PRODIGAL TO PERFECTION

The biblical account of the forgiving father in the parable of the

Prodigal Son gives us a glimpse of our loving and merciful Father

in Heaven. (see Luke 15:11-32) The father is the first to see the

repentant son, and the father goes running toward his child. We

must come to know the Father in order to foster conversion to him

through Jesus Christ. The “Yes” to Jesus Christ involves (GDC 54):

  • A trustful abandonment to God
  • A loving assent to all that he has revealed to us

Faith is a gift from God. It can only be born in the intimacy of

man’s heart as a fruit of that “grace [which] moves and assists

him,” (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 5; see CCC 153) and as a completely free response to the

“promptings of the Holy Spirit who moves the heart and turns it toward God.” (GDC 55)

Because this life of ongoing conversion and journeying towards perfection is the normal life every Christian is

called to live, the Christian initiation process must be thoroughly steeped in this understanding.

FROM WHEREVER THEY START, EXPECT PROGRESS

The pastoral work of moving participants from their initial motivation to firmer conviction involves facilitating

a desire for “more”. Their longing for more is often accompanied by the difficulties of pain, confusion, misery,

grief, and/or humiliation. When this longing is identified, it is possible for eyes to be opened and hearts to be

softened; nevertheless they remain aching and weak until grace is strengthened in them.

Following the guidelines for the Christian initiation process and the norms in the GDC, each period presents us

with signs that should be discerned and fostered in the participants.

The Period of Evangelization and Precatechumenate

Signs: Interest in the Gospel, the inclination to believe, desire to begin a religious quest (GDC 56a)

The celebration of the Rite of Acceptance into the order of catechumens should be delayed until the candidates have had sufficient time to conceive an initial faith and to show the first signs of conversion. (RCIA 18.1)

In the guidelines to the Rites these signs for fostering and identifying this initial faith in the candidates are found (RCIA 37, 38, 42):

  • To feel called away from sin and drawn into the mystery of God’s love
  • The genuine will to follow Christ and seek Baptism begins to mature
  • With a purified and clearer intention participants may cooperate with God’s grace
  • The beginnings of the spiritual life
  • The fundamentals of Christian teaching have taken root
  • The first faith is conceived
  • Intention to change their lives become evident
  • Entrance into a relationship with Christ
  • The first stirrings of repentance
  • A start of the practice of calling upon God in prayer
  • A sense of the Church
  • Some experience of the company and spirit of Christians

The Period of the Catechumenate

Signs: Conversion, a firm option for faith, adherence to Christ and willingness to walk in his footsteps (GDC 56b)

Before the Rite of Election is celebrated the catechumens are expected to have undergone a conversion in mind and in action and to have developed sufficient acquaintance with Christian teaching as well as a spirit of faith and charity. With deliberate will and an enlightened faith they must have the intention to receive the sacraments of the Church, a resolve they will express publicly in the actual celebration of the Rite. (RCIA 120)

In the guidelines to the Rites, the following signs for fostering and identifying conversion are found (RCIA 47,

75.1, 75.2):

  • Eagerness to take part in celebrations of the Word, and to receive blessings
  • A profound sense of the mystery of salvation in which they desire to participate
  • Learning to turn more readily to God in prayer
  • A desire to bear witness to the faith
  • In all things to keep their hopes set on Christ
  • To follow supernatural inspiration in their deeds
  • To practice love of neighbor (at the cost of self-renunciation)
  • A progressive change of outlook and conduct, developing gradually
  • Awareness and experience of divisions and separations
  • Tasting the joy that God gives without measure

RITES OF ACCEPTANCE AND WELCOMING:

Reaching the point of initial conversion and wishing to become Christians,

they are accepted as catechumens by the Church. (RCIA 6.1)

RITES OF ELECTION AND CALL TO CONTINUING CONVERSION:

Having progressed in faith and nearly completed the catechumenate, they are

accepted into a more intense preparation for the sacraments of initiation. (RCIA 6.2)

The Period of Purification and Enlightenment

Signs: A progressive change in outlook and morals, and a profession of faith (GDC 56c)

The Church prepares the elect and candidates to receive the sacraments of initiation through various means; a Penitential Rite, Scrutinies, Presentations of the Creed and of the Lord’s Prayer, and the Preparation Rites of Holy Saturday (RCIA 139-140). Candidates should learn to deepen an inner adherence to the Church, where they will find the fullness of their Baptism. (RCIA 477)

In the guidelines to the Rites, the following signs for fostering and identifying the continuing purification and

enlightenment of the elect and candidates are found (RCIA 139):

  • More intense spiritual preparation
  • More interior reflection than catechetical instruction
  • To purify their minds and hearts as they search their consciences and do penance
  • To enlighten the minds and hearts of participants with a deeper knowledge of Christ
  • Celebration of certain Rites, Scrutinies and Presentations brings about this process and extends it over the course of the entire Lenten season

The Period of Mystagogy and Neophyte Year

Signs: Journeying towards perfection and seeking to realize the desire of Christ: “Be perfect as your Heavenly

Father is perfect.” (Matt 5:48) (see GDC 56d)

This [postbaptismal catechesis] is a time for the community and the neophytes together to grow in deepening their grasp of the Paschal mystery and in making it part of their lives through meditation on the Gospel, sharing in the Eucharist, and doing works of charity. (RCIA 244)

In the guidelines to the Rites, these are the signs for fostering and identifying this

journeying toward perfection of the neophytes which aids them in living the mature

Christian life (RCIA 245):

  • Introduced into a fuller and more effective understanding of mysteries through the Gospel message and sacraments
  • Renewal in mind to seek to think with the mind of Christ
  • Tasting more deeply the sweetness of God’s Word in study and prayer
  • Receiving the fellowship of the Holy Spirit through communion with believers
  • Growing to know the goodness of the Lord in seeing his faithful actions in daily life
  • New perception of faith, the Church, and the world
  • A full and joyful welcome into the community and with other faithful

CELEBRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS OF INITIATION:

Having completed their spiritual preparation, they receive the sacraments of initiation.

(RCIA 6.3)

The basic maturity which gives rise to the profession of faith is not

the final point in the process of continuing conversion. The profession

of baptismal faith is but the foundation of a spiritual building which

is destined to grow. (GDC 56D)