We are in the season of Advent — Advent means “arrival.” During Advent we prepare for the arrival of the King: the King who has arrived, arrives, and will arrive.

Jesus arrived, born of the Virgin Mary about 2,025 years ago. He will arrive at the end of time in glory and majesty. And He arrives in our lives each moment.

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Conversion in the Season of Waiting

Over the next three Sundays we are going to examine how we are waiting for the arrival of the King. Our disposition in this waiting makes a big difference.

The world tempts us to complacency, a cheap and vague optimism, and a frantic hurry. The Lord, through these days, invites us instead to conversion, joy, and haste.

Today we focus on conversion.

John the Baptist came preaching — what was his purpose? We often translate it as “repent,” but perhaps it’s better to say “be converted.” The Greek word is metanoeite.

Meta means “beyond” or “higher.” Nous means “mind.” To “go beyond the mind one has” — that’s the literal meaning. Conversion means to see differently and from a higher perspective, and to allow that higher way of seeing to shape the way we live in this time of waiting.

What Causes Conversion?

What causes this conversion of life? What causes repentance, what allows for metanoia — for us to see differently?

If we were to pick just one cause it would certainly be the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is the principal actor in this process of conversion. Another way to say this: grace, the unmerited favor of God, is necessary for conversion.

As Jesus says, “No one can know the Father unless the Son reveals Him.” Yet in His providence God permits and even desires that we cooperate in the action of grace.

While remaining totally free, God nevertheless uses instruments — other human persons — as true causes of conversion. If you know Jesus today, it is because someone told you about Him. If you follow Him, you probably do so because you have seen an authentic witness of His charity toward you. John the Baptist is one of those instruments; he preaches and becomes a living channel of grace.

Our Cooperation with Grace

God goes even further in His providence. Mysteriously, but beautifully, He allows us — and in a sense requires us — to cooperate freely with grace in conversion.

St. Augustine once wrote:

God who created you without you, will not redeem you without your cooperation.

We are therefore agents — secondarily, but truly — in our own conversion, in the process of metanoia. We have to be willing.

This is why we speak of a process of conversion. It is usually a daily process of repentance. We may come to know Jesus in different ways:

• Some of us cannot remember a time when we did not follow Jesus.
• Others encounter Him in a dramatic, “St. Paul–style” moment of awakening.

Both are genuine beginnings. Sacramentally, they are sealed in Baptism, where we renounce sin and profess the faith. If we were baptized as children, the objective gift of grace is given in that moment; yet we must still appropriate it subjectively. That means making the Church’s “we believe” into our personal “I believe.”

The Ongoing Call Away from Complacency

Whatever our beginning, the process of conversion is ongoing. It requires a daily choice to follow Jesus. The temptation is to fall into complacency — to be self-satisfied and to stop letting grace change us.

We see this in the Pharisees and Sadducees, to whom John the Baptist speaks so sharply. John is trying to shake them from complacency and make them face the sad reality that they have squandered the gifts given to them. If they were living as true sons of Abraham, they would be producing good fruit. God, John insists, will hold them accountable for that fruit.

St. Paul also calls the Christians in Rome to ongoing conversion. Jewish and Gentile Christians were tempted to pride and privilege: who really “belongs,” who really has the upper hand? Paul reminds them that a shared baptism leaves no room for superiority. They must not cling to status; they must open their hearts to deeper conversion and reconciliation with one another.

The Fruit of True Repentance

True repentance bears fruit. St. John the Baptist calls the Pharisees to a conversion that is visible, concrete, and fruitful.

What does that fruit look like?

• It looks like the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity.
• It looks like the corporal and spiritual works of mercy lived out in daily life.
• It means our calendars and our bank statements change.
• It means we actively seek ways to grow more like Christ each day.

Conversion in Practice: Confession & Daily Reflection

One of the most concrete and grace-filled ways to foster ongoing conversion is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Regular confession awakens the heart, breaks patterns of sin, and opens us to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

If it has been a while since your last confession, Advent is the perfect time to return. You can find our confession schedule here: stmarytempletx.org/confession.

Another powerful tool is the simple practice of making an examination of conscience. Taking time each evening to review the day with honesty and humility allows us to see where God was inviting us to conversion — and where we resisted Him. This daily practice helps us, little by little, to “go beyond the mind we have” and to grow in freedom and holiness.

To live this way is to refuse complacency. We do not rest on our bona fides or our past experiences. Instead, we daily prepare to welcome Jesus when He comes — at the end of time, at the end of our lives, and in the quiet moments of grace today.

This Advent, ask: How can I make more space for Jesus as He arrives and meets me each day?