Conversion: A two-step preparation process

	Word to Life  Jean Denton

My 25-year-old friend Penny used to tell me about her weekend social "adventures" with her friend Sara. Sara was a bit of a "wild child," Penny explained.

The two had very different backgrounds. Sara came from a broken home with little discipline or parental attention during her adolescent years. Penny's family was close-knit and, while not overbearingly devout, Christian values were at its core. Penny herself had a strong sense of personal morality and self-confidence. It was obvious that Sara admired Penny and subtly tried to emulate her.

Sara began having relational problems with her boyfriend. She told Penny that he was controlling and didn't treat her with respect. She told him she'd started going to church and wanted him to go too. He didn't buy it. Still Sara continued the relationship with him - and quit going to church herself.

Second Sunday of Advent (Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007) Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalms 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17 Romans 15:4-9 Matthew 3:1-12

Penny didn't counsel Sara to go back to church. Instead, she suggested Sara not only end the bad relationship but start showing respect for herself by continuing her college education, slowing down her drinking, and giving up other negative behaviors that contributed to a poor self-image.

But Sara wasn't willing to change or sever the attachment to her boyfriend.

Penny, meanwhile, was on a forward track and quickly tired of the shallow party scene and moved on.

Months later Penny heard from her old friend. Sara had decided she wanted to be a teacher and had begun college classes toward that goal. She also broke up with the boyfriend, was working out regularly at the Y, and had met some new and interesting friends.

"She seems so much happier - it was like talking to a different person," Penny told me. "Now she's ready for God."

Sara's experience illustrates the need for a two-step conversion such as John the Baptist offers in this week's Gospel of Advent. The first step is repentance - turning away from one's sinfulness. Then will come the Holy Spirit bringing a life imbued with Jesus Christ.

	Reflection question • What are the sins or bad habits and attachments that currently crowd out Jesus from your life?

The way of Advent is preparation. First we cleanse ourselves of elements that keep God out of our lives. Once emptied, then we are available for the Lord to fill us with his Spirit.

This column is offered in cooperation with the North Texas Catholic of Fort Worth, Texas.