WHY OUR LADY
CONVERSION
At Akita, Japan, in December, 1975, the Guardian Angel of Sister Agnes Sasagawa said referring to the statue of Mary: “Do not be surprised to see the Blessed Virgin weeping. She weeps because she wishes the conversion of the greatest number. She desires that souls be consecrated to Jesus.”
At Medjugorje, Herzecovina, Our Lady made reference to our conversion in over 100 of her messages. Here are three that she gave to the children in the early years of her apparitions at Medjugorje:
January 1, 1983 – “…Punishment will come about, if the world is not converted. Call all mankind to conversion. Everything depends upon your conversion.”
Spring 1983 – “Hasten your conversion. Do not await the sign, which has been announced, for those who do not believe. It will be too late. You who believe, be converted and deepen your faith.”
October 8, 1984 – “Dear children, Let all the prayers you say in your homes in the evening be for the conversion of sinners because the world is in great sin. Every evening pray the Rosary.”
At San Nicolas, Argentina, in 1983, Our Lady made several references to conversion. Here are some of those:
“Yesterday in Lourdes, today here. The Mother is always looking out for her children. Prayer, fasting, penance, and above all conversion she expects from them. The souls will be saved if they get close to the Lord. Peace is lacking in many souls. Look for the peace and you will find God.”
“Say the Rosary and may the Lord see that with it goes your conversion.”
”I want the conversion of the whole world.”
“All must know my urgent call to conversion, my request of Consecration to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.”
Although the term conversion is common in theological and religious discussion today, it was a relatively rare term in the Bible. In fact, even the concept of conversion is very rare in the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament the passage that comes closest to meaning convert is “Let the impious one abandon his way, and let him return to the Lord, and he will take pity on him, and to our God, for he is great in forgiveness. (Isaiah 55:7)
In the New Testament, conversion seems to summarize the call of the church in response to Jesus’ commission to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins to all the nations (Luke 24:43:47). In sum, conversion is a turning to embrace God.
On a few key occasions the concepts of repentance and turning appear together in Acts (3:19; 20:26).
For Christians today, the term conversion essentially refers to the religious change of a non-Christian person to a Christian person emphasizing the radical change that has come about by the association with the death and resurrection of Jesus in baptism. St. Paul stresses the importance of this point in the instructional section of his Letter to the Romans in Chapter 12, even though the term “conversion” was not explicitly mentioned: “And so, I beg you, brothers, by the mercy of God, that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, with the subservience of your mind. And do not choose to be conformed to this age, but instead choose to be reformed in the newness of your mind, so that you may demonstrate what is the will of God, what is good, and what is well-pleasing, and what is perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)
To be transformed requires an ongoing effort on our part, being the outward expression of what springs from within. Paul advises for us to be transformed by the renewal of our mind to the Resurrection life of Christ, through the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-7).
In Second Corinthians Paul uses the word “transfigured”: “Yet truly, all of us, as we gaze upon the unveiled glory of the face of the Lord, are transfigured into the same image, from one glory to another. And this is done by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Further on in 2 Corinthians, he again emphasizes this renewal of mind, to make “every leading intellect into the captivity of obedience to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Our Lady made reference to the need for conversion at 10 of the 30 apparitions included in this website. But in none did she seem to emphasize it as she did and is at Medjugorje. And the following are a few of the messages in which Our Lady seemed to help us understand at Medjugorje what she means by conversion.
February 25, 1987 – “Dear children, Today I want to wrap you all in my mantle and lead you all along the way of conversion. Dear children, I beseech you, surrender to the Lord your entire past, all the evil that has accumulated in your hearts. I want each of you to be happy, but in sin nobody can be happy. Therefore, dear children, pray, and in prayer you shall realize a new way of joy. Joy will manifest in your hearts and thus you shall be joyful witnesses of that which I and My Son want from each of you. I am blessing you. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
June 24, 1987 - ” …Dear children, I want to lead you on the road to conversion. I desire that you convert the world and that your life be a conversion for others. Do not fall into infidelity. Let each one of you be completely submitted to my will and to the will of God…”
June 25, 1992 – “…This is why I call you to conversion. But if you do not pray, you cannot say that you are on the way to being converted. I pray for you and I intercede to God for peace; first peace in your hearts and also peace around you, so that God may be your peace…”
February 25, 1993 – “Dear Children, today I bless you with my motherly blessing and I invite you all to conversion. I wish that each of you decide for a change of life and that each of you works more in the Church not through words and thoughts but through example, so that your life may be a joyful
testimony for Jesus. You cannot say that you are converted, because your life must become a daily conversion. In order to understand what you have to do, little children, pray and God will give you what you completely have to do, and where you have to change. I am with you and place you all under my mantle. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
It seems that the hard part about conversion is knowing exactly what is expected of each of us individually in our conversion. A good starting point is in Our Lady’s messages to us from her apparitions. Then, every day, each of us needs to look in our own hearts, pray, and ask Our Lady and Our Lord to help us understand what exactly conversion means for each of us individually.
Some more thoughts on conversion:
1. Honor God's Ten Commandments. Violating any of these is a mortal sin.
2. Honor Jesus's Commandments. "Love the Lord your God from all your heart, and will all your soul and with all your mind". "Love your neighbor as yourself."
3. Honor the Church's Commandments.
4, Use Our Lady's "five stones". Fast every Wednesday and Friday/Fast on bread and water; Pray more/pray three hours/day; Attend Mass more/Attend Mass daily; Read the Bible/Read the Bible for at least 15 minutes/day; Go to Confession more/Go to confession once a month.
Final thoughts on the importance of our conversion:
During an interview, Mirjana was asked: “Many people ask whether the Blessed Mother’s appearances here at Medugorje mean that we have entered the end times? Has the Blessed Mother said anything about the apocalypse or the secone coming of Christ?” Mirjana responded: “That is part of the secrets. I would not like to talk about it.” The interviewer then said: “Should we be frightened”, and Mirjana responded: “No, not at all. I’ve seen heaven. Nothing of the earth is worth one moment of worry. We are God’s children! If people only realized how much He loves us, and what He has prepared for us, they would be filled with such peace!” Next, the interviewer asked: “Mirjana, you are often quoted as saying that people who do not convert will have terrible suffering--is that true”, and Mirjana then responded: “Yes, that is nothing new for Christians. God created us for Himself, but He gave us free will. Those who use their freedom to choose things that are not of God will suffer the tortures of children of Satan. God gives His children heaven, but Satan enslaves his children in hell.”
Mirjana has also said the following about the need for conversion: “I cannot divulge much more about the secrets, but I can say this -- Our Lady is planning to change the world. She did not come to announce our destruction; she came to save us, and with her Son, she will triumph over evil. If our Mother has promised to defeat evil, then what have we to fear?” Mirjana also stated that the events predicted by the Virgin Mary are near and she proclaims to the world: "Convert as quickly as possible. Open your hearts to God.”