On this feast day of St. Peter and St. Paul I look back upon the journey the Lord has led me on and where He has me going. It seems like my life has been filled with conversions; some conversions very much so interior (and only noticeable to myself) and some major exterior conversions visible to all.
In the Gospel reading for today Simon Peter proclaims the true identity of Christ, demonstrating his proclamation of faith in all that the Lord has revealed. With this profession of faith, Jesus gives Simon Peter the new title of “Peter”. What is the significance of this name change? We see this happen many times throughout scripture. We can look at the patterns (Old Testament and New Testament) and we can see that something very big happens with a name change: a call to conversion through a change in the God given mission bestowed upon the person. Peter became the root that our Apostolic Faith was set upon, growing in strength of faith as “the rock” upon which our faith is established in Christ. Paul became a warrior for the Kingdom, converting from his days of persecuting Christians and growing a heart with so much love for Christ that it could not be contained.
Whatever your vocation to love may be, wherever God has you right now, you are called to conversion. He may have you on the road accepting small conversions (letting someone go ahead of you in traffic, holding the door for others, taking more time to read scripture daily, connecting with family, etc.) in order to lead up to the great and beautiful conversion that will be an integral part of your life’s story, your love story with our Savior.
I recall when my mission changed on the night of Easter Vigil 2015, when I was given the name Peter after St. Peter the Apostle (my confirmation saint). While going through the RCIA process that prior year, and by studying the Church years before that point, I could always identify with Peter in how he denied Christ three times. I myself denied the call to become Catholic three times before finally giving my fiat to the conversion He was drawing my heart to. I will experience another name change in October of this year by becoming Mrs. Shultz, with my conversion involving making a gift of myself to my soon-to-be husband and the domestic church we will establish together with God as our center.
When I think about my vocational conversion, my conversion to the Catholic faith, and all the little conversions leading up to where I am now I am reminded of how beautiful it is that God wants to take us exactly the way we are and call us to greatness. He does not call those who already have everything they need to complete a mission, but rather He calls those that have open hearts to receive all the graces needed to be able to live out the mission they have been given for the Kingdom.
Be encouraged by the examples of St. Peter, a fisherman that ended up being the rock the Church is built upon, and St. Paul, a past persecutor of the faith that ended up being a devoted servant of our Lord and Savior that shared the Gospel with the world. God took these two men, who started out not equipped to fulfill the missions before them, and gave them all the graces they needed to live their lives for Him. If you give God open arms and an open heart, accepting life’s little conversions along the way, God will equip you for greatness in the mission He has placed you on in this life. When we lovingly accept this mission with faith and trust that is when our journey towards sainthood surges to new heights, for we are all called to join our hearts to Heaven and answering these calls make this joining of heart and Heaven a reality. St. Peter and St. Paul, pray for us!
“On the day of my conversion Charity entered into my heart and with it a yearning to forget self always; thenceforward I was happy.”
St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Nathalie Hanson is a special education teacher and a joyful convert to the Catholic faith with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). She loves to share her passion for Catholicism with others, including her conversion story and how God continues to work miracles in her life through her OCD. Nathalie is engaged to her best friend, Diocesan’s Tommy Shultz, and she is beyond excited to become Mrs. Shultz this October. Her favorite saints include St. Peter the Apostle, St. Teresa of Calcutta, and St. John Paul II. If you have any questions for Nathalie, or just want her to pray for you, you can email her at rodzinkaministry@gmail.com.
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