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Transcript

9/17/26 The Turning · Omnia Christus

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think about conversion a lot and this gospel makes me think of conversion.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: What does conversion mean?
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: This woman had this experience of being forgiven by Jesus and she has this immense love.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: She's filled with joy and gratitude.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Our life is completely different.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's a total before and after.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Of course,
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: historically,
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: there was lots of identification between,
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: you know, this woman and Mary Magdalene, and that's probably not the case.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: Those are things which we don't know.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: But the bottom line is,
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: is that this experience is similar to what it seems like would have been
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: the experience of Mary Magdalene,
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: or even the experience of many people in the Gospel who encounter Jesus.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: There's this before and after, this total transformation.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Their life has changed.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that's not magic.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's not definitive.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like Judas probably had that and then,
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: you know, finally, ultimately went on to choose something else.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: I've known people who have had before and after experiences in their life and
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: that have fallen back.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we're always free.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: We can always choose to walk in accordance with the gift we've been given
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: or we can choose to squander it.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: But I think for many people I know, they just don't have that.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: They haven't had that before and after experience.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: They haven't had that real, true conversion experience.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's a gift from God, obviously.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's not something we can produce within us.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: But at the same time,
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's things that we can do to find that gift if we really want to.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we hear about this, and if we look for it, We will find it.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: What does Christ say in the Gospel?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: He says, you know, ask and you will receive.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Seek and you will find.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Knock and the door will be opened unto you.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: I do not doubt that if we persevere in asking,
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: in seeking, in looking, that we will find the Lord whom we seek.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because the problem's not Jesus.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is us.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: The problem is me.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: I stand in God's way.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And if I can truly reach out and ask for that, I will receive that.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the question is helping people to get to that place of truly reaching out,
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: of being open, of not being afraid, of not closing themselves off.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because that is a real fear that we have, that if we let God in, we're going to lose something.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just one fear.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean,
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: we can have all kinds of fears and hang-ups or We're just addictions and bad habits,
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: things that block the presence of God in our lives.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And God wants to break through that.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: But I think we have to be open to that breaking through.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: It often happens, I think, through other people.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: I like to do retreats.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: I like to invite people to go on pilgrimages,
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: doing things that take us out of our ordinary everyday life.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Doing things that can be intense,
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: you know, an intense experience of God's love, intense prayer, intense sacrifice.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Those are things that can really jumpstart that, right?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: They can create space within us for this encounter to happen.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And we need that.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: We need to create that space.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're not going to produce that encounter, but God's there.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: He wants to do it.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: We sometimes,
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: by making that opportunity,
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: we create that space within us for that encounter to happen.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I think those are things to think about in our own lives,
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: the lives of people who we know and care about.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: How can we have that encounter with God?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: How can we open ourselves up to Him?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: How can we experience,
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: or this woman experienced,
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: experience God's forgiveness,
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: His closeness,
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: His love,
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: and respond as she responded with that overwhelming love and thanksgiving for
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: that incredible gift.