Creed Night - November 13, 2008
"Do you REALLY know Christ?"

- The Beatitudes (Gospel of Matthew)
- "Called to Conversion" video featuring Marcus Grodi
- When you convert it is not about changing churches, but about moving deeper into your relationship with God
- We are all converts, even if you were baptized Catholic as a baby. Conversion is a day-by-day process of returning to Jesus.
- "He who does not progress loses ground"
- How to continually work toward conversion: Jesus' sermon on the mountain about the Beatitudes. There are nine stages we go through on our way to conversion, and each one builds upon the previous stages.

1. Poor of Spirit: we recognize that all we have is from God, and that it is received through thanksgiving and praise to God "Alleluia"
     - achieved by detachment from the world
2. Mourn (for our failures and sinfulness)
     - achieved by detachment from sin
3. Meek: be humble and like Jesus
     - achieved from detachment from self
4. Hunger and thirst for righteousness
     - achieved from responding to the call to live God and neighbor
5. Merciful
     -achieved by living out the love for one's neighbor
6. Pure of heart
     - achieved through having a pure love of God
7. Peacemakers: we are called to "Be Christ in the world"
     - achieved by living out the love of God
8. Persecuted for righteousness sake: Offer it up to God! It says in the Bible about those who are persecuted that "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"
9. Persecuted for Jesus' sake: the reward is heaven

* These steps can/should be a daily process
* Just because you reach the next step does not mean that the previous steps do not matter anymore.
* To achieve these steps does not necessarily mean isolation from the world. Some people choose this rout, but most of us do not. It would be much easier to achieve it if we were isolated from everyone else!

Three ways to use these steps in your life:
1. These steps lead to each other through grace and prayer. They can be looked at as three steps down, three steps back up to the starting point, and then the last three steps lead to God in heaven.

2. The nine steps can be used to heal a broken relationship with another person.
     1. Recognize that the person is a gift from God
     2. Recognize your own fault
     3. Recognize that your pride makes the problem worse
     4. Do what is right
     5. Desire to turn the other cheek, be merciful
     6. Desire a purity of soul
     7. Take a step of action to restore the peace (imitate Jesus)
     8. Accept any rejection that you experience
     9. Be like God

3. These nine steps are helpful in preparing yourself for mass. The first three show you how to ask for recollection and forgiveness from God. The next three are setting your heart to be lead in God's direction and changed by his will. The final three is when you ask God to help you go out into the world and be like Him.