Conversion: awakening to God, awakening to love

by Fr Ian 

This is the first of four articles on the three main stages of Christian spiritual life, as understood in the tradition of Catholic spiritual theology   

 

Preaching of St John the Baptist by Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494)

Metanoia, repentance, conversion

Christian spiritual life begins with what Jesus and the gospel writers called metanoia, a Greek noun usually translated into English as repentance or conversion. They also frequently used the verb metanoein, ‘to repent’.