Papal preacher says even committed believers struggle to follow Jesus

Published: 2006-04-07

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Even the most active, committed Christians must struggle each day to convert and to follow Jesus more closely, said the preacher of the papal household. Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, offering a Lenten meditation to Pope Benedict XVI and top Vatican officials April 7, said that while conversion from nonbelief to belief is primary conversion is an ongoing process. With nonbelievers, he said, "Christ is outside and knocks on the doors of the heart in order to enter. But when it comes to successive conversions -- from one state of grace to a higher state, from tepidness to fervor -- the opposite happens: Christ is inside and knocks on the doors of the heart in order to get out." The "heart of stone" that the Bible condemns can describe not only those who refuse to believe in God and in the immensity of God's love demonstrated in the death and resurrection of his Son, Father Cantalamessa said.

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