Cardinal Tobin: The call to conversion
Do not be content with what you are, if you want to become what you are not yet (Saint Augustine, Disc. 169, 15, 18).
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
During his historic pilgrimage to Lourdes, France, last month, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the importance of conversion as a necessary element in Christian discipleship. In his homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, given at the Prairie of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, on September 27, 2026 (see selection below), the Holy Father said:
God wants us to live, to open our eyes and return to him. To repent is to leave the paths on which we lost our way and to follow the way of life, opening our hearts to the sole joy that never passes away.
Christ is the only joy “that never passes away.” He remains with us always, despite our unworthiness and our sinful turning away from His love. Christ remains faithful. His mercy is everlasting. All the Lord expects from us is that we turn to him (conversion), ask for forgiveness and do penance — resolving with a firm purpose of amendment to sin no more and to allow God’s grace to make things right.
Every one of us needs healing and reconciliation because sin separates us from God and damages our capacity to love. Conversion is therefore a change of direction — away from self-centeredness, disordered desires, and sin — toward God’s truth and love.
The Church describes this transformation as moving from the “old self” to the “new self” through faith in Christ. This movement is necessary not only to enter eternal life but also to become like Christ in the present life.
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