Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan in his, The Road of Hope: A Gospel from Prison, said: “How long must we be engaged in renewal? Constantly! We are always in need of beginning again. We always have to be aiming at our conversion. Do not be content if today you have not advanced one more step than yesterday in your union with God. You can be quite certain that the moment you stand still, you are beginning to slide back down the slope into your old habits.”

Conversion and renewal are constant in the process of holiness. When we fall short through sin, we need to return to the Lord repentant and recommitted to him as the Lord of our lives. This is conversion. We are called by God to be holy as he is. How? Through growing in deeper love with the Beloved. This is renewal. We are renewing our yes to the Lord whose yes has saved us and shared his divine life with us. Both conversion and renewal are the acts of the Holy Spirit, who is the sign of God's love for us. Both conversion and renewal happen by God's grace and our response. Just as we need to eat each day to be healthy, so we need to be converted and renewed each day to stay spiritually healthy. We are on a journey to the Lord, step by step. Don't give up. Don't get distracted. Don't take our eyes off the prize, Jesus.