As a kid, it always bugged me when someone was a little too sure about the state of their eternal salvation – and mine. I heard things like, “You haven’t prayed in tongues yet? Be careful when you cross the street…” or “All you need to do is say a little prayer in your heart, and you’re saved!” One way was too hard, another too easy – and there were countless iterations in between. It didn’t make sense.

I was a pastor for 15 years and in church related ministry for 8 years prior. There were good times and bad....Things were deteriorating financially. I resigned my ordination just a few days after my fifteenth anniversary. Ordained ministry was off the table. What now?

by Marcus Grodi. After 40 years of ministry, half as a Protestant and half as a Catholic, I’ve come to the deep conviction that every single person needs continual conversion, especially when it comes to me. I’m constantly being startled by new aspects of this wonderful Catholic faith, which I thought I had come to understand, but which in reality I understand only as “in a mirror dimly.” And I believe the cause behind most of the conflicts that divide Christians stems from this need for continual conversion, from the top down.