Improving our own formation

You will see how your behaviour will draw them to the faith, a faith which they never had before or which they had lost, often without much fault on their part. When this happens, you should redouble your affection, continuing to accompany them on life’s journey. You should talk together as sincere friends and foresee the possible difficulties they may face, in order to confirm them still more on the right path, while carefully strengthening your own faith through study, because it is sterile and counterproductive to try to talk about these issues without sound doctrine and the gift of tongues.

Talking with converts

This is another reason why you should feel the urgent need for solid, continuous, deep formation, well founded on sure principles. With that degree of preparation you should not fear contact with people who are in error. I have sometimes been saddened to hear people refer to someone who embraces the faith after years or maybe an entire life without seeing the light, by saying: “Be careful, he’s a convert!”

We have to take care to love them even more, unreservedly, joyfully, because there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:7). But we should also be careful not to betray their desires to follow Christ, and not to offer them something as good when in fact it is not. We want to avoid that, due to their uncertainty (they are like children new-born in the faith) or their enthusiastic impulsiveness, they go astray from the good path they have begun to travel.