
Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=671374">Gerd Altmann</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=671374">Pixabay</a>
Given at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, University City, Missouri. Readings for Today. Listen to our other homilies.

Internal Conversion
Jesus is always trying to encourage people to see that holiness is about moving to internal conversion of the heart. Sometimes in life we can find ourselves focused too much on the external. I may go to Mass, but I may not really find myself allowing Jesus to change my heart.
My faith can sometimes be one where I simply try to check off a list, rather than to change the way I live. But in today’s gospel Jesus invites us to go deeper. And on the Sunday before the start of Lent, it is the perfect time for this invitation. So seek to find ways to allow Jesus to deepen your relationship with Him.
And since Lent is so close, think about how it is that you can find yourself seeking to grow closer to Jesus through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Lent is about loving God and neighbor more. So, let’s all get started.