This is the stunning, stupendous, defining, unrepeatable moment we celebrate in the Great Jubilee of the year 2000. The apostle is speaking of the love that inspired the Son to become man and to dwell among us. Through Jesus Christ, we know how much the Father loves us. In Jesus Christ, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, each one of us can share in the love that is the life of the Blessed Trinity. And for this reason, dear friends, we cherish and value every human life, every human person.
Conversion also requires conversion of heart.
Jonah knew that he ought to obey the divine command to preach conversion to the people of Nineveh. But until his heart was moved, his mind would not obey. Christian conversion of the heart calls us, like Jonah, constantly to prayer and fasting and other acts of penance. Through them, our hearts become evermore open to new initiatives of the Holy Spirit in history's drama and in our own lives. We might wonder whether our prayers and penance have effect beyond ourselves.