Dr. Newman’s Guide to Being a Good Convert

Some converts, of course, are less prone to err on the side of overweening pride and more likely to be overwhelmed by the magnificent but frightening call to holiness. They feel failures when their new Catholic self is not instantly transformed. Newman consoled a convert friend worried he was not producing enough spiritual fruit by observing that “every serious mind feels in its own case just what you say about yourself.” It’s a good sign if a convert is not cocky. Besides, Newman wrote, “works are a matter of degree: recollect, a cup of cold water has its reward. On the other hand, had we the merit of St. Peter or St. Paul, we must after all, each of us throw ourselves on the mercy and merits of our Lord.”