The Healing Journey

October 22, 2025

How often have you heard about “deathbed conversions”? A family member or friend who didn’t believe in God or who resented religion asked for forgiveness at the last moment … and was forgiven.

It happens. And usually when it does happen, it is the result of family members and friends praying for years that a person will change their life. Prayers for someone’s conversion are answered … but not necessarily in the way we wish that they were. Sometimes we never see the outcome of our prayers.

However, sometimes we are blessed to witness them, as in the case of St. Monica, who prayed 17 years for her son Augustine’s conversion. And when her prayers were answered, they were REALLY answered. He became a Catholic, he became a priest, he became a bishop and eventually was named one of the Doctors of the Church because of his extensive writings. And she was also canonized a saint. So never doubt the efficacy of your prayers for someone’s soul.

Prayer can call down the graces that are necessary for a person to change. Atheists become believers, lapsed Catholics return to the Church, people who never had faith find it and often become among those with the strongest faith.

And there’s that other category: Those, who as a result of our prayers, find God at the moment of their death, even without proclaiming it. They receive the Sacrament of the Sick and are absolved of their sins.

Never forget that all things are possible with God. And his goal is to get everyone to Heaven … not to keep us out.
© J Pisani

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