On Friday evening our Jewish neighbors begin their High Holy Day, Yom Kippur.

My rabbi friends tell me it is the Day of Atonement, an opportunity to acknowledge their sins and seek mercy through prayer, fasting and renewal.

What a good example they set for us!

May I suggest that not only our Jewish neighbors, but… all of us need such a conversion?

The world certainly does; America needs it; you do; and I certainly do.

Having been a priest for almost 49 years, it bothers me that we Catholics have lost some enthusiasm for this Bible-based tradition of admitting our sins and asking for God’s forgiveness.

We used to abstain from meat every Friday and fast during Lent.

We often approached the Sacrament of Penance for inner cleansing.

These commendable practices have unfortunately been cast aside. It all seems so nostalgic.

This sense that we needed to repent and reform was not limited to any particular religion: we Americans of all faiths, or no faith, as a nation always proclaimed days of conversion, especially in times of trauma.

During the celebration of Yom Kippur, our Jewish brothers and sisters remind us of the high obligation to admit: “I am a sinner.”

They remember how the prophet Nathan confronted even the great King David, after his heinous sin against the brave, loyal and noble Uriah, with a story of injustice to a poor man.

When David expressed his anger at the perpetrator in the prophet’s allegory and asked who the louse was, Nathan thundered, “That man is you!”

Before we acknowledge sin in another, or in our nation, or in the world, or in “unjust systems,” we must admit, “I am that man – I am that woman – I am a sinner.”

It’s a piece of cake to point out the sin in someone else, or in ‘the system’ – global warming, arms sales, the global wealth imbalance, war, poverty, FOX, CNN, racism.

The guilt, the responsibility to reform, is a way out therein a system – not inside me.

But to look inward and admit, “I have a lot of guilt” is heroic.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was asked on December 31 to identify what she hoped could change for the better in the new year. “Myself!” she replied.

Let me recommend a valuable practice known as the ‘examination of conscience’ – another ritual, I fear, has fallen out of favour.

It was once a regular part of Catholic routine, but it can and probably should be a daily habit for everyone.

Before you go to sleep at night, take a moment to review your day.

Ask yourself some tough questions:

How did I do today?

Were there ways in which I was falling short in living the kind of life I should be living?

Did I work a full day or surf the Internet instead?

Have I gossiped about others?

Was I honest and truthful with the people I met?

Did I take something that wasn’t mine?

Did I treat others with respect and dignity, or judge and condemn those who think, look, or act differently than I do?

You get the idea.

How powerful it would be to even hear An of our political leaders admit he or she made a mistake.

I remember our colorful Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia once answering a critic of a decision he had made, “You know, if I make a mistake, that’s wonderful!”

If there is one thing we can be sure of, it is that Jews and Christians hold fast to a God who dearly loves change – from darkness to light; chaos in order; evil into good; hatred into love; dead alive.

He will certainly change us. . . when we admit we need it.

Bring on Yom Kippur!

Timothy Cardinal Dolan is the Archbishop of New York.