Top 10 reasons to come back to the Catholic Church
by Lorene Hanley Duqin of Our Sunday
Visitor: https://www.osv.com
with small improvements/edits by Mike Humphrey
You Can't Go Home Again is the title of a once-famous novel by Thomas Wolfe. There is deep wistfulness in his novel. He believed that going home again is bound to be a great disappointment.
Not so with the Catholic Church. No matter how long you've been away, you can always come home. You can start coming to Mass. ** You can become a part of a parish community. You can enter into the faith far more deeply than when you left.
Chances are, you're already feeling a strange inner pull. No matter what anyone else tells you, the spiritual longing you feel is God trying to draw you back to himself. But God never forces. God only invites. Whether or not you return to the Catholic Church is a decision that only you can make.
There are as many reasons for coming
back to the Church as there are people who left. While
God is at the center each of person's decision to return,
the circumstances are varied. Here are ten reasons
that influenced the decision of other people to return
to the practice of the Catholic faith:
Number 10: Because
they want meaning in life.
In the hustle of today's busy lifestyles, lots
of people suddenly realize that their lives have
lost a sense of meaning or purpose. They begin
to ask themselves, "What is my life all about?" Why
do I do what I do?" There is widespread confusion
in our culture with regard to morality and truth.
The Catholic Church offers a beacon of light that
gives meaning to our existence and leads to eternal
life if we persevere.
Number 9: Because childhood
memories surface.
Some people say childhood memories of feeling connected
to God surface in later life. They begin to ask
themselves, "Is it possible to recapture that
simplicity of faith? Can I ever really believe
that God is watching our for me?" The secularization
of our society leads people away from the spiritual
side of themselves. The Catholic Church offers
BOTH religious and mystical experiences that feed
the heart, the mind the body and the soul AS WELL
AS an array of active lay ministries that interface
and interact with the secular world in order to
make it a holier world to live in.
Number 8: Because
they made mistakes.
Some people become burdened with the weight of
accumulated sin. They want to get rid of the guilt
of having hurt others. They begin to ask themselves, "Will
God ever forgive me? Is there any way I can start
over with a clean state?" You can always tell
God that you're sorry, but through the sacrament
of reconciliation you have a complete assurance
of God's forgiveness. In addition, you are reconciled
not only with God but with all the members in the
Church, the Body of Christ, (CCC
1440) and given the grace to start again with
that new slate. The favorite aspect I like about
this sacrament, is that for all sins I confess
to the Lord {the priest representing the Lord},
I am given extra graces not to commit those particular
sins I confess again. I still may struggle, but
Our Lord is there to continually assist me.
Number 7: Because
they need to forgive others.
Some times people hold on to anger and resentment
toward individuals who have hurt them deeply. Maybe
it was a family member or friend. Maybe it was
someone: a sister, priest or something, in the
Church.
"Will God ever forgive me?"
Our modern culture condones and encourages anger and revenge. But hatred and bitterness are spiritual cancers that eat at the heart of a person. The Catholic Church provides the opportunity to seek God's help in forgiving others, even when the other person does not ask for forgiveness or does not deserve it. The ability to forgive is a gift that opens a person's heart more fully to God's love and peace.
Number 6: Because
they want to be healed.
Some people carry deep spiritual wounds. They struggle
with anger at God over bad things that happen --
a terminal illness, a debilitating injury, a broken
relationship, mental or emotional problems, an
act of violence against an innocent person, an
unexplainable accident, some natural disaster,
the death of a loved one or some other deep disappointment.
The Catholic Church cannot change these situations
or explain why they happened. But there are people
in the Church who can assist in the process of
spiritual healing and help you get on with your
life.
Number 5: Because
the Catholic Church has the fullness of truth and
grace.
Many people who leave the Catholic Church are blessed
by the experience of worshiping for a while in
various Christian denominations. But some people
come back when they realize that Catholicism has
the fullness of truth and grace. The Catholic Church
was not founded by a single reformer or historical
movement. It is not fragmented by individual interpretations
of Scripture. There are thousands of Christian
denominations, but only one Catholic Church. This
Church has been guided by the Holy Spirit and protected
from teaching error on issues of faith and morals
from generation to generation for some two thousand
years. Our Lord Jesus promised: (foretold Isaiah
22:15-25) Matt 16:13-20; Matthew 18:15-18 (in
this verse the word is church, not community);
1 Tim 3:15
Number 4: Because
they want their children to have a faith foundation.
Some people return to the Catholic Church because
they recognize that raising children in a culture
that promotes "doing you own thing" can
lead to disaster. Children need to experience the
spiritual dimensions of life. They need a structured
system of belief and a firm moral foundation that
goes beyond human logic and reasoning. People return
because they want a solid foundation upon which
their children can build their lives.
Number 3: Because
they want to be part of a faith community.
Many people seek a sense of belonging. But community
is more than just friendly people, good sermons,
and interesting activities. A Catholic Christian
community is a group of people who gather around
the person of Jesus Christ to worship God and live
in the light of the Holy Spirit. Catholics come
together at Mass, in the Sacraments, and in parish
activities to pray, to celebrate joys,, to mourn
losses, to serve others, to provide support, and
to receive strength for daily life. A Catholic
parish offers all of this - and much more - to
people who recognize the importance of walking
with others toward union with God.
Number 2: Because
they want to help other people.
There are lots of opportunities within the secular
world to volunteer. What's missing is the spiritual
dimension that service within the Catholic Church
provides. It's more than just a "feel good" activity.
It's part of the "great commandment" (See
Mark 12:28ff) to love God and to love your neighbor
as yourself. In reaching out to others, Catholic
volunteers become instruments of God's love. The
Catholic Church offers opportunities to touch the
lives of people at home or around the world.
Number 1: Because
they hunger for the Eucharist.
[The Eucharist is the number 1 reason that people
come back to the Church.]
Many people come back to the Catholic Church because
they feel an intense longing for the Eucharist.
Sometimes it happens at a
wedding, a funeral, a
baptism, a First Communion, or a Confirmation.
Sometimes it happens when people are alone or
facing difficulties in life. They describe it
as a deep hunger for the spiritual nourishment
that comes when they receive the Body and Blood,
Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. This hunger
for the Eucharist triggers a recognition of the
presence of Christ in other Sacraments, which
draws them even more deeply into the practice
of their faith. It is, without exception, the
number 1 reason that people come back to the
Catholic Church.
Most people discover that coming back to the Church
is not an event as much as it is a process that involves
a little pain, a little laughter, some thinking,
some prayer, some discernment and a lot of letting
go. "My actual return to full participation
in a parish took about three years after I felt the
first longing," one person admitted.
And what do they get in return? The Catholic Church offers union with Jesus Christ:
It offers spiritual support in good times and bad. It offers divine wisdom which is thousands of years old from people just like YOU who lived in each and every century throughout Christian history: 33AD, 100AD, 800AD, 1000AD, 1300AD, 1964AD and 2005AD. It offers meaning and purpose in this life and the promise of eternal life with Him after death for those who persevere to the end.
You'll know you are home when you begin to feel a deep sense of peace.
My personal side note: For those {families, husbands, wives, etc.} who have left the Church OR non-Catholic Christians who have ruled out becoming a Catholic due to the recent problems in our Church, I want share the following.
We do have problems, but using the crisis in the Church as an excuse for not being a practicing Catholic or, for non-Catholic Christians, not becoming a Catholic, is no excuse. We are and will always be a Church of saints and sinners. Through the Eucharist, where we REALLY partake in Divine Nature, Our Lord molds us in maturity and, if needed, pulls the grudges we have been holding in our hearts for years from our soul. We have to work with him in prayer though, not run away.
Let's hope and pray that over the next few years the divinely appointed leaders of our Church will take a serious look [accompanied by serious actions] at the spiritual life and environment of Catholic seminaries in the United States, from assessing and evaluating rectors, seminary professors, vocational directors and sisters who are employed there.
Though the mass media tends to paint
the problems in our Church with a broad brush and never
in a positive light, remember, there
are many
holy priests who carry out their vocation in silence
and ARE truly holy witnesses of Jesus. (These are
the priests you'll NEVER see on the SIX P.M. evening
news.) Just as Jesus was rejected by the world,
so will the Church he founded and true followers
of that Church be rejected.
Within the past 7 years, a study on sexual abuse within
churches was done based on an incident/church population.
Guess which Church had the lowest incident of sexual abuse? You guessed it:
The Catholic Church.
Are you going to hear that from your local news media?