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Come Home for Christmas An opportunity to reach out to lapsed Catholics
By Clare Ward
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Research has found that people lapse for many reasons. Some, although they are baptised, never really get started, others fall away in their teenage years because they find Mass boring or irrelevant. Sometimes it can be marriage breakdown or disagreements with Church teaching or a feeling of rejection that causes people to simply stop going to Mass. Stopping going to church, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that people have stopped believing in God, but it can be difficult for them to start again once they have got out of the habit, particularly if they feel guilty about not having been for a long time. This is why it is important to pray for them and actively seek such people out - they could be among your own friends and family - and invite them to church with you, perhaps for a special event, and to organise parish events that have an evangelistic dimension. Research shows that if one person invited seven people to an event, it is probable, that at least one will respond. So why not try and see who comes home for Christmas this year! They also run a special spiritual seekers site and are involved in tailor-made events at seeker centres. See their web site www.life4seekers.co.uk You can also contact them for any other queries, training needs or resources at CASE, 114 West Heath Road, London NW3 7TX Tel 020 8458 3316
Twenty six year old Dave from Yorkshire shares his story and how he lapsed from his faith as a teenager but how one day he suddenly found himself with an overwhelming desire to go to Mass again. I’m originally from Yorkshire and am the youngest of three brothers. My dad was brought up Catholic and my mum was baptised when I was eleven. All through my childhood, going to church was the norm and it was a big part of our lives. However, after I made my confirmation, I decided to stop attending because I just didn’t get much from it. I was a normal adolescent and I stopped serving on the altar and began drifting away from the practice of my faith. I didn’t go to church for about 10 years, although I never stopped believing in God, nor in the teachings of the Church. I felt that I didn’t need to go to church to believe in God and could practice on my own. Sometimes my parents challenged me about this, but I wasn’t interested. Prayer was still part of my life, especially when I was in trouble. Enjoying everything the world has to offer Before I knew it, I was enjoying everything that the world has to offer. I went from relationship to relationship and was very “girl dependent”. If I got hurt then I’d go out and hurt someone else. I was looking for happiness in all the wrong places. I experimented with drugs. A big night out would leave me feeling really low and as soon as the effects of alcohol wore off, I quickly filled it with another vice and wasn’t comfortable in my own company. During this time, however, I still prayed to Mary, especially when I was in need; if a girlfriend missed a period for example. My parents told me that they were praying for me which was nice to hear but didn’t mean a great deal until one Sunday I felt an overwhelming desire to go to Mass. It happened when I was going through a down time and was anxious. I thought going might make me happy, but put off doing anything about it for weeks and weeks. Five Sundays passed and the desire became more and more overwhelming, so I went to the church down the road and sat there in silence for two hours. I prayed and emptied my thoughts and felt at peace. I picked up a bulletin and thought, “See you next week.” It was just after my 25th birthday that I started attending church again. Sometimes I had to drag myself there and I didn’t want to go to confession. I used to go when I was younger, but this time around, I took it much more seriously and felt I needed to test the water to see if my church attendance would last. Reading about Catholicism was a great help at this time as well. Gradually I built up the courage to go and it was a release. Struggled to change lifestyle even after faith re-ignited Even though my faith had been re-ignited, I struggled to change my lifestyle and can remember having three girlfriends on the go at one time. I knew I had to change and that what I was doing was wrong, so I decided to go on pilgrimage to a shrine in the former Yugoslavia (Medjugorje) which was an amazing experience. When I returned to England, I came back and slipped into some of my old ways. A turning point came when I went to a Youth 2000 Evangelisation and Prayer Festival in Norfolk. It was wonderful to meet young people who were trying to explore the same things I was. Since then I’ve not looked back. The prayer groups on offer and the friends I’ve made have finally helped me to choose and embrace my faith. For me, I suppose I just got absorbed with things in
my life – stress at work, friends and living in a hurt world. My
faith has helped me to see that all these things are temporary and that
I need to look at the bigger scheme of things because life is so fragile.
At some point we all ask ourselves, “is there more to life than
this?” My Catholic Faith has helped me to answer this question:
it has given me perspective and my behaviour an ethical and moral framework.
The Church has so much to offer. It’s great, but also challenging.
Recently my friends have seen a change in me and I’ve felt a change
too, deep within me. It’s very rewarding and I wouldn’t knock
it.
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CASE,
the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation, is using Mission Sunday
this month, (16th September) to launch an exciting new initiative, to
encourage parishes to use Christmas as an opportunity to reach out to
lapsed Catholics. To help them do this they are sending resource packs
to every parish and religious house in the country. For those who are
interested, there are also more resources available on the CASE website