On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics, a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.
One of the reasons I left the Church was because it had a bunch of rules I found next to impossible to follow. Are you sure they want me back?
The short answer: Yes.
The longer answer, Yes, of course.
We are all human. We all fail to follow the teachings of the Church and the Bible from time
to time. But we get up, dust ourselves off, seek the forgiveness that is always available, and with the Lord’s grace, do a little better the next time. That’s the case whether the last time you were active in your faith was five minutes or five years or five decades ago.
Doubt it? Here’s what some leaders say:
Pope Francis: “Do not forget that God forgives all, and God forgives always.”
Cardinal Donald Wuerl of the Archdiocese of Washington: “… some members of our faith family have drifted away from our spiritual home believing the Church had nothing to offer, some are disillusioned or disaffected because of a bad experience … Whatever their motive for leaving, repenting of our own failings and having experienced God’s mercy ourselves, our task now is to invite our sisters and brothers back home.”
Father Geno Sylva, Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization: “So often, people are afraid to come back to church or to the Sacrament of Reconciliation for they feel that, since they have been gone for so logn, there is no way back. … It is never too late and there is always a way back.”
