The Journey
You are most welcome to share on this website the story of your journey home to Jesus. Just as God creates us as uniquely as our fingerprints, so too are our stories of how we left the sacraments and, more importantly, why we came home. Sharing your joy is a great way to thank Jesus for this sacred gift that is our Catholic faith and to inspire others to return. To get started ...
Email us at: welcomehomecatholics@yahoo.com
Like a lot of people, I quit going to church when I started college. Unlike many, I didn’t go back to Mass afterward. It was about 15 years later that I accepted the fact that it’s not enough to just believe, I needed God’s Church back in my life. I started going back to Mass, but the truth is, I had developed some bad habits over those 15 years, and they didn’t go away just because I wished they would. I would go to Mass one week, then miss 2, or go three weeks in a row before skipping Mass again. I knew I needed help. So, one Sunday after Communion, I admitted to God that I couldn’t do this by myself. I asked him to send someone into my life to help me stay on track. Then Father read the announcements. One of them was that the parish was hosting a program for lapsed Catholics struggling to return to the Church. First thing I did was look to heaven and pray,” What took you so long?” The next thing I did was sign up for the program. That was over thirty years ago, and thanks to the good people of St Thomas Parish in Naperville Illinois, I’ve never looked back.
Pat M. Our Savior Parish, Mobile, AL
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I was blessed to be raised in Bronx, N.Y. by parents devoted to parish life who sacrificed to provide me a full Catholic education from the Sisters of Charity, Christian Brothers and Jesuits. But, like many young adults, I drifted away from Mass. My sole focus was building a career in broadcast journalism. Working seven days a week, I foolishly rationalized that I didn’t have time for Mass. For several years, my priorities were completely backwards as I mindlessly broke the First Commandment every day.
So, our merciful Savior kept sending me people to where I was working to bring me back to Him. A Methodist minister in Lexington, Ky. opened my eyes about the sacred gift of our Baptisms. Then a notorious Alabama politician (of all people) taught me about the importance of prayer. But it was an ordinary lay person who brought me back home to the Catholic sacraments. During a routine tv interview at Little Flower Parish in Mobile, a holy lady named Rosemary invited me to Sunday Mass and I just happened to have a rare day off. When I walked into Mass, the hair stood straight up on the back of my neck! I was back home and soon hungry for the essential sacramental gifts I had been missing.
I have never forgotten how powerful one simple invitation like this is because it so authentically emulates how Jesus Himself taught us by inviting His first Disciples.
My invitation to come home over forty years ago completely transformed my life and my entire family including a wonderful wife, two successful sons and daughters-in-law, four amazing grandchildren and Goddaughter. We love her family as much as our own flesh and blood because we equally share Jesus’s own flesh and blood. Our love grows because God IS love. The Holy Spirit is the love flowing eternally between the Father and Son so abundantly that it spills over to include us! So, this love’s very essence compels us to share it. All Catholics are called to welcome home others to the Trinity’s eternal love and the peace and joy of living our Catholic faith.
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John Robb St. Ignatius Parish, Mobile, Alabama