How do you bring someone back to the Catholic faith?
Catechism Meditation:
The intercession of Christians recognizes no boundaries: “for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions,” for persecutors, for the salvation of those who reject the Gospel. ―No. 2636
REFLECTION: We all know people who have fallen away from the Catholic faith. Sometimes Catholics fall away from the Church for various reasons, they reject the idea of religion and God altogether, and many remain detached from the Church for the rest of their lives. This can be disheartening for Catholics still within the Church. They want to encourage those who have left to return to the Church, but don’t know how.
We must give consistent good example and offer deliberate and specific sacrifices for those we love. Besides being a good example for them of Christian charity, the best thing to do is to pray constantly, interceding for them on a daily basis for the Good Shepherd to do His work and search out the one sheep who has strayed from the flock. He is the only one capable of carrying that soul back into the flock and is the one to whom our prayers should be addressed.
Intercessory prayer is an important type of prayer for every Christian, as it is not a selfish type of prayer, but one that looks to the needs of another. In the age of the Church, Christian intercession participates in Christ’s, as an expression of the communion of saints. In intercession, he who prays looks “not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others,” even to the point of praying for those who do him harm. When we pray in this way, we imitate Jesus’ merciful heart, as he prayed for everyone, without distinction.
In our journey through life, we often face challenges and uncertainties that can shake our confidence and test our faith. To avoid falling away, it requires a daily commitment to God. We need to continually turn to God and must persevere in His truth with thankful hearts. It’s not always easy, but even in times of trial, we need to affirm God’s goodness and thank Him for His many blessings. If we want to truly imitate Christ, we need to pray for others, not only our friends and family, but also our enemies.
PRAYER. Dear God, bring all those souls who have gone away from the paths of truth and unity, and from the one fold of the one Shepherd, Jesus Christ, into the by-paths of error. Bring them back to You and to Your Church. Give them a humble and docile heart. Give them a strong desire of finding out Your truth, and a strong grace to enable them to embrace it.
Timeless Wisdom Quote:
“In almost nine cases out of ten, those who have once had the Faith but now reject it, or claim that it does not make sense, are driven not by reasoning but by the way they are living.” ― Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen