Did you leave the Church because you disagree with or don’t understand its teaching on abortion, birth control or homosexuality? Did the sexual abuse scandals wear you out? Did you feel that your spiritual needs were unmet by Parish life or the Mass as you experienced it? If you describe yourself as a former Catholic or “recovering Catholic,” you should give the Church a second look.
There are a million reasons that Catholics leave, but more often than not, they’ve left because of poor formation (nobody taught them the faith), scandal (seeing or hearing about a priest, sister or some other Catholic do something that was clearly sinful or just plain hurtful) or because they’re living in a way that separates them from God, and don’t care to have the Church remind them of this reality.
You Can Always Go Home.
It’s true: there are hypocrites and sinners in the Church, but the head of the Church – Jesus Christ – is not a hypocrite nor a sinner. Sinners have been with the Church from day one, the apostle Judas is certainly proof of that.
Judas was hand-chosen by our Lord, yet still gave into the temptation of evil. This is not new – but the sins of Judas, Parish priests, mothers, next door neighbors or your own sins – do not change the reality that Jesus Christ is God.
And God loves you personally; he died on the cross for you – not some abstraction called “humanity.” God is mercy and there is nothing you’ve done that he can’t forgive.
If you feel God pulling you back to the Catholic Church, please visit the site www.catholicscomehome.org and make sure you discover what the Church actually teaches and then learn how you can return – God loves you, and wants you back.
Others things to do on the journey back home:
- Go to the rectory (Church office) of the nearest Catholic Church, ask to see a priest; explain that you’ve been separated from the Church and want to talk about returning
- Pray the Hail Mary, asking Mary to pave the way back home to her son, Jesus Christ; Mary is the mother you can run to no matter what you’ve done
- If you remember how to make a good confession, make a list of your sins and go to Confession; don’t worry if it’s been many years; you can explain to the Priest that you’ve been away for years and don’t know how to proceed – he will be excited to help reconcile you back to the Lord
- Read about Jesus in the Gospels (New Testament: Gospels according to St. Matthew, St. Luke, St. Mark and St. John); learn what He says about Himself and His mission
- Pray, pray, pray to God. Don’t know how to pray? Tell God you don’t know how to pray, ask for direction, and then let the Holy Spirit show you the way!
Watch some solid, Catholic television online for free! EWTN is a Catholic TV station that faithfully portrays the teachings of the Catholic Church with passion, confidence and love.
Is there an organization called Catholics Go Home? My sister wants to return to the Catholic Church and asked me to fiind the information. Thank You
Yes, there is. And here is their website:
http://www.catholicscomehome.org/
Welcome home to your sister!
I left the Catholic Church early this year and joined a congregation which I thought was a True Christian church. Now I quit this congregation last month and wishing to re-join the Catholic Church. Please guide me how can I return to the Catholic Church.
Jay,
Thank you for your comment…Go to your local Catholic Parish, make an appointment to see the priest and explain exactly what happened; he will then help reconcile you back with the Church…What a grace that you recognize the one, holy, apostolic and Catholic Church – welcome home!
Thanks for the guide. I deeply regret in leaving the Catholic Church early this year but given a chance to return I will never leave it again and will instead “defend” it against known anti catholic groups such as the Iglesia ni Cristo (of Felix Manalo) & Iglesia ng DIOS (of Eliseo Soriano) in my home country the Philippines..