Tips for Welcoming Returning Catholics

Was church a little crowded Easter Sunday?

On the heels of Easter Sunday, a holy day notorious for bringing generally "inactive" Catholics back to church for one day, the bishops' Evangelization and Catechesis committee has released a document, Disciples Called toWitness: The New Evangelization, which is geared toward reawakening the faith of Catholics.

The document never actually talks about “inactive” Catholics and makes this omission intentionally. For instance, people who can’t make it to Mass because they are homebound or because they’re working three jobs to stay afloat may not be regularly  participating in parish and sacramental life, but they haven’t exactly renounced their faith either.

The document instead takes a more universal approach, saying that the bishops want to re-energize the faith of all Catholics. A Catholic who’s lost a sense of the faith can be someone who hasn’t been to Mass in 30 years or someone who comes to Mass every Sunday but experiences no personal growth, who goes through the paces with no internal conviction.

Of course, the idea of energizing Catholics, wherever they may be in their faith journeys, ties directly into the New Evangelization. Popularized by John Paul II and made a major priority of Benedict XVI, the New Evangelization is the notion that every Catholic  must have a relationship with Christ, and have an authentic experience of their faith if they are to in turn draw others to Jesus and the Gospel.

In the final section of Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization, the bishops list areas where parish communities can strengthen their outreach to Catholics who might be returning to the practice of the faith. Some of the specific suggestions include:

• Since returning to the Church is an act of the Holy Spirit, emphasize personal witnessing to the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the pastor and pastoral ministers.
• Recognize that each person’s conversion will be unique and unfold at a different pace.
• Have programs that are flexible, as some people might not be able to participate in an entire program.
• Extend personal invitations to those who are missing and a spirit of welcome to all who seek assistance.
• Have pastoral ministers who have the knowledge to share the Gospel message and how have the ability to listen and empathize.
• Foster a liturgical environment that invites, spiritually fulfills and welcomes full and active participation.
• Offer encouraging words of welcome, especially at special events such as weddings, funerals, quinceañeras, and Christmas and Easter Masses.
• Offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation when it is convenient for those with busy work schedules.
• Utilize multiple languages in every aspect of parish life when dealing with a diverse community.
• Include links on the parish website to reputable Catholic catechetical websites and social media presences.
• Ensure the church building is accessible to those with disabilities.
• Provide resources and training for pastors to give well-prepared homilies that stir the heart.
• Provide catechetical materials, as well as contact information for marriage tribunals and professionals who can assist those seeking to regularize their marriages or who are struggling with depression, addiction, etc.
• Provide opportunities for lifelong faith formation.
• Maintain personal relationships with returning Catholics, bearing in mind that the process of welcoming someone back into the Church is an ongoing one.

 This weekend, if there are a few extra people in the pews, remember the words of St. Paul: “Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you” (Rom 15:7).

From China to California, via Mexico City

Special thanks to Michele Jurich for sharing her story with us. The full version, originally published in The Catholic Voice, Oakland, CA, can be found here.

Wendy Jara's three-year journey through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults shows the evolution of her relationship with God.

Her literal journey begins in Guangzhou, China; then to Mexico City, where Jara receives a lift from Our Lady of Guadalupe, and continues in Walnut Creek, California. There's a dash of Korean drama, the Internet and a loving family with Mexican roots. There is love.

In the first year, Sister Dominic Bonnici, OP, who directs the adult faith formation program at St. Mary Parish in Walnut Creek, asked Jara, "What is God like to you?" "God is like Santa Claus in American culture," Jara replied. "I make a wish. I tell him what I want. Praying is making a wish." In the second year, she said, "I feel God is looking at me all the time and He knows what I'm doing and I'd better behave myself." In her third year, Jara, 28, sees God in a different light. "God is a father to me. And he is shaping me, not to what I want. It's what he wants."

Jara’s introduction to the Catholic faith came through her husband, Donato. Wendy and a friend enjoyed watching Korean drama, and went online to chat with others with similar interests. She was interested in chatting with a Korean on the subject. Donato Jara, who was studying international business in Korea, was looking for Korean friends online. "I didn't know he was American," Wendy Jara said.

During a break from school, he went to China. Three months later, they were married in China. A year later, on March 28, 2008, they married in the cathedral of her home city of Guangzhou. Twenty members of his family and friends came to the wedding; 60 came from her side of the family. "It was a beautiful cathedral," she said, "but back then, I didn't know anything."

Her faith began to take shape during a trip to Mexico, to meet her husband's grandmother. In the cathedral in Mexico City, "That was the first time I got something," she said. "Like a little click. The story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. My husband told me stories. I felt like it was so powerful. Before that, I doubted. The packed church, with all the people so faithful — that really clicked for me."

Her first year in the United States, she started going to church. "Of course, I didn't know what was going on," she said. I started asking, "What am I doing here?"

Her husband introduced her to Sister Dominic. "I started my journey," said Jara, who came to classes armed with an electronic Chinese-English translator and a Chinese-English Bible.

"Three years ago, I felt very helpless and frustrated," Jara said. She found her RCIA instructors to be “like angels to me." But in the first year, she said, "I felt weak in my faith.” In the second year, Jara decided to end the faith journey. "The only thing I ask you," her husband told her, "is please don't give up."

She felt her faith growing stronger. "It was so wonderful to be in RCIA. I still have a stressful life, but I can see it in another way. God shapes you like clay. He shapes you to be the person he wants you to be. I feel that's me. All the obstacles … that's what God used to shape me. It means he cares about me."

The Rite of Election, at the Cathedral of Christ the Light, was a special time for Jara. "I think I will never forget that moment," she said. The rite came on a busy weekend, but the night before, she said, she fell asleep, both at peace, and excited.

"The feeling is like you have been in love with someone for three years and now you're going to get married," she said.

Jara is preparing for receiving the sacraments at the Easter Vigil. "I am really, really blessed," she said. "I knew nothing five years ago. I didn't know religion. I'm hoping I never give up. I want to be what God wants me to be."

In Their Own Words

Hat tip to Denis Grasska, Assistant Editor of ‘The Southern Cross,’ the newspaper of the Diocese of San Diego, where these accounts were first published, for sharing these with us.

At this year’s Easter Vigil, about 370 catechumens and 860 candidates will enter the Catholic Church in the Diocese of San Diego. What inspired them to begin the RCIA process? How has that process benefited them? What are their feelings as they prepare for one of the major milestones in their lives? The following are the reflections and comments of just a few of San Diego’s catechumens and candidates.

Jeanette Lopatka
Candidate
San Rafael Parish, Rancho Bernardo
I am excited and proud to be a part of a faith that has had such a rich tradition and long history. I feel that one of the best ways for me to be an exemplary Catholic is to have joy. … As my faith has deepened each day, so has my joy. As a former teacher, I found the best way to teach was to lead by example. I want someone who doesn’t know God to look at me and say, “How can I be as joyful as she?” … I am hopeful to continue to grow as a Catholic and, in the words, of St. Francis, “Preach the Gospel, using words only when necessary.”

Robert Richards
Catechumen
St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, Carlsbad
To me, being a member of the Body of Christ means that Jesus Christ is my Savior and I have the hope for eternal life. To be a member of the Roman Catholic Church is important to me, since I believe attending Mass gives me a more holy experience and I believe my relationship with Jesus will grow better for my being a member of the Church. Once a member, I would like to participate in Church activities.

Annette Cook
Catechumen
Mater Dei Parish, Chula Vista
My family has been a part of the Church, and I had also attended as a kid. I felt that becoming an official part of the Church would bring me closer to my faith. I feel that I have a greater understanding of the Church now and that I am more prepared to accept the gift of full communion with the Church. Taking this journey has made me feel a greater connection to my faith.

Tracy Lunn
Catechumen
St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, Carlsbad
I feel that it is a huge responsibility to be a member of the Body of Christ, and I am ready to take it on. I feel that my whole family will eventually be part of the same process, and I am ecstatic that I am becoming a member of the Roman Catholic Church, the true Church of Jesus. I am joyful about my faith and I want to share it with everyone.

Harley Jacques
Candidate
San Rafael Parish, Rancho Bernardo
My wife attended RCIA last year and was so excited after every function that we would discuss her experiences after every meeting or church event. … After she received the sacraments of initiation, I began regularly attending Mass with her and found I wanted to gain the serenity she was beginning to exhibit in all things. Since beginning RCIA, I have found the Catholic Church – and San Rafael Parish in particular – to be caring and friendly in a warm, family way.

Amelia Cox
Candidate
St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, Carlsbad
The most challenging thing for me has been understanding the Church's stance on abortion. I always believed that it was a woman's choice, but now I realize that it is really God's choice. His plan for us is much more significant than any we make for ourselves.

Andrea O’Hara
Catechumen
San Rafael Parish, Rancho Bernardo
I was married in the Catholic Church to a wonderful man who is a cradle Catholic. Even though my family and his family are Catholics, I never felt the need to become a Catholic. However, as I become older and wiser, I realize that the challenges and accomplishments I have faced in my life were not by chance but were presented to me by the Lord. Being a mother and a wife gives me a greater purpose to lead a life filled with kindness, patience, honesty, responsibility and love. These character traits are hard to maintain by oneself, so I now look to my God and to my parish to help me lead the life that I was born to live.

Jewel Williams
Candidate
St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, Carlsbad
I believe I have become closer to God, and I am beginning to live my life the way He wants me to live. I feel there is more peace and understanding with my family since my relationship with God has gotten stronger. … During times of temptation or confusion, I have learned to take a minute to pray for what is best for me to do. For me, acceptance into the Body of Christ means eternal love from God. To be a member of the Church is life for me. It gives me hope, understanding and love.

Meteorologist Fell in Love with the Mass

Special thanks to Jenny Faber and Monica Hatcher from the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston for sharing this story with us.

Randall Wilson, a meteorologist who attends St. Michael Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, wrote about his upcoming initiation into the Church:

I had always had an interest in the Catholic Church, but being born and raised Baptist all my life, I never really had any chance to attend Mass. I asked a Catholic woman I was interested in if for our first date, we could attend Mass together. I was shell-shocked! I was confused as to why I was the only one who carried a Bible into church! But for some strange reason, I felt something calling me back to St. Michael’s Catholic Church for a second time. The vast differences between Catholicism and the Baptist Church caused me to go out and read books on Catholicism, and to get a better understanding of why Catholics say and do certain things at Mass. I was drawn in by the history of the Catholic Church; and its deep traditions. A few weeks of attending Catholic Mass had me all sorts of interested! One Sunday, I saw on the bulletin that they were inviting people to something called RCIA, which I found out was the way to becoming Catholic. I took a gamble and signed up. I wasn't completely sure if I was making the right decision, but something was telling me to do it.

This blind leap of faith got me to where I am now, in the process of completing the RCIA class. I can honestly say that joining this class was one of best decisions I have ever made! The information was deep, the questions were challenging, but it made me a more complete Christian. The richness and fullness of the Catholic Church isn't found anywhere else. Looking back, I see how much was missing. I'm not even 100 percent Catholic yet, but I can't imagine my life without the holy sacraments, without praying the holy rosary, without confessions, and without the holy Eucharist.

It is by God and His Holy Spirit that I am here in this process. I know without a doubt, that He was that ‘something’ that called me back to Mass that day. I also know that He was there when I took a leap of faith into the RCIA process. It is by the grace of God and His calling that I am becoming Catholic. I was born and raised Baptist, and most of the people I knew were, too, so I have never had a Catholic connection. I, and my entire RCIA class, are proof that God calls us, and we have answered that call. I anxiously look forward to the Easter Vigil, Confirmation, accepting Gabriel, the Archangel as my patron saint, receiving First Eucharist, and joining the richest, fullest, and greatest Church I have ever known, the Catholic Church!

Never Too Late

Special thanks to Kate Monaghan, Assistant Communications Director for the Archdiocese of New York, for facilitating this interview, and to the Prebibajs’ daughter, Valentina, for translating.

As youths baptized in Albania while the country was under Communist rule, Lule Prebibaj and her husband Ndoke’s baptisms were literally life-threatening. The Communist regime that took control of the country after World War II essentially banned religion and suppressed religious institutions and observances. Lule recalls as a child how her mother took her out in the middle of the night so a priest could baptize her under the cloak of darkness.

“My mother told me we had to go at night to where the Church used to be,” said Lule. “The priest came and baptized me, and it was the same for my husband. It had to be done at night and in secret.” The couple also recollects how, as children, they had to be secretive about their beliefs. “We both remember every day after a holy day the teachers asking us what we had for dinner or if our parents lit a candle or said a prayer,” said Lule. “We were told by our parents that we should always say ‘no.’ It wasn’t until later on that we understood why they were asking us those questions.”

To help his family escape Communist rule, Ndoke went to Italy for five years and obtained legal documents for Lule and their four children to join him. After two years in Italy, Ndoke was selected in the Green Card Lottery and the couple, along with their children, became permanent residents of the United States in 1999.

After coming to America the couple raised their children in the faith, even though they themselves were never confirmed or received First Communion. That’s all about to change: they are both candidates for full initiation in the Church.

“Our decision to request these sacraments was an easy one because we knew it was long overdue,” said Lule. “While growing up we did not have the chance to do so because the Communist ruler abolished Catholicism and killed anyone who practiced it, including priests and nuns, destroyed churches and executed anyone who stood in his way.”

Describing themselves as a “very religious family,” they said one of their dreams was to receive all the sacraments of initiation, and now that they live in a country where they are free to express their religious beliefs, they’re doing just that. “It’s a wonderful feeling to openly say who we are, and it’s absolutely wonderful to be able to receive these sacraments. Better late than never, right?” said Lule.

This year Lule and Ndoke are two of the 1,470 candidates and catechumens the Archdiocese of New York will welcome at Easter, and living proof that it’s never too late.

A Family Affair

Each day this week the USCCB Media Blog will bring you conversion stories from around the country. Hat tip to Jim Accurso of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for alerting us to this story written by Fr. John Ubel, Pastor of St. Agnes in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“Fr. Ubel, could we see you for a moment?” When I looked up from my desk I saw four students standing in my doorway, each with a smile. It was the Vangs, (Livia ’12, Cesea ’13, Vancelee ’14 and Teedo ’20), new students to our school. “Father, we would like to be baptized.” Nothing like cutting to the chase!

You see, last summer, a gentleman named Pao Her called out of the blue to set up an appointment with me. He explained that his nieces and nephews were coming to live with him, as they were without parents following the death of their mother (his sister), and that he wanted to ensure a solid upbringing for the children. The students were not Catholic, but he was adamant that he desired a faith-based education in a structured environment. I explained that our student body is approximately 90 percent Catholic and 30 percent non-caucasian, and that we would gladly welcome these students. Best of all, the kids would be together under one roof.

I learned that they would see the Onion dome of the Church from the freeway and used it as a landmark for navigation when visiting relatives. One mentioned the engaging religion classes and learning about the truths of the Faith. Another spoke of the powerful experience of walking into our beautiful church every Thursday for School Mass, while a third mentioned the kindness she felt from people who made her feel welcome as a new student.

Classical and Catholic tradition speaks eloquently about truth, beauty and goodness. God Himself is perfect truth, pure beauty and infinite goodness. Education is fundamentally about encouraging students to develop by seeking truth, beauty and goodness. There it was: the truth of the doctrine, the beauty of the architecture and music, the goodness of others who reach out in time of difficulty. Ultimately, this pointed them towards God. It was actually the 4th grader, Teedo, who was the catalyst of it all, who first felt the inklings of grace. His infectious smile manifests a joy that is as undeniable as it is authentic. He began to lead prayers before dinner, and soon his siblings also began exploring the faith. A few months after the start of the school year, they knocked on my door.

At the Easter Vigil, I will proudly baptize not just four, but nine Vang siblings: two who are college age and the three youngest ones, who may well be future Aggies. I can think of no better way to describe all that we try to do here at Saint Agnes, but to reflect truth, beauty and goodness.

Easter in Washington

Today's Mass in the USCCB chapel provided an insight into the Resurrection that was appropriate for both the Octave of Easter and the USCCB headquarters, located in Washington, D.C.

Father James Massa, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the Conference, began his homily by noting that for a number of years the most frequently visited site in Washington, D.C. is not the Lincoln Memorial, the White House or the U.S. Capitol, but rather the "Wall," that is, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

He described the "between heaven and Earth" feeling that the Memorial evokes -- including how, when a visitor stands a few feet back from it, his or her reflection and the reflections of other visitors can be seen amid the names of the fallen etched in the black granite. When visitors then reach out to touch the names on the wall, they feel as if they are in communion with those who have already passed into the afterlife.

He related this to today's Gospel, in which Mary Magdalene sees the risen Christ but is not permitted to touch him. This is strange, he noted, especially when compared with the appearance of the Risen Jesus to Thomas the Apostle, who is invited to touch Christ in his hands and side.

To highlight the connection between these Easter readings from John's Gospel, Father Massa turned to Pope Benedict XVI, who'd written that these passages, taken together, show that Mary Magdalene wanted to embrace Jesus as she had known him before his humiliating death on the cross, that she wanted to "bury the cross." Thomas, however, is invited to touch the wounds that were inflicted by the cross, drawing the connection that we can only "touch" eternal life be entering into the mystery of the cross through the suffering of Christ reveals God's infinite love. In short, the path to Easter glory is through the love-revealing passion of Good Friday.

The communion experiences by the visitors to the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, where the fallen are remembered and loved from across the chasm separating this world and the next, points to that all-embracing communion that Catholic believers share with the living and the dead in the most powerful sacrament of the Eucharist. It is there where we touch eternal life.

Joining the Fold

With Holy Week upon us, it's typical to wonder just how many faithful are joining the Catholic Church this Easter. Our office contacted dioceses across the country, requesting numbers of catechumens and candidates for full communion.

Their responses provide a partial early glimpse of these numbers for 2009, which we have posted on the USCCB Media Relations site.

While these numbers are informative on one level, on another level it's still worth noting that it's an incomplete snapshot. Depending on differences in Catholic populations and overall populations of a given diocese, it difficult to say which dioceses are really experiencing good years and which are having more average years. On the other hand, Seattle, for instance, reporting 736 catechumens alone, is having a banner year by anyone's standards.

The USCCB numbers are also incomplete in that our focus was on RCIA, that is, initiation of adults. Some dioceses offered entirely different sets of numbers that included children. Further complicating things, some dioceses maintain a third category (apart from catechumens and candidates) for people who were baptized Catholic, but either were not formed in the faith or fell away, and are now returning. Other dioceses lump these individuals in with candidates.

Ultimately, the natural response seems to be to throw up one's hands and remember that the Catholic faith is not about numbers. Jesus spoke of the Good Shepherd who would leave the 99 to pursue the one. And ultimately these RCIA numbers are more about celebrating those "ones" than they are about grand totals.