How to Come Back to the Church After an Absence

[@gastonreboredo9408]

Jim, I am a lapsed Catholic who fell away from religion as a teenager, was an atheist for 15 years, and this summer had a spiritual revival and have come back to the fold (I kind of feel like the great C.S. Lewis in a sense). I started going to a nondenominational church and was baptized again but over the past few weeks have felt a pull back to Catholicism. Your video has only strengthened my resolve to go back to Mass. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and many blessings!

[@josephclay3864]

I know this video is three years old, but I wanted to reach out to someone. I am a convert to the Church and fell in love with Catholicism (I was already in love with Jesus, our Heavenly Father, and the Holy Spirit) in 1998, after being felt led to study the history of the Church for four years. I was so crazy about being Catholic and the first time I was allowed to receive the Eucharist, it was probably the most intense spiritual experience of my life! I loved the mass, our Blessed Mother and the rosary, the communion of Saints, and being connected to all the other Catholics around the world...even back to the Apostles and the Early Church. I was the only person in my family that was Catholic. My wife didn’t care for my new faith, so she didn’t go with me but a couple of times. I went along for a few years. Then my wife and our grown daughter began going to a new Protestant church in our town . Then my wife’s brother became a assistant pastor at that church. I’m ashamed to say it, but I began going to church with them out of loneliness and stopped attending Mass. It had nothing to do with the Catholic Church...I had no reason to leave other than wanting to be with family. Now I feel so drawn back to the Church, but I know if I even mention going back, my family will have a meltdown. I don’t know how to do what I believe is pleasing to God without upsetting all of my family. They do not care for the Catholic Church and don’t understand my heart. If you happen to read this, could you please give me any words of advice on dealing with my situation. Thank you so much and may God richly bless you.

[@ellachallas]

I hope that you have received some advice and resolved the conflict that you were going through when you wrote your original post three years ago. Having said that, here are my two cents: It sounds like there is something about the rituals and beauty of The Catholic Mass that seems to deeply resonate with you. Perhaps that’s what your soul needs or needed during this time… perhaps it is/was God calling you back. Only you can know. Either way, we should always pray on it and ask Him to show us His will. If you’re still unsure, you might consider speaking to a priest at the Catholic Church that you used to attend, about the conflict you’re having. Both churches are considered to be in relationship with eachother, so a Pastor or Priest should be able to guide you. You also said that you have a Protestant assistant pastor in your family. Have you talked with him? Lastly, don’t forget Jesus’s Words in Matthew 18:20. God Bless ☮️

[@blue_moon6490]

This was very helpful. Thank you so very much. God Bless. 🙏💖🕊

[@rafaelmatias6356]

wooow thanks Catholic Answers! I needed that information!!

[@getbusyliving144]

ONLY Jesus can forgive sins, not priests.

[@gregorysauter6759]

Yes, THROUGH priests in the Sacrament of Penance. The priest is acting in "persona Christi" in the person of Christ.

[@SheltonDCruz]

19It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. 20After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” 22When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”

[@sumerbc7409]

@@SheltonDCruz Rom_10:9 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." This should produce a changed lifestyle, the life long process of sanctification... Jesus alone holds the keys, not Catholicism...

[@POCCNRCKNbY]

sumerbc He literally gave those keys to Peter. He explicitly did this.

[@lonelyberg1808]

@@sumerbc7409 he gave the key to Peter