LIFE, MARRIAGE & FAMILY: Loving people back into Christ’s Church
By Mark Griffin, Director of the Life, Marriage & Family Office
Many of us have family members living their lives away from God. It can be incredibly painful knowing that people we love have, for whatever reason, turned their back on Christ and His Church.
The well know American Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen famously said, “There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.”
A statement such as this should remind us that even when our loved ones have turned their back on Christ and His Church, all is not yet lost, and that we can have hope for their return. It’s usually just a matter of speaking truth with love in response to their concerns, clearing up misconceptions or misunderstandings. Simple, right? Well, not always, no!
It’s often very difficult to engage in discussions with those who have walked away, and it should not be forgotten that they are quite possibly suffering with the pain of this separation as much as we are, if not more.
Whether their circumstances have come about through confusion, misunderstanding, disillusionment, or possibly pride, it should be acknowledged that their pain is as real as our own and should never just be dismissed.
The solution is often a long, hard-fought journey, that can only be successfully navigated with patience and perseverance, and, of course, prayer and fasting. It’s rarely something that can be fixed by battling it out over the issues in one argument after another. We certainly don’t want to risk winning these battles, at the cost of losing a soul.
A great witness to this process is St Monica, who prayed and sacrificed tirelessly for her son, Augustine, to return to God. Her perseverance paid off and her son is now one of the great saints of the Church.
We must gently, patiently lead our loved ones back to the Truth. This truth is not a concept or an agenda, but rather a person—Jesus Christ. If we live our own lives joyfully for Christ, who is, “the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6) we will witness to the joy that can be found by uniting ourselves to His will for us.
If we are living this way, and if we are always welcoming those around us to share in our joy, it will become contagious for them. Rather than fighting, we will be loving our lost friend or family member back into Christ’s Church.
We should always remember that as we navigate a difficult journey such as this with someone dear to us, our aim is not just to bring our loved ones back to the Church, it is also to bring them back to life.