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I was one of those lost sheep for almost 30 years. These days I am very involved in parish life and I am growing everyday in my walk with the Lord. I am a "baby-boomer". I was born in the mid 50's and raised in a good Catholic home. We attended Mass regularly and received our Catholic education under the Baltimore Catechism. I left the Church before the Vat II changes, so it was quite a different Church that I returned to. While there is much debate among various factions of Catholics as to whether these were good or bad changes, my own personal opinion is that it is a more welcoming enviroment then what I remember as a kid. The feeling I had as a child was that Mass was something done by the priests that I witnessed... today I see Mass as something that priests and lay people are celebrating together. Big difference!
When I returned to the Church I was received with open arms. I felt very much like the "prodigal son" in Jesus' parable. Not only did my parish family rejoice but I could feel the love and joy being poured out from heaven as well. I know that the Lord loves me... I also know that the Lord yearns to find all his lost sheep. He is the Good Shepherd!
One of the biggest "problems" that I see with Catholics today is a lack of familiarity with Scripture. To so many Catholics the Holy Bible is a coffee table "decoration" and not much else. One of the main reasons Prostestant evangelists have such a field day with Catholics is that we are not familiar with the scriptures and are easy prey for their techniques. Compare this with the average Evangelical Protestant who can give chapter and verse for just about any bible story you can think of.
The other problem I see is that many of us don't realize that being a Catholic is not something to achieve as a means to an end. In other words you can't say Whew! now I am a Catholic... I don't have to worry. Being a Catholic is a vocation and a relationship. The vocation is to **BE** a disciple of Christ and the relationship part is having a one-on-one relationship with our Lord and Saviour. Both of these things involve participation on our part. We must ask Jesus to be the Lord and ruler of our lives... Remember the door knob is on OUR side of the door... We have to open it! I have run into many ex-Catholics who say they never "felt" anything when they were involved in the Catholic Church. Just because we may be baptized into his Church doesn't mean Jesus will use a battering ram to break down the door to our hearts. I believe that many of us who are "born" Catholic don't realize that we still have to open the door for Jesus to enter our lives.
I used to believe that the Church was archaic, antiquated and out of touch with "real" society. Then I read what Jesus said for myself and I realized that the Church is not the one out of touch with society...it is society that is out of touch with God! What used to be contempt has changed into a deep admiration, respect and love for the Church that Christ left us. What an awesome responsibility and struggle it has been to preserve and protect the Lord's words and teachings for 2000 years. Now I see sincere devotion and solemn responisbility to Christ and His mission as the reason the Church acts and thinks as it does. It takes much more strength and integrity to stand firm and not just go with the ebb and flow of societal standards.
My prayer is that all active Catholics will take just one of our fallen-away brethern by the hand and like the woman at the well tell them "Come... come and see.."
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This bulletin board is a place to share our experiences, to ask questions and seek support...PLEASE feel free to use it!
