by Carline Francois

Created on: April 23, 2009

Can lapsed Catholics come back into the church?

Lapsed Catholics can come back in the Catholic faith. So many things in our lives can steal us away from our faith allowing them to take root and let us forget about our faith in Christ. Sometimes, it could be other Christians who have a different view of Christ and impose it on us. Or a bad experience from a church caused us to lapse in our faith. Whatever the reason for the lapse in faith, our Lord never leaves us or abandons us. He welcomes us with open arms. Like the Prodigal Son coming home to the Father. The Father had a feast to celebrate His coming home. So is our Father in heaven with all the angels are having a feast when His children come home. It's all about having an open heart to return to the faith. Evaluating why one left the faith to begin with. Once the decision is made to come back, it takes a leap of faith to attend Mass again. Our Lord Jesus Christ stated that "all you need is a mustard seed of faith." This little faith will allow Jesus to work with us in starting a relationship with Him again as we step into His Father's house.

We open our hearts again to receive Our Lord through the working of the Holy Spirit in us. Already in us from the First Holy Communion ceremony we had at an early adolescent age. How do we open our hearts? I believe everything comes from our prayer time with the Lord. Saint Paul always taught us to pray without ceasing. He taught us this because that is the foundation of our faith in Christ. Through opening our hearts in prayer to our Lord and letting Him know what's in or on your heart. In the silence of your heart He hears you. Then you experience something from your prayer time. This experience could be a sense of inner peace not known before, a blessing from our job, a problem that's been solved, or a sense of joy that we never experienced before. This is the way our Lord let's us know that He hears our hearts and our prayers. This goodness is more like a little nudge coming from the Holy Spirit urging you to continue in the small steps of faith you started back with Him.

I believe our beloved Lord is really happy when we turn to Him in faith and begin again. May the Lord Jesus Christ be with you and bless you as you continue in renewing your faith with Him. Remember as He blesses you, bless Him back. As He is with you, be with Him too. Since, you are already part of the church that Jesus appointed to Peter, ("Upon this rock I will build my church," said our beloved Lord to Peter) it's always a good idea to give your church a chance. The Catholic faith is the church that Jesus built for us to worship the Father through Him and the Holy Spirit. This is where we receive the Eucharist daily (as the early Christians did to provide strength to our spirit and soul), Adore Him in Eucharistic Adoration (where we spend intimate and quiet time with Him in communionthis is so enriching), go to confession (when we have fallen and there's a break in our relationship Him, this is where we reconcile with our beloved Lord and continue in our walk with Himthis is enriching- you get a since of peace and joy afterwards) and participate with Him in the works of spreading the Gospel to all nations (working with in church ministry using the beautiful talents and gifts God has given us to help others in their faiththis is also enriching). When we have a relationship with Jesus Christ we grow in our faith in Him and with Him. It is not about us or anyone else. We find that it's all out the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit using us to build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

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