Lay Catholics and clergy work on ways to invite back seldom-practicing Catholics - and the holidays are a key time
Metro area — With the holidays coming up many Catholics will be back to attending church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and then will return to their homes and won’t be back to attending mass again until the next major Catholic holiday, Easter.
In an effort to bring Catholics back into the church on a regular basis, some priests and practicing Catholics have taken action to make sure Catholics who only attend Mass on Christmas and Easter (C&E’s) begin to attend church every week.
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Jan Deters of St. Paul on the Lake Parish in Grosse Pointe Farms, along with some others in her parish have created “Catholics Come Home,” a seven-week program designed to re-invite formerly practicing Catholics back into practicing the faith.
“Our program was started to welcome people back to the Catholic Church that might want to come back and no body actually offered them that option,” Deters said. “We put together a program that lasts seven weeks and we offer it after the holidays in January and after Easter to people who have fallen away from the Catholic Church.”
One of the main pushing periods to get these fallen away Catholics back into the churches is during the holiday seasons, when Catholics are more likely to attend mass.
“We have a big push prior to the start of the program (after the first of the year and prior to Easter), but we do hope to get some folks who only come to mass during Christmas and Easter and aren’t necessarily practicing Catholics anymore,” Deters said.
According to Deters, there are a number of reasons Catholics fall away from the Church, — such as a student going to college, divorce, or someone who’s had an issue with a position the Catholic Church had.
“Our ultimate goal is not in numbers, but to welcome people back,” Deters said. “It’s not about how many, it’s about helping that person through and help them understand the Catholic Church again.”
Priests have also taken notice to members of the Church who only show up to Mass on Christmas and Easter.
“We’re going to talk about the situation because it’s a big concern right now,” Fr.Gerry Frawley of St. Anne’s Parish in Ortonville said. “We have to try to work out why people don’t come out every week.”
Some priests, like Fr. Alberto Bondy of St. Anne’s Parish in Warren, mention something about the concern in their Christmas and Easter homilies to try to influence these “Christmas and Easter-only” Catholics to come to church on a regular basis.
“I usually mention something of the practice of the faith,” Fr. Bondy says. “The practice of the faith is something that we should live, live daily and certainly that would include weekly mass where we can come together and give honor to God. I normally mention the obligation to go to mass (at regular mass). It’s an obligation that their parents assume for them at baptism and one that they reconfirmed at confirmation, for the most part.”
Fr. Bondy believes these Catholics know their obligation to the Church, but they just don’t make the effort.
“Frankly, it’s laziness,” he says. “They just get lazy — and most of them will tell you that.”
In front of St. Andrews Parish in Rochester is a sign that states, “If you’ve been away, you’re welcome back.” The notice tries to welcome back fallen away Catholics year-round.
Fr. Eugene Strain uses this message in his Christmas and Easter homilies to try and get people to continue to go to mass.
“Sometimes I say, ‘I want you people to know, we do this every Sunday, and you are welcome here every Sunday,” Strain said. “(By saying this) I did what I could and I gave them something to think about.”
Fr. Strain believes it’s vital what the infrequently attending Catholics experience on those few occasions they do come to church.
“We try to give them a really good experience of worship,” Strain said, “with the subtle hope that they’ll come back.”
Although Fr. Strain wants these Catholics to return to Church, he says it can only be up to them to make the effort to return.
Still, practicing Catholics can encourage fallen away Catholics back into the faith.
“In a nice way people can invite them back and say, ‘Hey we’re going to Mass next week, do you want to come with us?” Strain said. “It’s an invitation, but invitations can’t be forced on anybody. People need to just give the example of happy living Catholics and hopefully it will rub off.”
