Encouraging loved ones back to the Church

[Irish Frank]

What's the best way to bring loved ones back into the Church. A number of close relatives are Catholics in name and pay slight regard to the trachings of the Church. I am very close to these people and fear they will loss God's love for eternity if they remain in this state. Sitting people down and bluntly telling them such will only lead to further dismissal. I continue to pray for them on my own and have done so for a time now but so far no results (

[Adeodatus]

Irish Frank,

I know what you mean when you say you fear "they will lose God's love for eternity". You mean you fear they will [i]lose out on[/i] God's love for eternity. Always remember that God doesn't change, and His love for us doesn't change. God loves everyone He made, and He will love them forever. He loves all the people in hell, whoever they are, and always will. One of the Dominican mystic nuns from the Middle Ages explained that the happiness of heaven, the purification of purgatory and the pains of hell were all caused by one thing: the love of God. In heaven people will experience God's love as happiness, in purgatory as purification, and in hell the love of God will be a torture for people because they will not want to be loved.

The best thing to do for our loved ones is to pray for them. Never underestimate the power of prayer. Prayer does not change God's mind, for He always desires our good, but it changes us, and it may change the ones we pray for. If you really want something, you have to ask for it. It is as simple as that.

Let God's love change you, mould you more and more into the image of Christ. If you trust Him to, God will save the people you are praying for. He may use your own life, transformed more and more, to attract them, but He may very well use means that you haven't even thought about or perhaps will not know about until Kingdom Come.

Sometimes opportunites will arise when you may have to speak. Do so with charity, always. In what you say and do you must never compromise the truth. But that doesn't mean you should judge and condemn them. We are finite creatures, and we don't know what is going on in someone else's mind and heart. Pray for wisdom to know when to be firm, and for courage to know when to be gentle, but always be loving. Your persistence in prayer and the witness you give by a good and fervent Catholic faith will usually be enough to get them curious again. If they are Catholic in name, invite them now and then to attend a youth rally/retreat etc. with you, especially if you know it's going to be a good one. And trust God to do the rest. It may take a lifetime, but trust Him. Every prayer is answered eventually, even if it is only when the Kingdom comes.