Turn to Scripture for model when welcoming Catholics back to Church

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Father John Mayo

Q: How can I help my relatives return to church for more than Christmas?

A: Catholics Come Home focuses on our being a Catholic family. As a member of this family welcoming other members home, we are to model the attitude of the father in the parable of the prodigal son: an attitude of joy, embracing them for having come home (Luke 15:20).

With such an attitude, we should be welcoming and inviting when a desire is expressed to us by another to come home for Christmas Midnight Mass. A welcoming first idea is to invite them to come to Christmas Mass with us. Coming to a new place where we do not know anyone can make us feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. Having someone invite us and be there with us helps us to feel more at ease and welcome.

If your parish has Christmas carols before Mass, invite them to come with you to listen to the carols. Christmas carols are very soothing and help to bring peace to the soul. Also, this time will give them a chance to look around the church, see it beautifully decorated and get reacquainted with being in a Catholic church.

On Christmas Eve, suggest sitting in a place where it is easy to see the sanctuary. Human nature is to sit in the back, where one will be unnoticed and can slip out easily. Assure them that there is nothing to fear and that this spot will help you both to see better. Being able to see will help you and your relatives focus on why you are there and more easily enter into the celebration.

Before Mass begins, take time to show them where the new texts for Mass are located. Nothing can be more embarrassing and unwelcoming for them than saying the wrong words. If they look lost during Mass, do not hesitate to help them out by gently showing them in the text at what point you are in Mass.

After Mass, be sure to introduce them to your friends and get them involved in the conversation.

Father Mayo is associate pastor of St. Francis Borgia Parish in Washington. Send questions for a priest to: St. Louis Review, 20 Archbishop May Drive, St. Louis MO 63119, or email let ters@stlouisreview.com

We go to church not only for God, but also for the community we find there. Feeling connected to this warm, inviting community is another draw for them to come back the following week.

Many families have a tradition of having a meal or refreshments after Midnight Mass. As you visit during this time, casually ask if they have any questions or reactions to coming back to Mass and answer them as best you can. If they do not really have anything to say at that moment, assure them you are willing to talk later at some point, if they feel inclined to do so.

Finally, try not to allow Midnight Mass to be an isolated incident. Invite them back to church sometime in the near future, either at your parish or theirs, with breakfast after. This builds up a continuity and begins to change the pattern from not going to church to beginning to go again.

Such encouragement in this warm, but not overly pressured way is the best way to help your relatives to give themselves the best gift this Christmas: the gift of returning to church.

Father Mayo is associate pastor of St. Francis Borgia Parish in Washington. Send questions for a priest to: St. Louis Review, 20 Archbishop May Drive, St. Louis MO 63119, or email letters@stlouisreview.com