“Hold on Really, Really Tight”

One summer in high school, I found myself in the chocolate milk opaque waters of the Chikaskia River with a tough-looking man who worked for my father. Bismarck (that’s what he was called), a thin, wiry man in his mid-30’s, was instructing me on how to noodle the 15-20lb catfish he had located for me hidden in a front wheel-well of a submerged car wreck. He told me to dive down, locate the fish, and work my hand up to put my thumb in his mouth and pull him up.

I dove into the darkness and in no time located the fish. I did as I was instructed and triumphantly pulled this fish up out of the water into the warm sunlight. In an instant, the fish shook his head violently back and forth, the rasp-like projections of his lower lip turning the pulp of my thumb to a patch of bright-red bloody tissue. I dropped him in the water, and heard Bismarck say, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. You have to hold on really, really tight”

If we are to be fishers of men, we must know a variety of ways to bring those who are lost in darkness back into the freedom and light of Jesus Christ and His Church. We need to have the knowledge of where to find them and what motivates them. Our job is not finished when we help them back to the Church; we must support them and “…hold on really, really tight.” We continue with more of the top ten reasons Catholics return to the Church:

7. Because they need to forgive others. “Will God ever forgive me?” Sometimes people hold on to anger and resentment toward individuals who have hurt them deeply. Perhaps it was a family member or a friend, or someone or something in the Church. Our modern culture condones and encourages anger and revenge, but hatred and bitterness are spiritual cancers that eat at the heart of a person. The Catholic Church provides the opportunity to seek God’s help in forgiving others, even when the other person does not ask for forgiveness or does not deserve it. The ability to forgive is a gift that opens a person’s heart more fully to God’s love and peace.

6. Because they want to be healed. Some people carry deep spiritual wounds. They struggle with anger at God over bad things-terminal illness, a debilitating injury, a broken relationship, mental or emotional problems, an act of violence against an innocent person, an unexplainable accident, some nature disaster, the death of a loved one, or some other deep disappointment. The Catholic Church cannot change these situations or explain why they happened, but there are people in the Church who can assist in spiritual healing and help you get on with your life.

5. Because the Catholic Church has the fullness of truth and grace. Many people who leave the Catholic Church are blessed by the experience of worshipping for a while in another Christian denomination, but some people come back when they realize that Catholicism has the fullness of truth and grace. The Catholic Church was not founded by a single reformer or historical movement. It is not fragmented by individual interpretation of Scripture. There are thousands of Christian denominations, but only one Catholic Church, which has been guided and protected by the Holy spirit from generation to generation for more than two thousand years.

4. Because they want their children to have a faith foundation. Some people return to the Catholic Church because they recognize that raising children in a culture that promotes “doing your own thing” can lead to disaster. Children need to experience the spiritual dimension of life. They need a structured system of belief and a firm moral foundation that goes beyond human logic and reasoning. People return because they want a solid foundation upon which their children can build their lives.

Next week, we will finish with the top ten reasons Catholics return to the Church.

“The Ten Reasons” are taken from Our Sunday Visitor

What Does the Bible Say?

Isaiah 6:8 “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I am,’ I said; ‘send me!’”

Matthew 9: 37-38 “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.’”

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.”

2 Tim 4:5 “As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Evangelization Challenge of the Week

Open your Bible up to one of the above verses, or one that is meaningful to you in regard to evangelization, and leave it open on the kitchen counter or table – somewhere prominent. Invite your family to read it and think of ways they can share the Good News at school and work.

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Truth & Life contains the RSV-CE (Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition) translation of the Bible, which is both a great translation and tricky to find electronically. iOS, Android, Kindle, Nook, PC $19.99.