i am getting some really great responses. i hope everyone realizes that all of my statements are from my own experience and the experience of close friends of mine. and that the lack of faith i have seen is what drove me from the church when i was 19 (although the seeds were planted about 3 years earlier). i have led others from the catholic church and that i regret now. it has been the books i’ve read and more importantly the people (such as you) that i’ve talked with who’ve helped me realize there are a lot of catholics really living their faith. but i still maintain that most of the catholics i encounter shouldn’t be considered catholic and that was why i asked the question what you are doing to help those people who just “warm a pew”. i think we need to do more than just be a good role model. Christ was some one people could watch yes, but he was also some one people could (and did) approach. why? because he was with them. he was constantly spending time with sinners and people struggling in faith. not just attending mass with them, but going to their homes, teaching in the streets, meeting them where they were at. i guess my challenge (and this doesn’t apply to everyone out there nor to the person i quoted necessarily) is that it’s not just the priest’s or bishop’s job to win the lost, admonish the brethren, or “spur one another on towards love and good deeds” (Heb. 10:24), it is the job of every believer. i recently read a book by fr. michael manning (i know some think he is too ecumenical and maybe liberal, but something he said was really good) where he was talking about saints. he said he wished there were more canonized lay people. but too often the laity waits for the ordained (or those in orders) to do the work God has called all believers to do. as a protestant minister, i can assure you that this also happens in protestant circles when the congregation expects the pastors to do everything, but in my experience it happens far less in those circles as it does in catholic. this is a serious question for all of you: does it ever bother you that the most active catholics today when it comes to writing, apologetics, and a general spurring one another on are former protestants? do you ever wonder why there aren’t more like Karl Keating who is a cradle catholic and taking a lead in these efforts? that is the problem i am talking about. it seems it’s far harder for some on who is brought up catholic to see the riches in the church than for some one who decides to investigate the church from the outside. it again comes down to my point that people aren’t being inspired enough and so what are we going to do about it? this has been a really great conversation and i am happy to keep it going. i have learned a lot from everyone and am deeply grateful for the attitude which has been extended to me (if only that happened more when a visitor comes to mass, and please don’t think i mean that visitors should be allowed full participation but just saying that there should be people so involved with the parish that they know when there is some one new. and if they make a mistake and welcome some one who is a member, then it is just another opportunity to meet some else in the parish). let’s all remember that Jesus said: “whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” and He also challenges us to “lay down our lives for our friends” as He did (not explicitly challenges us but implicitly).
without offending you too much! 
). They’re some of the best stories I’ve found on the Net.
