Sometimes, I believe the best defense can be a strong offense, provided it is done with love, charity, and a genuine goal of leading your friend to the Truth. You need to point out to him that the particular protestant youth group he is now attending is NOT OF GOD! (Please note, that I am NOT trying to level this allegation against all protestant youth groups.) Look at this:
Ephesians 4:29 “Never let evil talk pass your lips; say only the good things men need to hear, things that will really help them.”
Ask your friend if his protestant youth group’s hateful lies and slander against the Catholic Church fall under the category of “the good things men need to hear, things that will really help them,” or if they fall under the category of “evil talk.” Ask him if hearing the Catholic Church spoken of that way makes him want to be more loving and draws him closer to God, or if instead, it just fills him with disdain towards people that he otherwise would have felt positively or indifferently towards.
1 John 4:20 “If anyone says, ‘My love is fixed on God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. One who has no love for the brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen.”
Ask your friend what he sees in terms of “love” that his protestant youth group shows toward their Catholic brothers, and realize what this verse is saying.
As for the Eucharist being the Real Presense, show him what the early Church Fathers believed. I think you can find that information on this website. If not, go to
staycatholic.com and read what the early Church Fathers said about the Real Presense. Also, be sure that he realizes that it is through the Power of The Holy Spirit that the priests concecrate the Eucharist, and NOT through their own power. Remind him also, that it was through The Holy Spirit that Jesus performed miracles. Furthermore, point out how Jesus reacted when the Pharisees tried to claim that he was acting under an evil authority. If your friend’s youth group is associating the Catholic Eucharist with paganism, does that in some way differ from the Pharisee’s attitudes towards the miracles of Jesus? Refer him to Matthew 12:22-37, and tell him to think of that before he ever considers associating the work of The Holy Spirit with paganism, again.
Now, the big issue to overcome is the girlfriend. The fact that he would change his religion over her suggests that he is placing her over God, which is very dangerous territory. When young men are warned of the dangers of placing their lustful desires toward women ahead of trust and obedience to God, they need to see examples of what happened to other men who made the mistake of placing women ahead of God. Examples would include Eve’s manipulation of Adam (Genesis 3:6) which led to the fall of man; Sarah’s manipulation of Abraham (Genesis 16:2) Some people may disagree with me that by listening to Sarah here, Abraham was not fully trusting God, but either way, we can’t even begin to fathom the extremity of the consequences of Abraham having taken Sarah’s advice, here; Delilah’s seduction of Samson (Judges 16:4-21) which led to his capture that included his eyes being gouged out and ultimately his death; Bathsheba’s seduction of David (2 Samuel 11) which led to a murder, a miscarriage, and hurt his relationship with God; Solomon and his foreign wives (1 Kings 11:4) which led to idolatry and a division among God’s people; Jezebel’s seduction of Ahab (1 Kings 16:21) which led to the murder of prophets and Ahab disgracing Israel; and Sapphira’s coaxing of Ananias (Acts 5:1-10) which spelled instant death for them both. I heard a rumor that Yoko Ono brought John Lennon away from Christ, too.
Finally, I’d recommend the book By What Authority by Mark Shea. It is excellent.
I hope this helps.
