Refresher before it is too late

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I have seen on this forum and elsewhere cradle Catholics (those born into the faith) who sorely misunderstand the Catholic Church and so have chosen to leave the Church or turn their backs on God altogether. Often it seems when cradle Catholics begin to ask questions about God they look outside the Catholic Church because they feel they know everything there is to know about Catholicism - but they are often very wrong.

I feel a need to educate such Catholics before they turn their back. I don’t know if this is a call to some sort of ministry within my own parish or wider. Does anyone have any suggestions on how we can clear up misconceptions within the members of the Catholic Church about the teachings of the Church? A refresher course on religious education for adults?
 
I think that is a wonderful idea. I am a cradle Catholic who went the route of questioning my faith and really just lapsing for about 10 years. I was fortunate to have my mother break her arm and be forced to drive her to Church every Sunday. The priest really helped me with a lot of my questions and strengthened my faith. It is unfortunate that my mom had to go through that pain, but I really think God was using her to get me back into the Church. Now I work with some kids and I am supposed to be teaching the Confirmation I class this fall.

One of the things I worry about is that the kids (at least the ones I’ve been working with) don’t seem to “get it.” They see Sunday School as just one of those things they have to do and don’t really care to learn about what they are being taught. If the homework and readings are even done, they are done in the car on the way to church. Once they are Confirmed, you really only see them again for Easter and Christmas (if you even see them again). Maybe it is because they are too young to grasp what the Catholic Faith entails. I “refresher course” of sorts would be nice for people in their early 20s (or any age, really) so that they can review the teachings of the faith and be reminded of what exactly the teachings are and why we do what we do.
 
My posts seem to have almost zero impact on this website. Hardly anybody reacts to them. Nevertheless, I don’t know how much good I may be doing and who might need just what I have to say. So, I jump in and comment on new threads.

Sometimes I put a post and then there’s no more activity on that thread! Maybe I hit the mark sometime (not me, but the Holy Spirit).
 
Crumpy said:
My posts seem to have almost zero impact on this website. Hardly anybody reacts to them. Nevertheless, I don’t know how much good I may be doing and who might need just what I have to say. So, I jump in and comment on new threads.

Sometimes I put a post and then there’s no more activity on that thread! Maybe I hit the mark sometime (not me, but the Holy Spirit).
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Probably! 👍
 
I think this is an awesome idea because it is SO TRUE.

Cradle Catholic Revert here… and you are exactly right. You stray away thinking “Been there, done that.” Somehow God brought me back, and when he did, I felt called to evangelization… evanglization in the sense of bringing all the fallen away Catholics back “home to Rome.” (You should see my husband and I, he has always been called to the more Apologetics side of things, and me to the Evangelization of those fallen away… what a team we are! haha!!) I had my reversion in college, which was the best spot for me because I had a Newman Center to fuel my fire!

The class idea is fantastic. We had something called “Catholic Christianity 101.” It was set up as a class that answered questions about the faith. It started at the basics and built up from there. Another priest I talked to once, said they would do a sort of “Open Forum Night,” where anyone could come and ask questions to the priest or lay people, and have questions answered.

Bible studies are always a great way to help people learn about the faith. It helped me greatly in my reversion.

Say some prayers to St. Paul. 😉 He helps me all the time. GOOD LUCK!!
 
I feel your frustration at losing people because they are looking outside for what they just don’t recognize they already have. Unfortunately most RC churches aren’t very dedicated to adult formation. I have often wondered why RC churches don’t offer history courses on how we gave the world the bible, and the life of the earliest Christians. There should be billboards about this, I tell ya.
God has really blessed us with some great online resources and authors that so many “stumble upon” in their journey home.
 
I think for many, they have felt that they “know it all” since they did CCD classes and were confirmed. They never proceed from there. I know in our parish we have tons of classes that are offered for adults, not to mention if they would volunteer to assist in teaching the CCD classes they would relearn a few things. LOL.

Those class ideas are great and maybe present them to your priest.
 
I think it’s a wonderful idea. I am another one of those fallen-away cradle Catholics, and I am only now trying to find my way home. It is overwhelming and at times I feel so lost and I think:“What am I doing, it is way too late for me.” Actually a class for people like me would be a blessing as well!
Definitely go forward with your plans, I am sure there will be many that will reconsider leaving the Church. I wish I could give you advice on how to go about it, but as you probably already guessed, I am not exactly qualified. But if you can spare just one person the regrets and anguish that comes with turning away from the Church, I believe all your hard work will be worth it!
 
Forgot to mention, that anyone that wishes to, may join the RCIA class at our parish. Fallen away Catholics or those just interested in learning more. Also, being a sponsor would help too.
 
I have another idea… do you like to write? Maybe you can start up a blog, if you haven’t already, that is sort of geared towards teaching the faith and share it with people you know. If you are willing to dedicate the time to doing it, maybe they can your blog address or articles in your parish bulletin?
 
=Mel Stones;5491528]I have seen on this forum and elsewhere cradle Catholics (those born into the faith) who sorely misunderstand the Catholic Church and so have chosen to leave the Church or turn their backs on God altogether. Often it seems when cradle Catholics begin to ask questions about God they look outside the Catholic Church because they feel they know everything there is to know about Catholicism - but they are often very wrong.
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I feel a need to educate such Catholics before they turn their back. I don’t know if this is a call to some sort of ministry within my own parish or wider. Does anyone have any suggestions on how we can clear up misconceptions within the members of the Catholic Church about the teachings of the Church? A refresher course on religious education for adults?
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***It is a wonderful idea and greatly needed. However it seems doomed for failure because these same folks either feel that they already know more and know better, or are far past caring. Going to Hell is all down hill, why fight the tide.

But please pursue your paln, Start a program. I tried twice and got nearly zero responce.God willing yo will have better luck. If so come back and tell how you did it.***

Love and prayers,
 
I agree with others who say it might be difficult getting the people who need the class the most to attend classes. Our parish tried doing alpha classes, but so few people showed up, it sort of fizzled out.

THe blogging idea was great. Does your Church have their own website? Maybe writing articles (and you could always enlist others to help) that discuss certain issues is a way to start. Plus, nobody can complain about class times conflicting with work – they can always go online on their own time. People can suggest topics they would like to learn about or have questions about.

I’m really intrigued about how you go about doing whatever you do because there is such a big gap in the ages of the people in our Church. Aside from a handful of couples, there are practically no church goers in their 20s through 40s at our church. So I agree that it is important to hold on to people at get them to come back (or stay) before it is too late and they never come back.

Maybe a youth ministries or young adult program that holds onto people once they are Confirmed and start going through the “dangerous” age of high school and college?

I don’t know, I’m just typing out random thoughts at this point. 🤷
 
Amazon421 said:
I agree with others who say it might be difficult getting the people who need the class the most to attend classes. Our parish tried doing alpha classes, but so few people showed up, it sort of fizzled out.

THe blogging idea was great. Does your Church have their own website? Maybe writing articles (and you could always enlist others to help) that discuss certain issues is a way to start. Plus, nobody can complain about class times conflicting with work – they can always go online on their own time. People can suggest topics they would like to learn about or have questions about.

I’m really intrigued about how you go about doing whatever you do because there is such a big gap in the ages of the people in our Church. Aside from a handful of couples, there are practically no church goers in their 20s through 40s at our church. So I agree that it is important to hold on to people at get them to come back (or stay) before it is too late and they never come back.

Maybe a youth ministries or young adult program that holds onto people once they are Confirmed and start going through the “dangerous” age of high school and college?

I don’t know, I’m just typing out random thoughts at this point. 🤷
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I also think it is a very good idea and I like the website idea too. writing ever think about doing this in a new letter type form that would be sent to their house or passed out in Church? Just another thought but please let us know if you find something that works.
 
Wow!!! I honestly didn’t expect so many responses. Thank you all.

Getting those who need it most to take part will be the biggest challenge. But if God wants me to do this, I have to try.

I’ll let you know how things are progressing.
I will definitely be talking to my priest in the near future about this and the wonderful suggestions you’ve made. If anyone has any more suggestions, please keep them coming. Your prayers on this would also be appreciated.
 
Amazon421 said:
I’m really intrigued about how you go about doing whatever you do because there is such a big gap in the ages of the people in our Church. Aside from a handful of couples, there are practically no church goers in their 20s through 40s at our church. So I agree that it is important to hold on to people at get them to come back (or stay) before it is too late and they never come back.

Maybe a youth ministries or young adult program that holds onto people once they are Confirmed and start going through the “dangerous” age of high school and college?
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My husband and I were just discussing this THIS morning!! We used to live in San Diego, and Diocese of San Diego was getting a really big gathering of young adults… pushing people from their 20s-30s to basically STAY in your faith and keep building up. San Diego State University also has a rapidly growing Catholic Newman Center. It gives hope and to me is proof that there are many young adults who actually DO want college programs and a young adult ministry.

Now we live in San Bernardino County, it is about 2 hours north of San Diego. We moved here a little over a year ago, and from what we have seen (or yet to see), there isn’t anything geared towards young adults. I really really wish their was… it is something I’m really missing from our old diocese.

Oh think of the possibilities! If only we could have staunch Catholics, unwavering in their faith from birth to childhood to teens to college students to young families to middle aged to seniors!! How strong we could be together!!!

The reason I brought up the blog/website idea is I’ve been thinking and praying on it myself. I see so many young adults my age, and those with a new family like we have, are very “blog” and web oriented… it can help plant those seeds of thoughts… I’m slowly trying to come up with ideas and things to write about for my blog to try and “reel in” some peers of mine that are so, well… lukewarm in their faith (if at all!)
 
Mel_Stones said:
Wow!!! I honestly didn’t expect so many responses. Thank you all.

Getting those who need it most to take part will be the biggest challenge. But if God wants me to do this, I have to try.

I’ll let you know how things are progressing.
I will definitely be talking to my priest in the near future about this and the wonderful suggestions you’ve made. If anyone has any more suggestions, please keep them coming. Your prayers on this would also be appreciated.
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I have to tell you, if it doesn’t seem like a big hit, or if you get the response “Oh, well, we tried something like that already…” don’t let it stop you! Some people are quick to say “We did that already,” but, no they haven’t! A different person can bring a whole different level of inspiration, of excitement, of achievement, of motivation!

I spent an entire semester in college not knowing there was a catholic Newman Center on campus. It was NEVER publicized. At that time, there was a couple students, yes a COUPLE. And the campus has about 35,000 students. (Yes, I did the math and research on this… that means there should be 8,000 baptized catholics on that campus!) A big problem was no one knew the place existed!! I approached the parish priest and asked about posting flyers, and his response was, “Well, we tried that… it didn’t really work.”

Flash forward a few months later, three new priests have come, as well as a young Catholic revert fired up to evangelize… 😊 and a few others, we posted fliers ALL the time, EVERYWHERE. And when people started showing up, we would ask, “How did you h ear about the Newman Center?” Well through the fliers!!

So, different scenario… but still, I just wanted to share that so if someone says “Well, we tried a class for adults, and it didn’t work.” Try not to let it stop you or discourage you… your perseverance and motivation can make it work!!
 
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