For generations, Catholics have been moving from America’s cities to the exurbs beyond the suburbs. In the 30-50 mile “doughnut”) around every city, those identifying themselves as “Catholic” often comprise upwards of half the population.
Catholic Churches in those areas are not filled because most of those exurban Catholics have lapsed, or are in the process of doing so.
They have, to the anguish of faithful Catholic ancestors in Heaven, broken the long chain of souls who held firm to their father’s faith.
The Church guided their ancestors from the poverty of the old countries to the riches of the new. Modern lapses into varying degrees of apostasy prove that it’s as hard to be a faithful Catholic when prosperous as when poor.
But, lapsing because of prosperity brings the same eternal pain that is brought by any other renunciation. So, what is the fate of those who allow themselves and their children to lapse?
Frankly, that fate is something better to be avoided than merely considered. What can we, at our parish, with hundreds of lapsed Catholic around us, do to help?
We can offer a Confirmation Class for those who are of, and beyond, the usual age of Confirmation. On a few Saturday mornings, we can open the same door through which our ancestors entered Heaven. Those who enter into that door may then help and assist the Catholics yet to come.
By offering this opportunity, we do two things:
First: We allow the lapsed to relink themselves to the past while providing them with their own means to find eternal joy in the oldest of Christendom’s churches.
Second: When we who work on their behalf are asked at our own Judgment, “What did you do for My lost sheep?”, we will at least be able to say something.
Reflecting on the coming Judgment, we can see that giving lapsed Catholics an opportunity to be saved is a lot better than doing nothing. And, we are better off if we don’t have to look at the ground when asked that awful question, silently shuffling our feet while hoping that the trapdoor doesn’t open.
So, we ought to be doing something that makes it look as if we want to be giving lapsed Catholics an opportunity to be saved.
