Real Catholic Blog

We are called to prayer, fasting and sacrifice during Lent. As for prayer, what better way to pray than the Rosary. Even better, pray the Rosary at Eucharistic Adoration. There most likely is a parish or community in your area that has a constant, if not 24-hour, adoration. At the very least, many parishes offer adoration during Lent on Fridays after Stations of the Cross.

Since Lent is about drawing closer to Jesus and his redemption for our sins, praying the Rosary is a powerful way to reach out to our Lord — and the Blessed Mother. Doing so anywhere — by yourself, in a group, silent or out loud — is a very spiritual and tangible way of drawing near Jesus. Doing so at Eucharistic Adoration is especially spiritually fulfilling. There are five mysteries of the Rosary. I have found the Sorrowful Mysteries during Lent, as they are prayed on Fridays, particularly special as they instigate a self-inspection we all should put ourselves through.

Catholics Come Home explains more about the Rosary:

The Rosary is an ancient and powerful prayer that the faithful have been praying for over 800 years. In this video you will see the 20 Mysteries of the Rosary, which include events of the life of Christ and Mary that are meditated upon while reciting the prayers. Every believer in Jesus Christ should honor His mother by praying the Rosary, and in return she will bring you closer to her Son.

And if you object to the Rosary because you don’t think that the Hail Mary is a legitimate prayer, then watch my video “Every Christian should pray the Hail Mary,” and you will see the Biblical basis for the Hail Mary.

The Rosary is a powerful and special way to reach out to Jesus and seek His intercession as well as that of the Blessed Mother.

Catholics Come Home posted the video below on its YouTube Channel. It’s entitled, “The Bible proves Catholic beliefs that most protestants deny.” Although it is short, it is powerful, and debunks a few of the primary objections some protestants have toward Catholicism.

Of course, the fact that Catholic teaching comes from the Bible (and not from “some old men in Rome”) should not come as a surprise to anyone. Still, some people (Catholic and protestant) have been conditioned to believe otherwise. But, the fact is, every teaching of the Catholic Church is grounded in Scripture. Otherwise, we could not be one, true, apostolic, universal church. As CCH explains, the video proves Catholic teachings, using Biblical passages, that most protestants deny, including: 

Peter was the first Pope, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of Confession, The Bible alone is not sufficient, and justification by faith and works.

It should be noted that Catholics do consider protestants our separated brothers and sisters. And anyone who is Baptized “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” and believes in Jesus Christ is considered a Christian. But it is within the Catholic faith that the fullness of God’s revealed truth is found.

This video is a great primer on apologetics. Always remember, everything we believe is the Truth and it is the Truth because it is directly from Scripture. 

As I’ve written about previously — and if you’ve even lightly perused this blog, you would know — we’re big fans of Catholics Come Home, an organization dedicated to reinvigorating the spirit of those Catholics who have fallen away from the Faith. I’ve also posted its second video (”Movie”)here and its third (”Testimonials”) here. They are only a minute or two long, and worth viewing — even the most devout will be touched — then passing on, especially to those who need the spiritual help.

Last year, CCH had a big success. Buying commercial time on local television stations in the Diocese of Phoenix, it was responsible for bringing back to the Church 90,000 people. It has done this in other areas as well, and its goal is to undertake a media campaign in every American diocese. Earlier this week, it announced it will buy media time in the Diocese of Sacramento.

Reports the Catholic News Agency:

Hoping to encourage at least 100,000 non-practicing Catholics to return to church, the Diocese of Sacramento is preparing a “come home” advertising campaign for this December and January.

At Mass over the next several weeks, church leaders will outline the program and ask parishioners to help pay for the ads. The ads are produced by the Catholics Come Home project.

“There’s a large number of people who have left the church and are waiting for an invitation to come back,” Msgr. James Murphy, vicar general of the diocese, told the Sacramento Bee. “This is their invitation.”

Currently, eight other dioceses are running the CCH ads. We pray for a remarkable success in those dioceses as well as in Sacramento, and look forward to more great work — and the resulting Church homecomings — in the future from Catholics Come Home.

Where do you belong? Do you know someone who is longing to belong? Maybe they won’t admit it, but deep down they know it. You know it, too. Encourage whoever it is to return to the Catholic Church. Share this video with him or her, or them. Perhaps the people you share this with will see themselves in these testimonials and again realize the Peace that comes when walking through the doors of the Catholic Church. It is called “Testimonials” and is the third of three videos from Catholics Come Home. (Click here to view and share “Epic” and here to view and share “Movie.”)

People feel the Peace and Love that embrace them when coming home to the Catholic Church.

What if your life was a movie . . . what would you like edited out of it? Or placed into it? It’s a moot point because we can’t change the past. But we can re-establish a relationship with God, our Father. If you know any Catholics who have left the faith, you know they must be in some type of spiritual pain. Bring them home, where, with a renewed faith, all is possible and true hope exists. Share this two-minute Catholics Come Home video with them, entitled, ”Movie.” (To learn more about CCH, please see this previous post and view and share the video there, entitled, “Epic.”)

Just as a good movie needs a good director, a good life needs good direction. Do you know someone whose needs to come home to the Catholic Church?

If you are not familiar with Catholics Come Home, take some time to do so. It does great work.

You may have seen its videos on EWTN, or if you live in the Diocese of Phoenix you may know its work first hand. Its mission is to bring back Catholics who have left the Church for whatever reason or reasons, and it is doing so through modern media techniques. It has produced three world class videos/commercials that inspire even the hardest hearts.

While it has received air time on EWTN, through the Internet and some news programs, CCH now is hitting its stride. In the last year it developed a plan to buy commerical air time in each diocese in the country. It started in the Phoenix Diocese during Lent 2008 and was responsible for bringing back to the Church 92,000 Catholics (see CNS article here).

We are called to bring people to the Lord. A good place to start is reaching out to family, friends, associates, even people we don’t know that well, who have stopped attending church. If you think it’s an odd proposition, remember, Jesus sent the Apostles out to visit strangers and preach to them.

When the priest ends Mass with “Let us now go forth to love and serve the Lord,” it is our commission to spread His Word. As Pope Benedict XVI said at his first World Youth Day homily in 2005: Every day we have good news we can’t wait to share with family and friends — good grades at school, a promotion at work — but how often do we share the Good News of the Gospel?

Probably not often. But a good way to start is to share the Catholic Come Home videos. (Forward this link with the first video. We’ll post the others in the near future.) Visit its Web page and find out how you can help it with its goal, and see if you can facilitate its work in your diocese. It can also provide tips as to what you can do within your parish. Or simply speak to that someone you are concerned about and ask them to come to Church with you Sunday.

A priest I know told the story of a woman who told him she wanted to come back to the Church, but had been away for years and didn’t know how. He replied, “Just come back.” It’s not complicated. 

An epic video worth sharing.