Bringing them back home

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

U.S. Catholic families, despite their differences, share one common sadness: One or more members who have left the church.

While "fallen away Catholics" have always been a reality, their numbers have grown in the last 40 years - often for reasons that have nothing to do with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council or even cultural changes. How large is the problem? Consider: The largest denomination in the U.S. is Roman Catholics; the second largest is alienated Catholics.

A new book, It's Not the Same Without You: Coming Home to the Catholic Church by Mitch Finley (Image Books/Doubleday), uses interviews with Catholics who have left, some of whom have returned to explore the problem and solutions.

While the book was reviewed on this page (12/12 [print edition only]), it deserves mention again and a hearty recommendation for all Catholics, even those who may be bothered by the author's candor and honesty.

The book considers why people have left, why some return, why some don't, how to bring them back and new theological understandings since Vatican II.

Concerning the latter, here is my favorite: "In the Mass the bread and wine, while retaining the appearance of bread and wine, becomes in substance and in reality the whole person of the risen Christ, and this is the Lord Jesus we receive in Holy Communion" (pp. 80-81).

Because we receive the risen Christ in Communion, we are receiving the "body and blood" transformed by the Resurrection into the "Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ" (p. 80).

That explanation is both far more powerful than what's in the Baltimore Catechism and an eloquent reason to join in the Catholic Church's ultimate treasure, the Eucharistic feast.