Dare to invite others to meet Jesus

By John and Therese Boucher 
Special to The CFP 

When it came time for Therese’s grandmother, Jeannia, to enter a nursing home, her family couldn’t find a Catholic nursing home or even a home where there was a Sunday Mass. At first, Jeannia was disappointed. But as she settled in, she established a daily routine that revolved around a televised daily Mass and a noontime rosary. She graciously invited anyone who missed parish Masses or needed consolation to join her. Because of her enthusiasm, Grandma’s tiny room was always full.  

Jeannia’s story illustrates another part of sharing our faith – daring to invite someone to join us in the spiritual activities of a welcoming faith community. This can be a caring response to the many people who draw strength from a community like a parish or a Bible study group. Finally, when we invite someone to “come and see,” we offer to accompany that person on a shared journey with a common destination, even if it only involves one tiny step. 

Personal invitation is the keystone in the process of bringing people to Jesus and his body, the Church. We once assisted in a large ecumenical event featuring a Billy Graham Association crusade. We learned that 75% of people who give their lives to Christ in a deeper way at such an evangelizing event have been personally invited and brought there by family and friends.  And these people are often relieved that they can follow up with people of their own faith. 

Unfortunately, many Catholics stopped coming to Mass on Sunday during the pandemic. Bishop McManus’ pastoral letter, “Coming Home to Mass,” rings like a church bell inviting us all to return. But who will hear this bell? Isn’t it better if we leave nothing to chance and offer a personal invitation to pre-pandemic churchgoers? Isn’t it better if we don’t ignore the truth that ‘customers’ need exposure to something new between 7-20 times before they respond? And isn’t it exciting to know that we can offer more than information about some material object? So, let’s be brave and personally invite people to become churchgoers again, or for the first time. 
 

A NEW CHANCE 
 

Remember, we now have a new chance to reach out to Catholics who were not pre-pandemic churchgoers. Studies indicate that 80-85% of Catholics in our country stopped regular churchgoing long before the pandemic. Inviting them back into our community of faith will mean thinking outside the box and asking for inspiration from the Holy Spirit. It will mean talking with relatives, friends, and acquaintances about what brought despair or hope during the pandemic. It might help to share that the Mass is not an “it” for us, but a source of hope and strength.  

Keep in mind that many people stopped going to Mass because they didn’t get anything out of “it.” “The Eucharist is Jesus Christ himself, both divine and human. [And we can encounter this Jesus at Mass.] The Eucharist is a ‘he,’ a person, a divine person.” (Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., “Ask Peter Kreeft – The 100 Most Interesting Questions He’s Ever Been Asked”). We might piggyback our invitation by sharing how we meet Jesus, personally or communally. 
 

RESPOND WITH LOVE 
 

We need to listen without judgment to each person and respond to him or her with love. At the right time, a good beginning might be, “Can you share what going to church has been like for you in the past?” Labels, like fallen away, lapsed, or backsliding Catholic might best be left out of our conversations. Such terms too easily imply blame, rather than open doors to healing. “Never accept a label for a story,” writes Sherry Weddell, author of Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Loving Jesus (Our Sunday Visitor). Only if a person knows that we love them, “as imperfect and struggling as we all are, but each of us in need of Jesus,” as Bishop McManus writes, may they be open to coming “with” us to Jesus and the Mass. 
 

OPPORTUNITIES
 

Here are some spiritual opportunities for inviting others to join us when the time is right:  

• To help collect food for parish-sponsored food pantries.  

• To pray with us for those who have lost family, jobs, or suffered breakdowns in relationships during the pandemic.  

• To help a neighbor in need.  

• To participate in a parish walking club or exercise class. 

• To serve others at a soup kitchen, food pantry, homeless shelter, or walk for hunger. 

• To help with a parish festival or gathering. 

• To come to an online or in-person retreat, prayer group, Bible study, or Mass.  

• To attend a Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Sunday Mass in person.  

You will notice that there are many options for re-entry to church besides Sunday Mass. The Mass may not be the first place for many to return. Some may not be able or prepared to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. When they come to one of these activities, we might ask, “What was this experience like for you?” Then listen to our guest’s observations. Open-ended conversations can bring relationships to a new and deeper spiritual level and open the door for the Lord Jesus to touch lives. Many are hungry for healing attention after a year of deprivation. 

Jesus is calling all of us to the mission of living and sharing the Gospel. It can sound frightening at first, and we may wonder if we are up to the challenge. The simple answer is, “YES!” because we can be confident that God will bless us as we step out to share the love of Christ–and our faith will grow in the process. Pray for others, care for them, share your faith through words, and invite others to join you on the halting journey of emerging from pandemic times. 

– This article was adapted from the June 2020 issue of “The Word Among Us” magazine, wau.org. Used with permission. The book “Sharing the Faith That You Love,” by John and Therese Boucher, from which these articles were adapted, is available at www.bookstore.wau.org and on Amazon.