{"id":3031,"date":"2011-10-26T23:06:27","date_gmt":"2011-10-27T05:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=3031"},"modified":"2011-10-26T23:06:27","modified_gmt":"2011-10-27T05:06:27","slug":"the-church-is-for-sinners-dont-forget-to-invite-them-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2011\/10\/26\/the-church-is-for-sinners-dont-forget-to-invite-them-in\/","title":{"rendered":"The Church is for Sinners…Don’t Forget to Invite Them In!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Catholic Church is for sinners.<\/p>\n

If you don’t have any…you can’t be a member.<\/p>\n

It’s as simple as that. And, I don’t\u00a0think many would refute it.<\/p>\n

However, I\u00a0think our viewpoint is sometimes completely different.<\/p>\n

And, that difference can keep us from being effective evangelizers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What do I mean? Let’s take a look.
\n<\/p>\n

An evangelizing moment<\/h2>\n

Infant baptism preparation classes are an evangelizing moment<\/a> in Church ministry.<\/p>\n

When someone comes to get their first child baptized, I have them go through a prep class. They learn what Baptism is and what it does. They talk about\u00a0the theological significance as well as\u00a0the practical aspects (did you know you\u00a0should give\u00a0the priest a stipend?).<\/p>\n

The obvious reason for this class is they need to understand what’s happening as well as their\u00a0responsibilities\u00a0as Christian parents, which are substantial.<\/p>\n

The less obvious reason is, these are young couples are often estranged from\u00a0the Church. Starting a family gets them\u00a0thinking\u00a0about God again. We want to capitalize on that.<\/p>\n

The sticking point\u00a0with evangelization<\/h2>\n

There are several couples that do these classes for me and sometimes they get frustrated.\u00a0These are people really trying hard to live their faith\u00a0and do the right things to raise their kids\u00a0Catholic.<\/p>\n

It’s disheartening to see these young couples not practicing at all and not doing any of those things. They\u00a0aren’t registered in the parish,\u00a0don’t go to Mass, don’t have a\u00a0Christian name picked out, don’t have good Catholic godparents, and sometimes it’s years before they come to get their child baptized.<\/p>\n

I’ve had\u00a0people quit the baptismal prep ministry because it gets them too upset…and\u00a0with good reason. Those things are important.<\/p>\n

But something’s slightly off with that viewpoint.<\/p>\n

A mistaken viewpoint of the Church<\/h2>\n

All of us sometimes have the idea that the Church is for the\u00a0people who have arrived…who have things figured out.\u00a0The Church is like a club for the people who do the right things.<\/p>\n

Church\u00a0people go to Mass, confession, and coffee shop. They send their kids to Catholic school, volunteer, tithe, and say the rosary.<\/p>\n

It’s not a conscious thought, but it’s there.<\/p>\n

The Church is not for the\u00a0people who have arrived. It’s exactly the opposite.\u00a0<\/strong>The Church is like a hospital for sinners. Who’s in a hospital? Sick people. They’re there to get healed.<\/p>\n

The Church is the place where the spiritually sick go to get healed.<\/p>\n

Evangelization takeaway<\/h2>\n

The thing\u00a0about baptismal prep is it’s an evangelizing ministry<\/a>. The\u00a0people you meet when you’re evangelizing aren’t always in\u00a0the right place when you first encounter them.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s your job to get them there. To awaken them to the\u00a0beauty and wonder of the Catholic Faith.<\/p>\n

The Church is\u00a0the place where spiritually sick\u00a0people go to get healed.<\/p>\n

If you see the Church this way, it makes it easier for you to accept those that don’t seem like they belong. The ones that don’t do the right things, or don’t know and follow Church teachings.<\/p>\n

Show them acceptance, show them love, show them the truth<\/a>, and help them\u00a0understand how to live well<\/a>. Then, the “right things” will be something they do\u00a0because God’s love is welling up from within them. Not just because it’s the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

Image: dream designs \/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Catholic Church is for sinners. If you don’t have any…you can’t be a member. It’s as simple as that. And, I don’t\u00a0think many would refute it. However, I\u00a0think our viewpoint is sometimes completely different. And, that difference can keep us from being effective evangelizers. What do I mean? Let’s take a look.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evangelization-2","post-wrapper","thrv_wrapper"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Church is for Sinners...Don't Forget to Invite Them In! - Marc Cardaronella<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2011\/10\/26\/the-church-is-for-sinners-dont-forget-to-invite-them-in\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Church is for Sinners...Don't Forget to Invite Them In! - Marc Cardaronella\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Catholic Church is for sinners. If you don’t have any…you can’t be a member. It’s as simple as that. And, I don’t\u00a0think many would refute it. However, I\u00a0think our viewpoint is sometimes completely different. And, that difference can keep us from being effective evangelizers. What do I mean? 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