Comfort, joy in hearing ‘Welcome Home’

By LAUREEN McMAHON

Catholics return to the practice of their faith for many reasons.

Sometimes the desire arises after a traumatic, life-altering event, but probably just as often, the Holy Spirit gives a gentle nudge through books we read and people we meet along life’s journey.

Larry McIntyre grew up in a Catholic home in London, Ont., where he attended Catholic elementary and secondary school.

After graduating from the University of Waterloo, he married and moved to the west coast and settled in Richmond, where he and his wife raised two children.

Caterina Basile / Special to The B.C. Catholic

Church attendance for the couple was spasmodic and, while McIntyre didn’t have a specific problem with Catholic teachings, he felt unconnected to his faith as an adult.

It took his daughter Kristin becoming a teenager for all that to change.

When the 14-year-old began questioning him about God and the Catholic faith, McIntyre was forced to admit that he didn’t know if he was even a Christian, let alone a Catholic.

He decided to go to a nearby church, St. Joseph the Worker, where he was startled when he was asked to introduce himself to his neighbor in the pew and, after Mass, invited to socialize over coffee in the church’s “gathering space.”

Something had changed, and McIntyre wanted to learn more about it.

Welcome Home is a program introduced at St. Joseph the Worker by Sister Cecilia Hudec, SC(H), which provides a safe place for returning Catholics to ask questions and discern the next step in their spiritual practice.

“The top 10 reasons for a person returning to his faith is a desire for deeper meaning in his life,” said Sister Hudec.

“Sometimes childhood experiences surface later in life, reminding them of when they once felt close to God, and this can be the starting point for coming home to the Catholic faith.”

Guilt over leaving the Church and feeling that you don’t deserve forgiveness can bar the way to full communion, Sister Hudec noted.

“Every Catholic can be a minister of welcome, reconciliation, and understanding to those who have stopped practising their faith. Each of us, by reaching out in compassion, in non-judgement, can become a bridge for someone to return to Christ and the Church.”

The Welcome Home team meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at the parish with anyone interested in re-discovering an active faith life.

“We listen to their stories,” said Sister Hudec, “and walk with them in their lives to help them hear God’s call. We are all challenged in life and need to find ways to grow in faith, and so we work as a team to support each other.”

It has been a great joy, said McIntyre, to rediscover his Catholic faith within the safe environment of the Welcome Home program.

His first step, he said, was attending the Alpha program at the church, which invites people to join a parish community for dinner and a discussion of Christian faith.

“Welcome Home,” explained McIntyre, “has been, for me, a wonderful continuation of the Alpha process. My questions about the practice of the Catholic faith today have been answered.

“Although I did not return with a lot of difficult ‘baggage,’ I have seen people who were carrying guilt find peace, acceptance, and a new joy in their daily life.”

McIntyre, a product manager for Kodak, was filled with a desire to give back. He has become a Welcome Home team member in the hope of passing along the great gift of his rediscovered faith to other seekers.

He urges Catholics to extend an invitation to those who may be open to returning to the Church to learn about the Welcome Home program. More information is available from Sister Hudec, 604-272-4779.