A Testimony

I have to be honest with you; I struggled with the idea that a holy and good God could ever love someone like me. It was just too good to be true. The very idea of being totally forgiven and loved by the awesome God of creation and Ruler of the whole universe seemed like an Oh-that’s-nice thought. It couldn’t be real. And for a very long time I carried a deep and endless void in my life. I suffered just about every emotion you can imagine: fear, anger, rage, and overpowering loneliness. Depression, rejection, boredom, cynicism, and suicidal thoughts are roads that I have traveled often and know intimately. I abandoned the Church and left the idea of God behind and lived an empty life.

I likely fit very well into the 20-30 something prototype—grew up in a Christian home, discovered doubt, drifted away from God, and found less holy things to replace Him. But by the Grace of God I found my way out through what was for me a supernatural voice in my heart calling me to life and inviting me to come home. When I made that step I was blessed to have people there such as in the VEYO community, who invited me in, who shared their faith and who helped me grow in mine. In short, they were great evangelizers because they were real and authentic in their faith and they were honest and direct about wanting me to grow in mine. Now, being back in the Church leaves me with a yearning to see my generation come closer to Christ, and for me this means stretching the traditional ideas of how we look at evangelization and what the best evangelizing methods are in today’s culture.

I know that many of us might have different ideas on what evangelization is. However, regardless of your perspective, we have to agree that it is not an option for us Christians or for the Church. The Great Commission is a mandate given by Christ himself and meets the deepest need of the human soul. What is clear is that we have to be highly motivated about reaching out to the inactive or the non-practicing or the “un-churched”; we have to be sincere, simple and direct about evangelization because most people won’t come back on there own.

Every time I read the parable the lost sheep I hear Christ calling out to us, begging us to find the people who have fallen away, pleading with us to help them “Come Home”.

There are some successful programs out there which by the grace of God have seen many people come back to the Church. “Catholics, Come Home” is one of them and “Theology on Tap” is another. Both of these are great examples, but I know there is much that we can do locally as individuals or as groups to help others see the great treasure of our faith and embrace it voluntarily, wholeheartedly and happily.

My generation is searching for meaning and for something to hold on to because this world with all of its bells and whistles cannot offer people lasting happiness, only fleeting moments of pleasure. We live amongst a generation of people, especially younger adults, who are desperately searching for something meaningful, something real, something true. And quite simply, this world cannot it, but God can. And, in turn, so does the Church.

I am praying that God will open your heart as He has opened mine. I pray you will hear the cry of so many youth and young adults and will realize what’s at stake for the Church and for whole societies, but most importantly for the souls of these young people we Christ us trying to reach. This is our challenge and our prayer to be willing to step out of our comfort zone and invite people to “Come Home”.