Something I Want to Say to the Occasional Church-Goer

Dear occasional church-goer,

I’m so happy that you decided to come to church for Easter!

Maybe you came because you like to come for the big holidays, like Christmas and Easter. Maybe you came because that’s what your family does before a big meal. Maybe you came to please your mother, or spouse. Maybe you came because you feel like something is missing in your life and now seems like a good time to look to religion.

Whatever your reason, I’m so glad you’re here!

I hope that you find what your heart needs while you are here. Or at least an inkling that this is the direction to look in.

By the way, I was just like you once. Though I was raised Catholic, I mostly ignored church for many years in my youth. I came on these big holidays, but it was because that’s what everyone else was doing. I still wanted to be counted as Catholic, even though my faith was on life-support.

One day at a religious activity I was blindsided, as God spoke to my heart in a deep and powerful and unexpected way. It wasn’t in words, but he told me that he loved me, that he awaited me.

He is awaiting your return, too.

One of the things I learned when I came back to church is that there was a lot I hadn’t really figured out. But in some of the things I read and the relationships I entered into I found answers to some of the questions that were dogging me. Questions about my purpose, about who I was really, and about how to live a really meaningful life.

I discovered that church is good! That I really needed it. That I needed the people I met there.

Now brace yourself, because we aren’t perfect by any stretch. In fact, you might even encounter rudeness while you are here. For example, a lot tend to hug the outside of the pews, making people climb over us to get a seat. Sorry about that...

Also, some of us have entitlement issues. We might act like people who are coming back are a bother to us, that we have more right to church because we’ve been here all along. So we might harumpf at our normal spot in church being taken and greet you with less than a smile. Sorry about that, too.

We know we need to be better.

But at the end of the day, even though our own weaknesses show in so many ways, we know that God is perfect. We are here because we need him, not because we are so put together and because we have it all figured out.

So despite all that is lacking, would you consider sticking around for a while?

My prayers are with you today, friend. I pray that God our Father would touch your heart in a special way this year, and fan into flame whatever motivation brought you here today. We are better with you than without you.

Happy Easter.