A Heartfelt Letter to Lapsed Catholics

My dearest brothers and sisters in Christ,

The Lord calls to you today! In the stillness, in the quiet. Take care not to deny His invitation, for He is a Father who loves in a way far surpassing any love you’re ever known! Know, even if you do not answer His call, He will continue to pursue you, for He cannot stop loving what He has created. Know you will not be whole until you rest in Him.

He calls to you in the depths of your heart. He calls you to His Church where you can experience the fullness of His love on earth and live out the purpose He created for you. He will show you the answers to your questions and ease your doubts. He will bring clarity to the truth about how He calls you to live – in total surrender to His will, so you can be truly free.

I don’t know you. I don’t know your life experiences. I don’t know how you have come to where you are in your feelings about your faith, God, and the Church. My aim is not to try to convince you of the truth of Church teaching. My only desire is that you be open to what a relationship could be like with your Creator who has you given you abundant ways in which you can deeply experience His love for you and heal the parts of yourself that are broken, wounded and in need of restoration. This is what our faith offers us.

I was once disillusioned by our faith, uninterested in living it out fully, felt content where I was and did not need what it had to offer. After all, there were those who were claiming to live the faith, but were hypocrites in my eyes.

This was before I truly developed a relationship Jesus and really, truly grew to know Him. Not just as my God, but as my friend, my consoler, my healer, my Beloved Savior who truly gave all for me. This was before I experienced His Divine Mercy.

What I know now is that regardless of how others live their lives, whether they are fervent or lukewarm in their faith, live the truth or take and leave as they please, glorify God through their lives or not, it doesn’t change the treasure of beauty, healing and love Jesus wishes to give us through the Sacraments, the Mass and the consolation of His presence in the Eucharist.

He desires that we have a relationship with Him, so He can provide us with unconditional love, strength, and mercy that can be experienced on a physical, mental, and spiritual level. We are meant to experience our faith in our world to the fullest degree possible, in the depths of our hearts with all our senses.

We have the Sacraments and beautiful traditions of the Church to experience His love fully – body, mind and soul. I am here to tell you there is a joy awaiting you in fully experiencing Jesus and the fullness of the Sacraments daily that is unmatched by an earthly joy the world can offer.

You have yet to know true peace, if you haven’t spent time with Jesus on a daily basis in prayer! If you feel the happiness in your life couldn’t be greater, and yet, you have not knelt before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and felt your heart almost to the point of bursting with joy, then you have yet to feel true heavenly joy!

Know Jesus is calling to you. I kindly urge you to find a church and go to Adoration, or at the very least, find a quiet place away from the noise and distractions of life.

Talk to Him as you would a dear friend. Tell Him your concerns, fears and why you are not sure you want to come back to the Church. Tell Him why you are unsure if you can live as a devoted Catholic. He already knows all your thoughts that reside deep in your heart, but it is good to communicate this to Him. This is an important part of developing a relationship with Him, and it is important for us to bring to the light the thoughts, fears and hurts we harbor deep inside. He will shine light upon the truth and mend the wounds that need healing.

Allow Him to immerse you in His Most Adorable and Merciful Heart – for that will be your source of strength, courage, hope and fortitude when faced with the choices you must make between Him and the world. Allow yourself to be immersed in His love, for you must do this daily in order for you to truly know Him. For He is Love.

He will show you the way back to the faith. As long as you continue to come back to Him in prayer and seek to know Him fully, He will show you the truth. For daily prayer is essential to truly knowing Christ. Know Christ will not deny a heart which desires the truth. The truth that is Him. The truth that is Love. The truth that requires total surrender to Him so you can live in true freedom, to the fullest, in body, mind and soul.

My dear brothers and sisters, I leave you with a prayer that has been my own each and every day.
“My Jesus,
I surrender my heart and soul to You. Immerse me in the Love of Your Merciful Heart, my eternal abode and resting place. I am undeserving of Your Mercy, yet You shower me with Your Love. May my life be a testament to Your Love for those who once turned away from You but have returned to rest in the Heart of their Savior. May I seek only to do Your Will always. I am yours. You are mine.”

Immersed in the Love of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary,
Laura Marie Durant