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This article is an excerpt from Brandon Vogt’s book, Return: How to Draw Your Child Back to the Church.
“My son is totally gone,” Dianne explained. “I love him, and I really hope he’ll see the light one day, but there’s absolutely no way he’ll ever come back to the Church. It’s hopeless.”
Many parents feel this borderline despair. They look at how far their children have drifted, and they can’t see any possible way they would return to the Church. Their children show zero interest in religious things, or they’ve developed such strong feelings against the Church that it would take a miracle for them to come back.
But what I’ve learned time and again, talking with many parents and young adults, is that this is one of the most common and devastating myths. No child is hopeless, and there is always a path back to the Church.
How do we know?
Because your child is ultimately in God’s hands, who loves him even more than you do. He wants him back more than you do, and in his providence, he can do anything.
But when we believe this myth that there’s no hope, we become jaded and frozen. We think, “The situation’s hopeless. There’s nothing I can do, so I won’t even try.”
That myth is just one of many, and each of them can seriously prevent you from making headway with your child. Today, we’ll carefully expose each of these myths, clearing our line of sight so we can better see how to facilitate your child’s return.
Myth #1: “They’ll come back eventually once they get married or have kids.”
Continued below.
"No Child is Hopeless": The 5 Big Myths About Fallen-Away Catholics |
“My son is totally gone,” Dianne explained. “I love him, and I really hope he’ll see the light one day, but there’s absolutely no way he’ll ever come back to the Church. It’s hopeless.”
Many parents feel this borderline despair. They look at how far their children have drifted, and they can’t see any possible way they would return to the Church. Their children show zero interest in religious things, or they’ve developed such strong feelings against the Church that it would take a miracle for them to come back.
But what I’ve learned time and again, talking with many parents and young adults, is that this is one of the most common and devastating myths. No child is hopeless, and there is always a path back to the Church.
How do we know?
Because your child is ultimately in God’s hands, who loves him even more than you do. He wants him back more than you do, and in his providence, he can do anything.
But when we believe this myth that there’s no hope, we become jaded and frozen. We think, “The situation’s hopeless. There’s nothing I can do, so I won’t even try.”
That myth is just one of many, and each of them can seriously prevent you from making headway with your child. Today, we’ll carefully expose each of these myths, clearing our line of sight so we can better see how to facilitate your child’s return.
Myth #1: “They’ll come back eventually once they get married or have kids.”
Continued below.
"No Child is Hopeless": The 5 Big Myths About Fallen-Away Catholics |
