Abstract
Working with our parish ministry that encourages inactive Catholics to
return to the Catholic Church, I became concerned that while we were inviting
inactive Catholics to return, we were not offering them an opportunity to enhance
their spiritual development within the Catholic Church. After listening to
recently returning Catholics and the Catholics Returning Home team, I decided
that a day retreat would be a way to address this spiritual need. To explain how
this idea evolved, it would be helpful to outline our Catholics Returning Home
process. Our parish program called, “Catholics Returning Home,” helps people
who have been away from the Roman Catholic Church for whatever reason to
renew their relationship with the Catholic Church. Three times a year, we extend
a special invitation to those who are interested in becoming active again in the
Catholic Church to join us for informal listening sessions and an update of the
Catholic faith. These sessions are facilitated by former non-practicing Catholics.
