The Bible says to call no man Father, so why do we call our priests ‘Father’?
Find out the answer here!
Check out more of our Q&A section to learn what Catholics believe or how to defend and explain your Catholic Faith at CatholicsComeHome.org!
Happy Feasts of Saints Monica and Augustine!
At Catholics Come Home, we hear from many parents who continually pray for their children to return to the Catholic Church. There are few people who understand these parents’ hearts and struggles better than St. Monica.
St. Monica prayed unceasingly, fasted, and wept for the conversion of her son, Augustine, back to the Catholic Faith from his wayward lifestyle. Before St. Monica’s death, St. Augustine became a practicing Catholic–and he would later go on to become one of the greatest bishops and theologians the Church has ever seen.
“I do not know what there is left for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled. All I wished for was that I might see you a Catholic and a child of Heaven. God granted me even more than this in making you despise earthly felicity and consecrate yourself to His service.” -St. Monica to St. Augustine
If you have children away from the Church (or any family or close friends), pray to St. Monica! In her own words: “Nothing is far from God.”
St. Monica (feast day: August 27) and St. Augustine (feast day: August 28), pray for us!
Invite people home to Rome on the road!
Do you have a Catholics Come Home car magnet on your car? If not, order a car magnet today for you and a friend and evangelize in traffic!
“Just want to let you know that a few days after I put my recently-purchased Catholics Come Home magnet on my car, someone stopped me in the grocery store parking lot to discuss it. He said he was thinking about coming back to Mass. I knew your magnet was going to impact someone; that’s why I wanted to display it. I just didn’t know I was going to get a personal response. Keep up the good work!!!” –Evelyn S. Park Forest, IL
Thank you for supporting Catholics Come Home with your small donation, and for helping invite more Catholics home to the Church!
Feast of the Queenship of Mary
“The feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption and is now celebrated on the octave day of that feast. In his encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pius XII points out that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection and because of her intercessory power.” -read more from AmericanCatholic.org.
Where in Scripture do we see Mary as Queen Mother? Check out CCH theological advisory board member Dr. Scott Hahn’s article: Mary, Holy Mother.
How are you celebrating Mary’s Queenship in your life and home today?
They’re sending them away…But we’re bringing them home
Your prayers and support for Catholics Come Home® are needed more than ever! Here are some updates on religion in our country and on the work Catholics Come Home® is doing to bring more people into the practice of the Faith:
Religiosity declines?
A recent article in the Huffington Post claimed that the “U.S., France and Canada joined Ireland on the top-10 list of countries to have experienced a ‘notable decline in religiosity’ since 2005.” It also mentioned that the number of people in the U.S. who claim to be religious dropped to 60 percent in less than a decade, down from 73 percent just a few years ago. Is religiosity declining in America and around the world? Not if we can help it!
- Catholics Come Home® to launch in Cincinnati and Vancouver!In an effort to evangelize all nations, we are excited to announce the launch of Catholics Come Home® in the Archdiocese of Vancouver—our first international diocesan partner! In addition to Vancouver, Cincinnati will also simultaneously launch Catholics Come Home® in Advent 2012, with commercials airing Dec 13, 2012 – January 20, 2013. The timing couldn’t be more perfect, with the Church’s “Year of Faith” kicking off this November, right before the Advent campaigns! We ask you to please pray for the success of these evangelization campaigns, so more people can return to the practice of Catholicism in the Year of Faith!
- More Inspiring Testimonials:
Fallen-away Catholics return to Church in St. Louis!“I really came home, and I just love it…I returned because I saw those ads. It was like the ads were talking to me. Now every time I do receive communion, I come back to the pew and tears just flow; I feel so good. It’s like a burden has been lifted off me.” –Madge (Madge’s husband, a non-Catholic, will also be entering the Church!)“As time went by, we got kind of lax (about going to Mass) and it became easier
and easier (not to go) … (The Catholics Come Home® commer
cials) caught my eye. I thought they were informative and encouraging to bring me back…I didn’t need to worry. (Coming home) has been great.” –Shirley “I will start RCIA next month. I was baptized a Christian as a young boy in my parents’ church, but I never joined the Catholic Church when we were married 45 years ago.” –Tom (Shirley’s husband)
“We have seen an increase in Mass attendance and in stewardship numbers.” –Fr. Siefert
Your generosity continues to reverse the trend of religious decline in our country and worldwide, so that more Catholics like Madge, Shirley, and Tom can be welcomed home. Thank you for your support and prayers, and for answering Christ’s call to evangelize all souls: those nearby, and around the world!
With the tough economy we need your help more than ever.
Your brother in Christ,
Tom Peterson and your CatholicsComeHome.org team
CatholicsComeHome.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media apostolate, dedicated to producing and airing Catholic evangelism television ads on local, national and international television networks. Catholics Come Home® is guided by a 26 person Advisory Board, including Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Bishop Thomas Olmsted, Bishop Michael Sheridan, Bishop Jaime Soto, Bishop James Conley, and other highly respected theologians and Catholic business executives.
Evangomercial™ and Catolicos Regresen™ are trademarks of Catholics Come Home, Inc. Catholics Come Home® is a Federally Registered Trademark of Catholics Come Home, Inc.
Catholics Come Home® Partner, Archdiocese of Boston, Establishes New Evangelization Office
The impact of the Archdiocese of Boston’s 2011 Catholics Come Home® initiative played a part in inspiring Cardinal Seán to establish an Office of New Evangelization. Read the excerpt from Boston’s The Pilot, below:
Archdiocese has a new tool for the new evangelization
By Christopher S. Pineo
Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley is pictured with Michael M. Lavigne and Episcopal Vicar for the New Evangelization Bishop Arthur Kennedy outside their new Pastoral Center offices Aug. 1. Pilot photo/courtesy CardinalSeansBlog.org
Posted: 8/10/2012
BRAINTREE — After concluding his tenure as rector at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Bishop Arthur L. Kennedy took up his duties as Episcopal Vicar for the New Evangelization with his new assistant Michael M. Lavigne on July 1.
The new office will follow the mandate set by Pope Benedict XVI when he appointed Archbishop Rino Fisichella to head the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. Bishop Kennedy said the new evangelization in the archdiocese will extend programs meant to get Catholics back to Church and regular faith life such as Catholics Come Home® and Why Catholic?
“Our task now is to really begin to address the questions more methodologically, that have been identified in large measure by Pope Benedict and by this new council,” he said.
Bishop Kennedy said Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley spurred the creation of the office out of concern for the need for a new evangelization, a concern that extends well beyond the archdiocese.
“This concern that he has, is a concern of basically the whole Church in the West,” Bishop Kennedy said.
The bishop described the difference between “the old” evangelization, undertaken as the Gospel spread through a world unfamiliar with early Christianity, and the new evangelization, called for in the face of waning support in previously established strongholds of Christianity.
He said the two evangelizations exist alongside each other as some parts of the world find the message anew and some need the message renewed.
"The Best People We Know" Radio Show Interviews CCH Founder & President, Tom Peterson
“The Best People We Know” radio show, hosted by Deb Scott, recently interviewed Catholics Come Home® Founder and President, Tom Peterson. The show’s mission is to motivate and encourage listeners with the best experts and celebrities across the country, sharing fresh, fun, and practical tools to inspire listeners to be their best.
Click here to listen to Tom Peterson’s interview.
Real People, Real Stories
Check out the testimonials page of our CatholicsComeHome.org website. Do you know anyone away from the Church who has a story like this? Consider inviting them to come to Mass with you. Ask them if they’ve thought about returning to the Catholic Church, and invite them home.
Young Adults Return to Church
Your prayers and support for Catholics Come Home® continue to touch souls and spread the Good News around the U.S. and throughout the world! Here is some exciting news about two young adults that I recently met in Houston.
Daniel’s Journey Home
“I came from an Evangelical Protestant background. In the summer after my junior year in college, I was already feeling the tug toward the Catholic Church. Through many conversations and hours of reading, I found myself drawn more closely to the Catholic Church. In the summer of 2008, some Catholics shared with me your commercial, Epic. I also read Scott Hahn’s book, Rome Sweet Home, and thought over the doctrines that divide Catholics and Protestants today. August 2008, I resolved to be received into the Catholic Church. Many other friends and your commercial helped me come into the Church.”
Brenda’s Return to the Catholic Church
“I ended up going through two marriages, two relationships, and many jobs…I forgot all about God. I desperately was searching in the wrong places to feel ‘at home’. I felt in my heart that I needed to give the Catholic Church another try, but I kept fighting it. On Pentecost 2011, I asked in prayer for Jesus to help me. My friend Karla invited me to attend Mass that afternoon, and I did. I went home, and later saw a TV commercial for CatholicsComeHome.org and I went on the website. I then decided to let God lead me, and signed up for RCIA. I am finally Home, and wouldn’t go anywhere else.”
Your generosity continues to evangelize and change lives (of all ages)! We are blessed by any support from your heart, to help love more souls to Heaven.
With the tough economy we need your help more than ever.
Your brother in Christ,
Tom Peterson and your CatholicsComeHome.org team
CatholicsComeHome.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media apostolate, dedicated to producing and airing Catholic evangelism television ads on local, national and international television networks. Catholics Come Home® is guided by a 26 person Advisory Board, including Cardinal Seán O’Malley, Bishop Thomas Olmsted, Bishop Michael Sheridan, Bishop Jaime Soto, Bishop James Conley, and other highly respected theologians and Catholic business executives.
Evangomercial™ and Catolicos Regresen™ are trademarks of Catholics Come Home, Inc. Catholics Come Home® is a Federally Registered Trademark of Catholics Come Home, Inc.
Human Personhood Begins at Conception
How do you respond to arguments that an unborn child is not a human person yet? Learn how in CCH theological advisory board member Dr. Peter Kreeft’s article, “Human Personhood Begins at Conception.”
“The issue I have been asked to argue, the personhood of the fetus, is triply crucial. It is crucial for abortion, abortion is crucial for medical ethics, and medical ethics is crucial for the future of our civilization…”
Read more about abortion and see pro-life commercials by visiting this page of our CatholicsComeHome.org website.
