Recently, on a trip to a neighboring diocese for a little down time with a few brother priests, we were told this story over lunch from a priest we knew from our seminary days.
It concerns an elderly priest, still living, who had a reputation for his tenacity in searching out fallen-away Catholics and bringing them back to the fold. He would go to great lengths in finding those in his parish who were lapsed Catholics. After finding their addresses, he would pay them a visit.
On one particular day, after knocking on the front door of an elderly couple’s home within his parish, he was met by the man of the house whose language would make a drunken sailor blush. To put it bluntly, he was cussed out royally by the angry man. Included in the angry outburst were the instructions to never return.
Undaunted, he returned a short time later and sprinkled holy water around the outside of the house and went back to his rectory and started to pray and, I am sure, offer acts of penance for the lost sheep.
After a few weeks he returned once again and after knocking on the door was again met by the man of the house who greeted him with anger and cursing.
The priest left happy and joyful, thinking, ‘That was much better! The cuss words were not as bad as before!’ He left thinking, ‘I will return again in a few more weeks for another visit!’
I wonder how many priests would have returned for a second visit? I wonder how many priests would have planned a third visit after having received such treatment? The said priest returned to his rectory and continued praying for the fallen away couple.
Several weeks later, moments after knocking on the front door, he found himself sitting at the couple’s kitchen table having coffee with them. Soon they were back in the Church and within six months they both died and had beautiful Catholic funerals.
It was evident that the old priest had the parable of the lost sheep on his mind the whole time:
"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing … I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need not repentance" (Lk 15:3-7).
Let the story outlined above serve as a lesson to all of us. Let us never give up on a fallen away relative, friend or stranger.
Let us learn from the above mentioned priest how important prayer and penance is. Let us also remember that many conversions take a long time, and a lot of prayer and penance.
Finally, let us recall the words of St. Ambrose to St. Monica about her wayward son St. Augustine before his famous conversion: "God does not ignore the prayers of a mother!" The same goes for a father, sibling, aunt, uncle, or friend.
Sts. Ambrose, Monica and Augustine, pray for us!!
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