Your child or grandchild has fallen away from the faith, what should you do? Today, Dave “The Man” VanVickle and I are joined by Brandon Vogt from Word on Fire to discuss his approach rescuing fallen away family members. He discusses the cultural roadblocks in evangelization we face today, and gives us practical ways to engage in conversations with our loved ones who have turned away from Christ.
Snippet from the Show
“You cannot diminish the power of a parents persistent prayer.”
Shownotes
Practical Takeaways
- Equip yourself, love and know your faith. Read good Catholic books and learn more about the faith yourself. Get your soul in the right place.
- Pray and fast for your loved ones.
- Build a relationship of trust and love. Your loved ones need to know that you will their good and that you love them unconditionally.
- Ask questions more than you make statements. By asking questions, you can identify where your loved ones stand on certain topics.Listen to them first and get to try to understand their experiences.
- If your loved ones have left the Church because of a bad experience with the Church, respond with compassion and empathy.Help them see that the Church Is bigger than a negative isolated incident. Apologize on behalf of the Church, and help them to see that their experience is not representative of the whole Church. Remind them that the human side of the church is always in need of reform.
- Ask people what they think the Church teaches about sexual morality. Clarify the Church’s teaching on the difficult topics such as same-sex attraction, and transgenderism.
- Point loved ones towards the renewal in intellectualism so they can understand the richness of the Catholic faith.
Resources
- Email us at eksb@ascensionpress.com
- Text “EKSB” to 33-777 to subscribe and be added to Gomer and Dave’s email list
- Visit Dave’s website www.thecatholictruthaboutangelsanddemons.com and www.artofevangelization.com
- Visit Mike’s website at www.layevangelist.com
- Ascension is pleased to offer our new and improved online bible study programs and sacramental preparation programs digitally to help you minister with flexibility. Go to ascensionpress.com to view all our offerings.
Meet Your Hosts
Michael “Gomer” Gormley
Michael has been leading evangelization and ministry efforts for the past ten years, both as a full-time parish staff member and as a speaker and consultant for parishes, dioceses, and Catholic campus ministries.
Mike is also the founder and creative director of LayEvangelist.com, and the producer and cohost of a Catholic young adult podcast Catching Foxes, which discusses the collision of Faith and Culture.
He is married to his college sweetheart, Shannon, and they have about 1,000 children and get about 3 hours of sleep a night, which is alright by him.
Dave VanVickle
Dave VanVickle fell in love with the Lord at the age of fourteen and has since dedicated his life to bringing others into a radical relationship with Christ.
He is a speaker and retreat leader who focuses on proclaiming the universal call to holiness, authentic Catholic spirituality, spiritual warfare and deliverance. Additionally, Dave has over ten years of experience assisting Priests with their ministries of exorcism and deliverance.
Dave resides in Pittsburgh with his wife Amber and their five children: Sam, Max, Judah, Josie and Louisa.
