CatholicNews Dec 21, 2008

You Can Go Home Again

People leave the Catholic Church for a host of reasons,
but exactly what brings them back?
home again
Kristin Peterson is a writer from Oak Park, Illinois.
For many Catholics it is a Sunday routine,
but for Laura Bendini, going back to church
on Sunday was extremely intimidating. For
the first two weeks she didn’t even make it
inside. She couldn’t find parking outside of
St. Charles Borromeo Church in Arlington,
Virginia, so she just went home, somewhat
relieved. When she did make it inside she
snuck up to the balcony and stood in the
back, behind all the families with squirming
and squealing kids.
Bendini didn’t remember when to sit,
stand, or kneel, and she stood in silence
as everyone else recited the creed. She
had been baptized Catholic and received
her First Communion, but hadn’t gone to
church much since then. Now in her 30s…
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