For Adults Only: Why Go Back to Confession

A Free Catholic Booklet by Bud Macfarlane



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About This Booklet

This 24-page extended length booklet is designed to persuade a fallen-away Catholic who harbors strong negative feelings about religion to return to the practice of the faith through the Sacrament of Confession. While never confrontational in tone, the booklet implicitly presents to the reader a direct challenge to reconsider foundational truths—something non-practicing Catholic rarely encounter. The mere act of beginning to read this booklet is therefore a rare opportunity for a reader to respond to God's grace and reconsider his or her entire life path.

For Adults Only follows a carefully crafted appeal to reason, building on the nearly universal belief in the immortal nature of man followed by a reflection on the reality of free-will and personal moral responsibility. The reader is then introduced a profound but classically traditional understanding of the Sacrament of Baptism as a gift from God which gives people the capacity to accept religious truths.

From there, it boldly but rationally reintroduces the concept of hell as a place of eternal damnation from a surprisingly modern philosophical perspective. Based on this foundation, the booklet then introduces the crucial concept of supernatural absolution and the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a loving fashion. A strong emphasis is placed on the practical aspects of returning after a long lapse—an approach successfully used in our shorter booklet, Going Back to Confession After Years or Decades.

Note From the Author

Eighty percent of baptized Catholics no longer practice their faith, and few ever reach out for them. This is heartbreaking. I wrote this booklet so you can touch their lives. Even though it relies almost exclusively on appealing every person's ability to follow simple logical pathways, For Adults Only came from a deep longing to reach out to good-hearted people who have lost their way, often through very little fault of their own. Supplemented by your prayers and God's grace, I believe this booklet will gently guide many people back to Christ and the practice of our beloved Faith.

My goal was to introduce the reader to a progression of related ideas while standing "with" him, shoulder to shoulder, if you will, not "across" from him. I loving crafted each word to engender, with as little friction possible, a series of mental nods—easy and agreeable "Yeses":

Yes, I will live beyond death. Yes, I have free will and am responsible for my moral choices. Yes, it makes sense that accepting religious truth requires help from God—help provided at my baptism. Yes, if I live forever and have free will, then its worth considering whether hell exists in a mature way. And if hell does exist, rather than shy away from responsibility, it makes sense to turn to God for supernatural transformation in Confession.

This booklet is not about clever arguments or emotional manipulation. It relies on truths that never go out of style. It is not confrontational. It assumes the reader, regardless of his emotional orientation toward religion, is open-minded and willing to consider new ideas. It is therefore an opportunity for God's grace to act upon a person's soul through his capacity to reason and the universal (but often hidden) desire for union with Him forever.

So let us seek after the lost eighty percent using this booklet. "Ask and you shall receive." This booklet is a way for us to ask God to bring back the lost sheep He loves beyond all human reason and understanding.

About the Author

Bud MacfarlaneOne of the most popular Catholic novelists in America, Bud Macfarlane is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a father of four. In 1991 he started the Mary Foundation, the world's largest producer of Catholic CDs and booklets. Sign up for his monthly email newsletter or read his articles.

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