How to draw your child back to the Church!

This is the coolest thing. I've been waiting for this.

My friend Brandon Vogt, who works for Bishop Robert Barron and Word on Fire, has done something extraordinary and so very needed in our Church today. He has put together a game plan for how to help our lost children come home to the Church.

Brandon is a social media expert and a holy, brilliant evangelist (as well as a longtime friend of the Bubble!), and he has spoken at numerous Catholic conferences over the past years. The most common question he hears at these gatherings, numbering hundreds of times, is some version of, “My son/daughter has left the faith and I’m devastated. What should I do?” His other Catholic speaker friends confirm the same thing, and I can confirm it, too; it’s a huge problem, weighing heavily on Catholic parents and grandparents everywhere.

This is so near and dear to my own heart, because as you know from my own story, I was one of those lost Catholics who drifted far from the practice of the Faith, starting in high school, but really kicking in at my (Catholic) university. My drifting led me to all but leave Catholicism by the time I was a wife and mother. Brandon knows well that it's a "drifting", and not some dramatic break, that is the mode of separation for most of us who stop practicing.

God used my mother -- and her strategic, powerful, and yet deceptively simple words -- to set me on the path back to the Church and into a life of grace and a zeal for evangelism. It's crazy when I think about it, and I shudder to think where I would be if my mom had never said those simple words or followed up with one easy resource to set me on my course back to Christ and His Church. (And if you haven't read how that happened, the full story is here.)

So when Brandon told me a couple of months ago that he had designed a whole program to help parents draw their children back to the Church, I was so thrilled! I was able to read the Return book (simple, clear, systematic, tactical), and I knew he had something special.

For free resources, go to returnresources.com

Even more special to me and to my husband personally, Brandon had (unknown to us!) included my mother-in-law's conversion story in the book! We are coming upon the one-year anniversary of her holy death, and I can't think of a more fitting tribute than to have her story told as a help in bringing others to the Church. Carol would have been blown away, and so pleased.

Cutting to the chase: If you have a child or grandchild who has left the Church, please consider what Brandon has to offer. There is so much wisdom in this program, and a lineup of amazing Catholics -- including Dr. Ralph Martin, Dr. Scott Hahn, Trent Horn, Jennifer Fulwiler, Fr. Mitch Pacwa, Matthew Kelly, Msgr. Charles Pope, Leah Darrow, Mark Shea, Bishop Barron (of course!) and many more who are in the trenches -- have wholeheartedly endorsed and contributed to RETURN.

You may be someone who can relate to the heartache of the woman and her son in this one-minute video:

(C'mon, you weren't expecting that twist, were you? I wasn't!)

For more information on Brandon's great work to bring your fallen-away children home, click here:

RETURN: The Game Plan

You'll have the opportunity to access oodles of resources, speakers, strategies, a FAQs page, and Brandon's direct email for any questions you have. One thing I love about Brandon is that he understands the power of clarity and practicality when trying to reach the lost sheep. Clarity, truth, love, and simple steps -- practical steps, not just theory or generalizing -- are the key.

I can't wait to see the fruits of this project, in the gathering of many souls back to the bosom of Holy Mother Church.

Brandon, I can't thank you enough, my friend! My mom was instrumental in bringing me back home, and now it's time for other moms and dads to learn how to do what my mom did for me.