How to get your Husband to go to Mass. ( or your wife )

   Before I answer the question "How do I get my husband to go to Mass?, I would like to start off with a true story of hope for those of you who feel like giving up on your stubborn Husbands all together.

   My wife and I have a wonderful friend who we met just six years ago, her name is Helen. Helen is a very devout Catholic woman who loves Jesus and his Blessed mother very dearly. She attends daily Mass, prays fervently and is a living example of Christ’s love. We often invited her to join the Legion of Mary (our devotional group)as an active member. We even suggested she come with her husband. That is when we found out a very interesting fact about Helen, she was married to a Jewish man. Wow, that surprised us both. They had been married for around 50 years, but she said he was too stubborn to ever give Catholicism a chance. "If she couldn’t get her husband to convert, who could?", I remember we both thought. Though she never did join as an active member Helen did remain a praying member. We saw her often in Mass.

One day while visiting a sick Priest at St. Jude Hospital, we ran into Helen in the hall. She was visiting her husband who was very ill. Helen looked worried but also happy. She hurried over to us and began to share. My husband is very sick she explained, but guess what. He converted, my husband converted. After 50 years of praying for him he converted. He said to her, "I don’t want you to go to heaven without me." You could almost hear the Angels rejoicing in Heaven. Fifty years of praying ... could you imagine? He passed shortly after which means he probably went straight to Heaven as well. A great lesson in prayer and perseverance. Hopefully you will be able to get your spouse to Mass before 50 years, here is how my wife "tricked me" into going to Mass.

   A little background on me first; I was baptised Catholic as an infant. I was raised in a God fearing home, but we rarely went to church. I was introduced to Christianity through a protestant group in high school and even considered becoming a youth minister at one time. By the age of 23, I pretty much had abandoned what little faith I had known and headed off to the ways of the world. I gave God little to no consideration and my heart grew very hard over the next 20 years.Basically my wife was dealing with a hard hearted hard headed agnostic who liked drinking Saturday nights and sleeping in on Sundays. Trust me when I say I was ready for any argument both theological and or practical not to go to Mass. Sound familiar? Not an easy case by any means. I am sure you who are reading have similar stories, if not worse.

   So how did she do it? I like to use the word "Tricked". Remember, those who do not know God do not know His ways. I was ready for the whole argument of persuasion to be handled like all things. We simply argue until the strongest will wins. She might love Mass, but not near as much as I loved drinking and sleeping in on Sundays. She stood no chance, so I thought. She use the the suggestion of her Mother. She simply invited me to Mass and when I said no, she offered no argument. She instead started praying, and her mother and sister started praying. The priest even started praying. Then she started bringing me soup after she went to Mass, to help nurse my hangovers, now that was a dirty trick if ever there was one. I didn't know what to do, it was to easy. now occasionally my friends were not available to go drinking with, so those following Sundays I was sure to get an invite. Since the Priest had not really made any demands on my attending Mass and Cynthia did bring soups on those bad hangover days, well I guess it wouldn't hurt if I popped in to check out the Church, you know, just a little thank you for staying off my back. BANG! That's where they got me! Don't underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of the faithful. Warm smiles and the Spirit of God can crack the hardest of hearts. God the all powerful would show his hand over the course of the next couple of months. I did not start out going every week, but each time i did go, I was a little more open to the next invitation. Soon I was going regularly and it was even my idea to ask how I could find out more about joining the Church. Prayer, love and patience, sound familiar? Those are Jesus' ways,

   By the way, the first time I ever told this story was to two women asking my wife and I at the same time, "How did you get your husband to go to Mass so often?" We told them both the story, one followed it the other used the usual nagging routine. Sure enough two months later the one who listened had her husband changed as well. The other, well we saw her husband every Mother's day but not to often other than that.