Welcome to the Catholic Church — Here’s What Awaits You| National Catholic Register
COMMENTARY: Entering the Church means finding your place in the Mystical Body of Christ and embracing the mission God has prepared for you.
Welcome, converts to Catholicism! Reports from around the world indicate that there are a large number of you.
Some of you converted from other faiths. Some of you come from unchurched backgrounds. Some of you had an intellectual journey: You read your way into the Church. Others had a mystical encounter with Jesus. Others were drawn by the beauty of the Church’s music, liturgy and architecture. Still others joined the Church because Jesus bonked you over the head with a two-by-four.
Whatever your journey may be, welcome! We are glad you are here. I’d like to give you a few tips.
First off: You have just joined a worldwide organization of 1.4 billion … sinners.
You aren’t going to get along with everyone.
I guarantee you that not everything will be to your liking. That’s okay. You’ll have the chance to experience a little-known and underappreciated Catholic charism: the grace of putting up with each other. It’s a combination of fortitude, patience, and a whole lot of charity. You’ll find it is a very useful skill, especially in family life.
In any case, try not to fuss or be discouraged. You’ll find your place in the Mystical Body of Christ: a place that he planned for you from all eternity. Your mission is to figure out his mission for you.
The other problems will fade in importance if you stay focused on doing the job that Our Lord has just for you. It might not be what you’re used to or what you’re expecting. But no one else can fill your particular shoes. The plan the Lord has in mind for you is the optimal plan for you.
Here is my next tip. Start going to daily Mass or adoration whenever you can, in addition to your obligatory Sunday Mass. Jesus is there. Don’t miss out on seeing him as often as possible.
When you do, you are going to meet some salt-of-the-earth people. People who lead the Rosary before or after Mass. People who never miss their appointment at the adoration chapel. People from all walks of life, education levels, occupations. The whole nine yards. You’ll see why author James Joyce once said of the Catholic Church, “Here comes everybody!”
At some point, one of the Rosary Ladies or Adoration Guys may press a pamphlet or holy card into your hand, saying, “This devotion is so beautiful!” “This novena is so powerful!”
Here is my third tip for new Catholics: Treat this as a “God appointment.” If a Rosary Lady accosts you, do not, under any circumstances, dismiss her or look down on her. Take the pamphlet. Say the novena. Don’t underestimate the Rosary Ladies or their male equivalents. You may get a prayer you say for a week. Or you may get a devotion that changes your life. No matter. Just accept it. Thank him or her. Be grateful.
Back when I was struggling with infertility, I had an encounter with one of these ladies. She pressed into my hands a booklet describing the Divine Mercy Chaplet, just in time for me to make that novena beginning on Good Friday. I carried that booklet in my purse for a long time and said that chaplet every year.
At some point, I looked at the booklet and realized that it was dated Easter 1990. By Easter 1991, I had adopted a 2-year-old boy and was pregnant with a baby girl.
You can believe whatever you want. I believe I’ll be grateful.
Speaking of rosaries: Perhaps someone gave you one in honor of your being received into the Church. I hope you will pray it daily. But I do want to warn you about one thing: Rosaries multiply.
Perhaps you always carry in your purse or pocket a favorite rosary with beautiful beads on a delicate chain. In your car, a plastic one designed for kids is probably more practical. It won’t snap if you get it tangled in the steering column while you’re praying it in traffic.
It’s the spare rosary you leave in a drawer that I want to warn you about. The next time you look, there will be a dozen rosaries in that drawer.
I do not pretend to know how this happens. I do not claim it is a supernatural miracle. It may, however, be some kind of sociological miracle.
Trust me. It will happen. When you notice them accumulating, don’t hoard them.
Drop them off at the adoration chapel. Give them to someone. Press one into someone’s hand and say, “This will change your life.”
You will be on your way to becoming a Rosary Lady or an Adoration Guy.
Resistance is futile. Lean into it. Your life will never be the same.
Welcome to the Mystical Body of Christ!
