{"id":152764,"date":"2015-10-13T05:00:37","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T09:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-do-i-really-need-to-mingle-with-other-catholics\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:19:02","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:19:02","slug":"ask-a-priest-do-i-really-need-to-mingle-with-other-catholics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-do-i-really-need-to-mingle-with-other-catholics\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cAsk a Priest: Do I Really Need to Mingle With Other Catholics?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Q: I am a new convert, having completed RCIA last year. After going through what I call the honeymoon period, where I loved all things Catholic, I now find myself wanting to be alone in my faith, rather than mingling so much with other Church members. In other words, I want to go to Mass, be pleasant, and then come home without having to engage in all the hugging, kissing and talking. Frankly, it annoys me. Am I able to do this and still be a “good” Catholic? -T.L.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/p>\n

A: Welcome to the Church! It is good to hear that you love all things Catholic. Perhaps a few observations can help you.<\/p>\n

First, Catholicism is a blend of private and public acts. We have a private prayer life, but we also have a public prayer life (this includes the liturgy). We have moments alone with Christ, but we should also have moments in community with fellow believers.<\/p>\n

Catholicism is not merely a \u201cme and Jesus\u201d religion. In fact, one of the sure signs that we are growing in love for God is that we grow in love and concern for our fellow man. \u201cWhoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God*<\/sup><\/a> whom he has not seen\u201d (1 John 4:20<\/a><\/a>).<\/p>\n

So you might want to see how much your faith is being expressed in an ecclesial and social way. That is, Catholicism lived well is Catholicism that reaches out to help people. It doesn\u2019t close in on itself.<\/p>\n

Now, this reaching out to helping people isn\u2019t the same as \u201chugging, kissing and talking.\u201d Your reference might be to the socializing that goes on between the end of Mass and the exit of the cars from the parking lot. That\u2019s not the kind of reaching out I have in mind. I\u2019m thinking of the kind that gets people involved in charity projects, youth work, visits to shut-ins, helping out at pro-life agencies \u2013 that kind of thing.<\/p>\n

Another important aspect of growing in our Catholic faith consists of fellowship. As Christians, we cannot grow if we take a Lone Ranger path. God likes to work in our lives through other human beings. We need faith-based friendships, people that we connect with who share our faith. This kind of fellowship can be relatively formal (joining a Bible study or a men\u2019s or women\u2019s group at the parish, for example, or getting involved in an ecclesial movement). Or it can simply consist of a small group of Catholic friends who make a point of spending time together and encouraging one another to keep growing in holiness.<\/p>\n

You might want to see if you can complement your life of prayer and sacraments with some kind of apostolic work and fellowship. Perhaps there is a group at your parish that needs help. The possibilities could be endless.<\/p>\n

Such charitable work will help to reinforce your faith, not detract from it. We often receive much more than we give, when it comes to works of charity. (By the way, if you are interested in a good book about the particular needs of the Church at the parish level, see Forming Intentional Disciples<\/em><\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Maybe this is a topic you will want to take to prayer. Spend time with Our Lord in the tabernacle. And keep an eye on the horizon that he might be inviting you to see. Loving all things Catholic includes loving Catholics, after all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152764"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=152764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}