Early in my conversion I was afraid to go to Mass. I was scared I would feel isolated. 

But when I learned about the Church as the Body of Christ I realized that Catholic community was completely different from the world’s idea of community. 

So I got up the courage, went to Mass… and left deeply discouraged. 

Far from the unique unity I read about, I discovered the same hollow community that is in the rest of the world—after Mass very few people connected and most tried to get out of the parking lot as soon as possible.

I left thinking the Body of Christ was a nice idea but not something that could actually be lived—maybe the Church was just like everything else?

But then, I went on a retreat and saw something completely different. 

There were some seminarians there that shared one life together. They prayed together, sang together, did dishes, talked and disagreed, and played soccer together. They lived like a family that loved one another rather than one that wants to get the holiday dinner over with as soon as possible. 

I realized that the Church really is the Body of Christ— we aren’t like everything else. It’s not just a nice idea, it can be lived!

John Paul II says that we have to be more than a group of people that vaguely shares the same ideas and does similar things. He says that we have to live as a single people brought together by God.  

And the laity has a special way of living this out because we are called to be a part of the parish—the family of families. 

And this too is not just a nice idea—this level of shared life can be lived and we know because this is what the Lord has called us to.