David Mills on the Importance of Becoming Catholic

"On Saturday, we went to the Easter Vigil not to our parish but to the one in which we entered the Church 16 years ago. The church is very ugly and the liturgy very suburban, and I went grudgingly. Our youngest wanted to go there, for reasons he couldn't explain, so we went.

"As the Mass began, I was still pondering what led the architects to design something so plain and yet so ugly, and why anyone paid to build it. As the pastor came down the aisle with the paschal candle, I remembered that first night, as I knelt with my family and our sponsors, up there in the front row on the left.

"As I had that night, I started tearing up. I choked up completely during the litany, at the lines 'All you holy men and women, pray for us.' That had been the point I really felt that I had entered the Church, because I knew I had made new friends of the saints. And then I teared up again at the end as we sang 'Christ the Lord is risen today.' Then, I suddenly felt I could sing this in a new way, because I was singing it within the Church the risen Lord had created.

"It had been a great night 16 years ago, and was a great night this year. . . .

"This raises something Catholics don't often talk about, because bringing it up can end in tears, if not rage. Usually someone else's rage, though maybe your tears too as well as his. Here is what we want to say to all our family and friends outside the Catholic Church:

"We really do think we are where you belong. We have it as a gift, not because we're better than you. But still, we know something you don’t yet see. We really think that being outside the Church, you're not settled, or complete, or at home, and you won't be till you too enter the Church. You may not see it, you may think you definitely belong somewhere else, but we think - we know - you're wrong."

In a recent commentary, writer David Mills (former executive editor of First Things) reflected on why people who are not Catholic really belong in the Church.

To access Mr. Mills' complete post, please visit:

Aleteia: Attention, everyone: Catholics really do think you belong with us (19 APR 17)