January 28, 2026

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

I am often asked to tell someone all about the Catholic Church, so today I plan to share with you some of my ideas about the Catholic Church. Recently, some new friends in the parish asked me about becoming Catholic, and I have been asked recently why I should continue to be Catholic. So let me share with you my thoughts about being Catholic.

I truly believe that the most precious gift I possess is being a member of the Catholic Church. I love the Catholic Church. Now, I was born into a Catholic family. And I have found so much peace and happiness as a Catholic and as a Catholic priest, I have been asked by many to help them to enter the Catholic Church – often because they have found Catholics to be very happy people.

The Catholic Church is people joined together by the Lord Jesus guided to live well by the Lord and finding hope for eternal happiness with God. Before the Church is something we organize, it is someone we belong to – it all starts with Jesus. It is people called by God, formed by Jesus and guided by the Holy Spirit searching for happiness. St. Paul described the Church as the Body of Christ – an institution and a mystery. The Church is clergy and laity, in a deep sense of communion with a renewed dignity by Baptism and a call by God to holiness.

The Church continues to shape a way of life for all today.

The Church is a mystery rooted in God – divine and human. Jesus is the light of all nations, shining through the Church. The universal Church is a people, brought into unity just as the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Catholic Church is the people of God. Baptism incorporates all into the priestly, prophetic, and kingly mission of Jesus. The Church brings the People of God together as a family – praying together, praying for each other, supporting each other. The Church unites all into a new spirit and a powerful happiness – working together to make their world a better, happier, more peaceful – a better world.

The Church is made up of clergy, the bishops united with the pope and laity – united in mission seeking holiness. Holiness is not reserved to the clergy. Every Christian is called to charity, fidelity – to daily conversion. The form and tasks of life are many, but holiness is one. So, that sanctity is cultivated by all who act under God’s spirit – adoring God the Father in spirit and truth following Jesus that they may deserve to be partakers of his glory.

The laity are not passive recipients but passive participants. The laity’s mission is to sanctify the world from within it. The lay vocation is essential to the Church’s mission – making the Church present in many places.

The Catholic Church is a pilgrim Church. Catholics are united with the Lord Jesus in this to find holiness – and to find perfection in the glory of Heaven – united together as the Communion of Saints. The Church Triumphant, with God in Heavenly glory, continues to support those now on mission as disciples of the Lord – as they live well in this life and seek their ultimate destiny in union with God.

The Church is united in a special way with Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of the Church – inseparable with Jesus Christ and with the Church. Mary is the Mother of Believers and a sign of hope firmly rooted in the message of Jesus.