Returning Catholics FAQs: What Happens When I Don’t Fit In?

On Mondays, I answer questions frequently asked by those considering a return to the Catholic Church. How do I know this stuff? I was away for more than 30 years myself, and am the co-author of When They Come Home: Ways to Welcome Returning Catholics , a book for pastors and parish leaders interested in this ministry.

I’ve started going to Mass at the parish close to my house… but I just don’t fit in. Nobody looks like me… age, dress, ethnicity. It’s not that people are jerks–they say hi and so...