Asking for help. Wanting to know more

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don_chugg

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So my friend is Catholic and I have been very interested to learn more but he recently died šŸ˜¦ . I no longer know where to go for information and I found this site so I am hoping you can help. I grew up atheist so I do not know much at all. I would like to know if there was a way I could get taught by someone about the church. Do you have missionaries? How would I sign up to get them to visit? When I talk to my friend he uses a lot of terms that do not make sense to me so could you explain to me what the Euchariest is? What is consecration? What is unction? Whats hyperduolia? What is penance and rosary? Sorry its a lot of questions! I would love to learn more. Also how can I find out where a local church is? Thanks šŸ™‚
 
Welcome to CAF! šŸ™‚

I would begin by looking for a Catholic Church near you- I have no idea where you live, but Iā€™m sure Google can help. Once you find one, Iā€™d go speak to the priest and the priest can guide you and help you find more resources and people to help you learn more about the Catholic faith. Also, the book Catholicism for Dummies is a good book that explains the basics of our faith.

You are in my prayers!
 
don_chugg said:
So my friend is Catholic and I have been very interested to learn more but he recently died šŸ˜¦ . I no longer know where to go for information and I found this site so I am hoping you can help. I grew up atheist so I do not know much at all. I would like to know if there was a way I could get taught by someone about the church. Do you have missionaries? How would I sign up to get them to visit? When I talk to my friend he uses a lot of terms that do not make sense to me so could you explain to me what the Euchariest is? What is consecration? What is unction? Whats hyperduolia? What is penance and rosary? Sorry its a lot of questions! I would love to learn more. Also how can I find out where a local church is? Thanks šŸ™‚
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Glad you are here and welcome. This website has a lot of the answers you seek. You should also find your nearest parish and attend the RCIA program which teaches the basics of the faith. In John 6, Jesus (Lamb of God) is giving a preface of the Eucharist, in which the Catholic Church celebrates at every Mass. The Mass goes back to the worship of the apostles and disciples during the first century. Many Early Church Fathers have written of the Eucharist and the order of the Mass which predate the Bible. Goodluck on your journey :hug1:
 
Wow, this thread inspired me to log in!

Iā€™m sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. However, as Iā€™m sure you already know, we donā€™t believe youā€™ve necessarily lost him.

I believe thereā€™s a great deal of celebration in Heaven regarding this time in your lifeā€™s journey. Congratulations on being a seeker of truth (as I believe Pope Benedict XVI called atheists).
 
ā€¦And definitely pick up a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Itā€™s by far the best resource for all of your questions on Catholicism.

You might also want to look into two other books: ā€œSurprised By Truthā€ and ā€œThe Fathers Know Bestā€. I havenā€™t read them, but from what I understand, theyā€™re great sources for historical reasons as to why Catholicism and not a different form of Christianity.
 
It probably would be best if you phoned your local catholic church and asked when you may go to the RCIA class. It is an information class for those who wish to inquire into the catholic faith. It is about an hour a week and explains about the catholic faith.

There are numerous catholic websites too that you might wish to look at. Many have topics listed so that you may pick the topic you wish more information about. Here are a few.

www.theworkofgod.org/library/apologtc/r_haddad/course/contents.htm
www.info/apologeticsprotestantism/wbible.htm
www.biblechristiansociety.com/home.php
www.davidmacd.com/catholic/mary_in_the-bible.htm
www.chnetwork.org/journals/justification/justify_8.htm
//justingridveritasluxmea.blogspot.com/2011/04/why-i-am-catholic-and-not-orthodox.html
www.philvaz.com/apologetics/apolog.htm
//blackieschurchmilitant-apocalypsis.blogspot.com/
www.catholic-convert.com/category/apologetics/
www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=216
www.catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/protestantism/wbible.htm
www.catholicapologetics.org/
www.catholiceducation.org/articles/sexuality/se0217.htm
www.scripturecatholic.com/oral_tradition.html#tradition-I
www.ovrlnd.com/Apologetics/101contradictions.html
www.biblechristiansociety.com/apologetics/two_minute
www.twopaths.com/faq_OldTestamentLaw.htm
www.catholicculture.org/cultuā€¦archid=1067554
www.catholic.com
//thecatholicvoyager.blogspot.com/2011/03/book-review-rite.html
www.sensustraditionis.org/multimedia.html
www.askacatholic.com/
 
The best way to learn would be through a Catholic Church near you, but here are some resources:

If you like to listen and learn, this site has several series of talksabout basic Catholic doctrine. There are several different series of talks on the elements of the catechism, you can see which ā€œspeaksā€ to you best ;). They are by Daphne Macleod, Bishop Fulton Sheen, Hugh Twaites (A catechism of achrostian Doctrine further down). I would suggest NOT listening to anything on there that is something other than a catechism course, because they have several things one needs a very good grounding in theology to understand properly.

And this is reading material: A page on which are linked the sections of several catechisms, including the current CCC, under the appropriate topic, so if you are studying one topic in one, you can easily find alternate explanations.

Listen or read about one topic, as many of the sources as you wantā€“one, five, the information is about the sameā€“and then come here and ask questions!

Welcome to CAF šŸ™‚
 
one_truth said:
ā€¦And definitely pick up a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Itā€™s by far the best resource for all of your questions on Catholicism.

You might also want to look into two other books: ā€œSurprised By Truthā€ and ā€œThe Fathers Know Bestā€. I havenā€™t read them, but from what I understand, theyā€™re great sources for historical reasons as to why Catholicism and not a different form of Christianity.
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ā€œSurprised by the Truthā€ is an excellent resource. Great advice given on the forum already to find a Church and seek out a priest who can guide you to RCIA. Meanwhile
Welcome to the forums!
Mary.
 
RCIA also prepares you for baptism or to be received into the Catholic Church from another Christian faith.

I went to RCIA when I wanted to become confirmed as an adult. I loved it very very much.
 
Welcome to CAF.

Please try this link for the Catholic Directory of churches.

thecatholicdirectory.com/

If this does not answer your questions about the location of a Catholic Church or
if you live outside of the country, I will look for another link.

ā€¦I just found a ā€œworldā€ link
thecatholicdirectory.com/index.cfm?worldmap=true
Try clicking major areas like North America, Europe, etc.

There are also links to an individual area, known as a diocese. Dioceses usually contain an area around a major city. A diocese website can be very useful because of its information about what is happening in their locality.

Please let me know how I can help.
 
Welcome to CAF

Here is a link to the Catholic Directory of churches.

thecatholicdirectory.com/index.cfm

This link is to a world map of churches. Click the area, for example North America, to locate churches outside of the U.S.

thecatholicdirectory.com/index.cfm?worldmap=true

If you need help, please let me know.

In addition, there are links to an individual Diocese. A Diocese is a geographical area within a particular state with a Bishop as the head. There are a number of Dioceses within a state. A Diocese website can be very helpful because it contains a lot of local information.

Sometimes you can use Google to find a Diocese website. Try entering a major city and the word Catholic.

I would be happy to help you in any way.

Links to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/catechism-of-the-catholic-church/
 
So I found out there is a church nearby but their emails and phone numbers donā€™t work. Should I just go over and see if someone is there? Also how do I know if my friend made it heaven or not? Also I am very poor šŸ˜¦ . I looked up the books and they are over the price that I could afford and my parents do not want to provide any money towards me joining a religion. I am sixteen.
 
don_chugg said:
So I found out there is a church nearby but their emails and phone numbers donā€™t work. Should I just go over and see if someone is there?
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In case the numbers have changed, I would Google that parish church. Otherwise Google another parish near you. If there is no answer, the church may not be there/active anymore so I would check the numbers (email depends on the secretary) or another church near you. Another option would be to call (Google that too) the diocese and find a church through them.
 
Brigid34 said:
In case the numbers have changed, I would Google that parish church. Otherwise Google another parish near you. If there is no answer, the church may not be there/active anymore so I would check the numbers (email depends on the secretary) or another church near you. Another option would be to call (Google that too) the diocese and find a church through them.
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There is only one church nearby. The other ones are over three citys away.
 
I think you can just go over and ask if you can talk to somebody.
If it is a small church and nobody is there, maybe the mass times are written by the door and you can try to come after a mass and catch the priest.

Are you parents against you joining the Catholic church?

About booksā€¦ a lot of things of course are available to read online, but there you have to be extremely careful. Anybody can write something online. But for example you can also find the Catechism online.

I would start with talking to somebody in person thoughā€¦
 
I would try to just go there and ask. Just be open as you were on the forum here. šŸ™‚ Probably they have an office with office hours or somethingā€¦ you can go from there, maybe ask if you can speak to the pastor.
 
Thanks everyone! I am going too my first mass next week! I also was wondering what is a good way to raise money. My pastor person said its important to have these books but I am to poor to buy them.
 
Nice to see a young person with some perseverance in todayā€™s world!

Most Parishes have books that can be borrowed, ask the priest after mass how you can go about this.

God Bless

THT
 
TheHolyTrinity said:
Nice to see a young person with some perseverance in todayā€™s world!

Most Parishes have books that can be borrowed, ask the priest after mass how you can go about this.

God Bless

THT
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Thats a great idea! I will definitely ask!
 
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