Baptist to Catholic?

[Bren]

May I ask a question about Mass?
I went to the local website for the Church Id love to go to.
On the site they have a daily Mass at 8:30 in the morning and on Sunday too.
rc.net/charlotte/stmaryshelby/

Im kinda confused about this. Do you go to church daily? Does each day have a new sermon?
Babist go on Sunday mornings and then Wednesday nites.
Im not sure once to to attend.
What does Reconciliation mean? Thats listed on their website too.

Plese forgive if I ask questions that arent right. I really dont know how to word the sentences . I sure dont want to offend anyone in asking a dum question.

This may be a little off base but I have always been confused on this. Even my son asked me what was right and I couldnt answer him. When we pray to we pray to Jesus or God? I know God sent Jesus his son to die for our sins. But when we pray do we pray to God or Jesus. This really has me confused. The church I was taking my son to say there is God , Jesus. and the Holy Spirit. This is something I should had known all my life and Ive always been scared to ask without sounding as if I was dum.
I really dont knwo how to ask what Im thinking. LOL
Is there 3 ?

 

[sententia]

Howdy Bren!

Yes, we have mass every day! In the Catholic Chruch, if you were to go to mass every day for 1 year, then the entire bible would be read to you. If you go every single Sunday for 3 years, the entire bible is read to you. We are required to go every Sunday, as well as Holy Days. That also includes a new homily every day (the priest or deacon’s talk over that day’s readings), usually about 15 min).

Reconcilliation is the more proper, official name for confession, although they are often used interchangebly.

You can pray to God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. They are 3 persons in one nature- God is 3 yet one, one of the mysteries of the Christian faith. There are some great ways to help us understand this to a degree, but that’d be a topic for another thread, if you want to begin one. Sheed’s “Theology and Sanity” is a great book for that type of thing, as well.

By all means, feel free to go to any of the masses- daily mass will be smaller, and a little more intimate, and leave out singing and a few other things that you will notice on Sunday. Sunday mass with be much larger. Don’t feel odd if you don’t know what is going on, or if no one speaks to you- we tend to get very focused on Jesus, and the Mass, and I’m afraid that makes us come across as unwelcoming.
Because you are not Catholic, please refrain from taking communion- the only people who should be are Catholics in a state of Grace. You can stay in your seat, and if they are giving blessings (you will see some people go up with their arms in an “x” over their chest), then you could do that if you’d like the next time.

bye!

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

Hi Bren,

Latin Catholics have the Mass everyday of the year (Eastern Catholics [not EO] have it just every Sunday I think), but Sunday is a day of obligation. Saturday evening Mass also counts for the Sunday obligation. We also have Holy Days of Obligation which we are required to attend Mass throughout different liturgical feasts. A morning Mass is usually about a half hour long can be good for an introduction to the Mass. Reconciliation is the Sacrament of Penance (confession). You can go here to get a basic idea of what goes on during the Mass:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_%28liturgy%29

When you go into the church you bless yourself with the holy water font and do the sign of the Cross with your right hand. You touch your head, your chest, then your left shoulder and then your right shoulder. When you go to sit down in the pew you genuflect. You bend your right knee and make another sign of the cross. This is affirming the belief of Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist in the tabernacle ahead of you. Then, you recite the creeds along with the congregation. You’ll get the hang of it, just go to a few morning Masses if you are uncomfortable going on Sunday right away. Maybe if you called the parish a priest could arrange someone to show you around.

God bless,

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

Bren:

This may be a little off base but I have always been confused on this. Even my son asked me what was right and I couldnt answer him. When we pray to we pray to Jesus or God? I know God sent Jesus his son to die for our sins. But when we pray do we pray to God or Jesus. This really has me confused. The church I was taking my son to say there is God , Jesus. and the Holy Spirit. This is something I should had known all my life and Ive always been scared to ask without sounding as if I was dum.
I really dont knwo how to ask what Im thinking. LOL
Is there 3 ?

Bren,

Check out the Nicene Creed:

We believe (I believe) in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages. (God of God) light of light, true God of true God. Begotten not made, consubstantial to the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. And was incarnate of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary and was made man; was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried; and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures. And ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, and shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose Kingdom there shall be no end. And (I believe) in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the Father (and the Son), who together with the Father and the Son is to be adored and glorified, who spoke by the Prophets. And one holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We confess (I confess) one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for (I look for) the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen."

So, yes, when you pray to the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit (or all three), you are praying to God.

 

[AquinasXVI]

Bren:

Somewhere around the world at any given moment a Mass is being held. We are constantly being prayed for. In turn we pray for everyone when we go. This is one of the applications of being in the “Communion of Saints.”

We are encouraged by the church to receive the body and blood of Christ as often as possible. This is why daily Mass is available.

The Holy Mass is when chronological time is embraced by eternity by the physical presence of Christ who is eternal.

God bless your search for Him.

in XT

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

Hi Bren, not sure that you’re still reading this thread or not but here goes.

There’s another Creed which sums up our Faith and figured it would be good to summarize for you.

The Athanasian Creed (361 AD):

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father Uncreate, the Son Uncreate, and the Holy Ghost Uncreate. The Father Incomprehensible, the Son Incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost Incomprehensible. The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, and the Holy Ghost Etneral and yet they are not Three Eternals but One Eternal. As also there are not Three Uncreated, nor Three Incomprehensibles, but One Uncreated, and One Uncomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not Three Almighties but One Almighty.

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not Three Lords but One Lord. For, like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be Three Gods or Three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is One Father, not Three Fathers; one Son, not Three Sons; One Holy Ghost, not Three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and Co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity is Trinity, and the Trinity is Unity is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting Salvation, that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.

God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the substance of His mother, born into the world. Perfect God and Perfect Man, of a reasonable Soul and human Flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood. Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but One Christ. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into Flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by Unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one Man, so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into Hell, rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.

Pax vobiscum,

 

[gracelife]

Dearest Bren,

I just wanted to take a minute to send you much love in Christ. You have a beautiful journey ahead of you.

Blessings.

 

[blackstone]

What Bren needs to do is go back to a biblically shown Baptist Chruch to find out what it means to be a true christian.

 

[exoflare]

blackstone:

What Bren needs to do is go back to a biblically shown Baptist Chruch to find out what it means to be a true christian.

Oh, hello there. I suppose you’re here to learn more about the Catholic faith as well?

 

[Writer]

Bren:

I’m looking for some help and advise.
I have been raised a Baptist and I have attended Medothist Churches.
I have been praying that god will lead me to the right Church.
I have been reading about Catholic’s and I’m really interested in learning more about the faith.
The way I was raised to believe isn’t the way that I have read the last few days. I’m torn in which religion I should be attending.
I’m really wanting to learn more about being Catholic but I don’t know where to start at.
It seems to me that being Catholic is a lifestyle and a more in-depth faith. Than what I’m use to. I go to church on Sundays and I just feel like something is missing.
But what I have read I believe and agree with the Catholic Faith. But I’m so at lose as to the teachings and even the words. In Baptist on Sunday morning you go to preaching. I didn’t even know that Mass meant the same thing until today. I’m not even sure that I would be accepted into the faith or not, since I wasn’t born a Catholic. Does any of this make since? To break it down a little I’m looking for a better understanding of God and I want to live my life for God , I just don’t know where to start at,
I’m 41 years old and we have been married 21 years and we have a 12 year old son. My husband said he will attend church with me so I can see for myself what its about. Can someone talk to me about these matters please. I’m lost as to what and how I should do.

Wow… Your post sounds so familiar. I was also raised in the Baptist Church, then attended other denominations including Episcopal, Lutheran, and Free Methodist. We began the conversion process about two-years ago and joined this last Easter. We are so thankful we did. That feeling that something is missing has never returned, and it was with my wife and I since we were married in 1990. It is wonderful to have come home.

I would point out, however, that you’re not changing religions, you’re only changing the way you practice that religion. Protestants and Catholics are both Christians.

I would encourage you to get involved in the RCIA, read the Catechism, and ask a lot of questions. If there are any particular areas of confusion, please advise. I would be happy to help. I also would like to mention that, if you are interested in reading the Catechism, you might want to check out the thread below.

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=77802

I hope your family, like mine, can begin a new journey of faith and stop the spiritual wanderings in the wastelands of the other denominations.

 

[Writer]

AquinasXVI:

Bren:

Welcome!!!

A lot of good reading indeed! The world you’re about to enter is greater than meets the eye. There will be many issues that you’ll be wondering about and we’re more than happy to put our $0.02 in.

Scott Hahn is a good one to start with. Rome Sweet Home is a good read. Every Monday night 8et. at EWTN is the Journey Home program which I think you’d enjoy. You can watch it over the internet if you don’t have it in cable.

Through this journey, keep praying deeply for guidance and illumination.

Keep us posted.

in XT.

I also second the recommendation for Rome Sweet Home, although I am not such a fan of some of Scott’s later writings–e.g. identifying the Holy Spirit in feminine terms. Sometimes, Scott has the gift for making the clear obscure and the obscure downright black, but his earlier writings are done well.

I also recommend Karl Keating’s *Catholicism & Fundamentalism. *If you’re like me, however, you will note that he doesn’t quite understand the distinctions between the Protestant denominations, and he tends to generalize a bit too much in that regard.

One of the best books I have read lately is by a Catholic priest named Roy Schoeman. His book Salvation is From the Jews was a real eye-opener for me. I love it!

One of the wonderful things about the Catholic Church is the rich tapestry of writings by the church fathers. I would suggest you perhaps read Saint Augustine’s *Confessions *or the life of Saint Francis as told by G.K. Chesterton.

God bless!

 

[Bren]

I want to thank everyone that has posted and answered my questions. Everyone has been to warm and welcoming I really want to thank you all.
I have a whole lot to learn. I have been reading all week ever spare minute I get. I have been reading in the Bible and seeing things I’ve never known before.
I have been going to church and saved for years and I’m just now finding out things and truly understanding things that I should had know since grammar school.
I have been so excited this week and a feeling I cant describe that I haven’t had in years.
I really want to thank everyone that has posted to my questions. I have read each one over and over, and been to all the links.
I have been praying all week for Jesus to lead me in the direction that he wants me to go. I have prayed for months and months to lead me to a church that he wants me to be. Rather it’s a Baptist or a Catholic church.
I feel really drawn to a Catholic church and their teachings. I have so many questions but I feel almost juvenile in asking cause I should have already known them.

Thank you all so much for the encouragements that you have posted and the wonderful information that you have sent.

Hugs
Bren

 

[Randy2]

Forgive me if this has been mentioned above and i missed it but I’d suggest you get in touch with The Coming Home Network. They can put you in touch with a “helper” of similar (Baptist) background who can discuss you attractions and disagreements with the Catholic Church.

www.chnetwork.org

 

[MariaG]

posted by Bren

I feel really drawn to a Catholic church and their teachings. I have so many questions but I feel almost juvenile in asking cause I should have already known them.

The only stupid question is one you don’t ask. You actually should be thankful that you do have so many seemingly “basic” questions. Baptists are Christian, but they have some very different theology than other Protestant denoms as well as Catholic.

Since God is leading you to the Catholic Church, you do not have to overcome teachings that are different from the Baptist. You can just learn things for the first time.

May God Bless you on your journey and continue to ask the “basics”. It is the only way to learn.

Your sister in Christ,
Maria

 

[Didi]

Hi Bren –

Welcome to the forums! You have received a lot of great suggestions and recommendations for books. I don’t know if you have budget constraints, but sometimes libraries carry some of these books, or you can get used ones on amazon (how I’ve built up my library!).

Also, there is another website called www.catholicity.com and they have free CDs of conversion stories, the Mass Explained, Reconciliation, etc. They are available for a small donation or if you really can’t pay anything, I think they’ll send them to you anyway.

God bless you on your journey home to the Church Jesus founded!

Didi

 

[Bren]

Do most Catholic women still wear a veil to Mass?
I was reading in Corinthians that a woman must cover her head in prayer.
I have been trying to find it on the web, I have read some do and some dont.

This is from the Bapist up bringing. Can a person just ask forgiveness for their sins instead of going to confession. My husband asked me this yesterday. Why do you have to go to confession instead of just asking God to forgive you.

I dont want to step on anyone’s toes so PLEASE dont take it that way. I really want to learn.
Im going to every web site that is posted and reading each one.
Right now Im doing a search of the teachings.

 

[AquinasXVI]

Hey Bren!

Very exciting time for all of us that you’ve invited along with your search. Keep asking away, we love to articulate our faith.

Regarding confession, of course God knows our sins and of course we ask God for pardon in the silence of our hearts…but there’s a little bit more to it. Christ assigned the loosening and binding on earth and heaven to the apostles. Therefore, they have been given this jurisdiction, to actually bind and loose. In a practical setting, the sins we know we’ve committed must then be verbalized and the priest acting in persona Cristi absolves us. IMO Christ gave us this sacrament for confessing bad deeds is in a human sense healthy.

This sacrament as Chesterton put it has been watered down and copied by the psychiatrist’s couch without the safeguard of privacy.

Here are some thoughts on Reconciliation. Do you have a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church? It’s marvelous reference for none of our words will come close to how well the church explains herself.

Also MariaG said it well, that you do not lose the beautiful, noble and true of what you’ve learned as a Baptist. You do though add the Splendor of Truth on top of what you already have.

in XT.

 

[MariaG]

Most women do not wear veils to church. However, there are some that always wear hats and I know of at least one, here on this forum, who feels she should wear a veil and so does. But it is not the norm.

In the Bible, where confession is instituted by Christ is John 20:21-23. Christ breathed on man. I truly love these verses. Where else does the Bible mention God breathing on man? In Genesis 2 when God breathed the breath of life, Adam’s soul, into his nostrils. In John, Christ breathed on the apostles commissioning them to go and forgive sins (not go and teach forgiveness, it does not say that). Only God forgives sins. But he gave men the authority to forgive in His name.

Recently, my 12 year old son attended a interdenomination play for teens with our priest. It was a very well written play trying to get teens to realize the eternal consequences of their actions.

At the end there was an altar call.

My 12 year old asked about it. What it was and stuff. He added, it felt like confession. He would be right in as Aquinas said, a watered down way. The differences? One is that for an altar call, for God to forgive you, you must truly be sorry for what you have done, not because you are afraid of going to hell (imperfect contrition) but because you love God so much and are sorry for displeasing Him (perfect contrition) in order to be forgiven. And although I have only had imperfect contrition once, I was sorry (but only because I knew it was wrong not because I felt it was wrong) I was very thankful I could go and receive forgiveness for my sins even though the motivation was fear of hell and not love for God.

Another difference is we can have our sins forgiven outside of the confessional, but we believe that Christ showed us how he wants it done, to a priest, forgiven by God (John 20:21-23). The form of confession has changed, it used to be public. But it has always been to a priest since the day Christ told us to and as witnessed to in the Bible. So for Catholics it is also a matter of obedience.

And just on a personal level of someone who is a revert to the Catholic faith, when I confess my sins in the confessional, they never come back to bother me. Before, with just confessing my sins to God in the privacy of my bedroom, I would occassionally be haunted by confessed sin. Others would tell me it is just Satan, God has forgotten. But in the Sacrament of Reconcilliation, I have never had that happen. God truly performs a miracle and removes the guilt!!!

posted by AquinasXVI

You do though add the Splendor of Truth on top of what you already have.

:yup: But everything you add will never contradict the Bible! Just add to your faith.

God Bless,
Maria

 

[Semper_Fi_1]

Bren:

Do most Catholic women still wear a veil to Mass?
I was reading in Corinthians that a woman must cover her head in prayer.
I have been trying to find it on the web, I have read some do and some dont.

This is from the Bapist up bringing. Can a person just ask forgiveness for their sins instead of going to confession. My husband asked me this yesterday. Why do you have to go to confession instead of just asking God to forgive you.

I dont want to step on anyone’s toes so PLEASE dont take it that way. I really want to learn.
Im going to every web site that is posted and reading each one.
Right now Im doing a search of the teachings.

Hi Bren,

Because Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of Penance and commands us all to repent of our sins. Confessing to another person is an ultimate act of humility and causes one to reflect on their sins and think of ways that they may change their actions in order to conform to a more Christian life. For a more in depth analysis please see the Old Catholic Encyclopedia’s article regarding the Sacrament of Penance.

newadvent.org/cathen/11618c.htm & the United States Catholic Conference’s page. usccb.org/liturgy/penance.shtml

 

[Writer]

Bren:

Do most Catholic women still wear a veil to Mass?
I was reading in Corinthians that a woman must cover her head in prayer.
I have been trying to find it on the web, I have read some do and some dont.

This is from the Bapist up bringing. Can a person just ask forgiveness for their sins instead of going to confession. My husband asked me this yesterday. Why do you have to go to confession instead of just asking God to forgive you.

I dont want to step on anyone’s toes so PLEASE dont take it that way. I really want to learn.
Im going to every web site that is posted and reading each one.
Right now Im doing a search of the teachings.

While many Christian women (including Catholics) cover their heads in respect while in church, my understanding is that this admonition has been taken out of its historical context. As I vaguely remember from my New Testament class at college (more years ago than I care to admit), this directive was due to problems at that particular church at that particular time. If I remember correctly, it was help seperate the Christian women from the adjacent pagan temple prostitutes.

Confession or Reconciliation is a deep subject. Here is what I sent an old Protestant friend (who got very angry with me about my conversion) when he asked about the Sacrament of Confession.

Regarding the confession of sins to the priest, this is one of the most challenging doctrines for me personally. The Catholic Church believes in what is called Apostolic Succession. That is, Saint Peter, the rock on whom Christ’s Church is built (Matthew 16:18), is considered as the first pope. Matthew 16:19 and John 20:21-23 (and other verses) make it clear that apostles were given the authority to forgive sins as servants of Christ. As priests are ordained (indirectly) by the Pope himself, this authority is then conveyed to them. I don’t think that Catholic Doctrine says that all sins must be confessed to the priest in order to be forgiven–otherwise, he’d be a pretty busy fellow. As I understand it,confession is a way of dealing with our more serious transgressions (mortal sins). If one analyzes it, though, the Sacrament of Confession strengthens the sense of Christian community, encourages humility, and permits the sinner to do penance to begin to right his wrongs. This gets into the whole issue of works vs faith, which is also misconstrued by Protestants. If one reads James, for example, works will exist as a reflection of the faith within. If you have the faith, but don’t display it in any way, what good are you to the Christian community? Just like you can’t have a flame without light, you can’t have true faith without works. (If you want to read more, see newadvent.org/cathen/11618c.htm.)

The interesting thing about penance is that it is like strengthening a weakened muscle. The works are not required for forgiveness so much as they are needed to address our specific spiritual weakensses. By all means, keep praying directly to God for forgiveness, but accept Reconciliation as a way to address the mortal sins, or the venial sins which cause special internal pain. There is something quite amazing to have a man of God pronounce your sins forgiven through Christ. It is a healing experience.

A last note… The famous Anglican writer named C.S. Lewis even practiced confession–and also was a firm believer in Purgatory.