Catholic Basics

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lucy_1
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lucy_1

Guest
What do you think the basics of our faith are? Fill in the blank: If you’re going to be a great piano player, you have to practice your scales. If you’re going to be a faithful Catholic you have to ___________

I watched this video from Father Mike Schmidt saying we need to practice the basics of our faith. Several people in the comments were asking if he could do a video on what the basics are.

What do you think the basic practices of our faith are?
 
Packing 2000 years of theology and tradition into a single blank it no easy task, that’s for sure! I think that the Nicene Creed is a good start. The Sacraments would follow. Study of Catechism and Scripture. Finally, good works. Love of God, love of neighbor.
 
Last edited:
Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and your neighbor as yourself.

That’s the heart of Christianity/Catholicism; that’s the essence of man’s justice, the place where God wants us to finally arrive at. All of the Law and Catholic teachings hang on and are dependent on that, on that love.

And that’s why the Church wisely teaches, quoting St John of the Cross:
"At the evening of life we shall be judged on our love."
 
Last edited:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.
 
fhansen said:
Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and your neighbor as yourself.
Click to expand...
That is the basics of the Moral Law.

Coupled with that is participating in the liturgical life of the Church, through the Sacraments. And beyond that is having some form of prayer life in addition to our main participation in the Sacraments - Reconciliation and the Mass.

And that prayer life could be the LOTH, the rosary, Adoration, and/or the Daily Examine some, all or other prayer forms.
 
Good link for an overall view of the Basics from a “what should I know” point.
 
All of those things are instructed and motivated by love, or they’re not of Christian origin or value. Love is the epitome, the goal. Everything else is oriented towards-and weighed by- that as the standard.
 
Last edited:
Lucy_1 said:
If you’re going to be a faithful Catholic you have to ___________
Click to expand...
Prayer (defined as constant communication and meditation on God’s presence, loving him in our will, and asking Him to have mercy on us, and trusting Him wherever it leads) fasting (abstaining not only from food, but from all the sin of the world and non-Christian culture, and not only anything opposed to the love of God but anything not promoting or conducive to it) and a study of the faith to know how to do 1) and 2). All this with the hope of growing in the love of God.

there is nothing else imo. I would include the eucharist with a kind of prayer, and all the precepts and moral law with fasting (mortal sin is something to “fast” from, and all sin), and all of this presupposes what one believes
 
Last edited:
This whole discussion is interesting to me because I’m starting to get really interested in the Catholic Church and all it offers. I was baptized Catholic but my parents left the church and I was raised Methodist. I am almost 14 and…yeah…idk what else to say😂
 
It can be kind of a lot, right? It’s good you’re interested in it!
 
Todd_Easton said:
The Precepts of the Church?
Click to expand...
Catechism of the Catholic Church
2041 The precepts of the Church are set in the context of a moral life bound to and nourished by liturgical life. the obligatory character of these positive laws decreed by the pastoral authorities is meant to guarantee to the faithful the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor:

2042 The first precept (“You shall attend Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.") requires the faithful to participate in the Eucharistic celebration when the Christian community gathers together on the day commemorating the Resurrection of the Lord.82

The second precept (“You shall confess your sins at least once a year.") ensures preparation for the Eucharist by the reception of the sacrament of reconciliation, which continues Baptism’s work of conversion and forgiveness.83

The third precept (“You shall humbly receive your Creator in Holy Communion at least during the Easter season.") guarantees as a minimum the reception of the Lord’s Body and Blood in connection with the Paschal feasts, the origin and center of the Christian liturgy.84

2043 The fourth precept (“You shall keep holy the holy days of obligation.") completes the Sunday observance by participation in the principal liturgical feasts which honor the mysteries of the Lord, the Virgin Mary, and the saints.85

The fifth precept (“You shall observe the prescribed days of fasting and abstinence.") ensures the times of ascesis and penance which prepare us for the liturgical feasts; they help us acquire mastery over our instincts and freedom of heart.86

The faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities.87
Click to expand...
And formerly these two were called precepts of the Church, but are not included in the Catechism list of the precepts, yet still are to be done:
  1. to observe the laws of the Church concerning marriage; and
  2. to participate in the Church’s mission of evangelization of souls (missionary spirit of the Church).
Click to expand...
There are many rights and obligations listed in canon law.
 
Last edited:
Lucy_9,
I have to say that after being a Catholic all my life, I have come to realize that we have to, in Bishop Barron’s words, “graph ourselves onto Christ.” All the practices have their value and aside from receiving the Lord on Sunday, there is nothing greater than following his path. He paves the way for all of us to rise again because He has paid the admission cost, we just have to follow His path while we are still here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top