Catholic rules and traditions

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naturalfidelity

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I was raised loosly protestant, with really no direction. I am very attracted to catholicism and I think I want to begin the conversion, however, since I’ve not even slightly been around that structure, I have no clue about anything. :confused: Could someone please tell me some of the rules and basic traditions, 😦 I read my bible and live as closely as possible to it, however I don’t understand the theologies which are specific to catholicism, thanks! 🙂 God Bless
 
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naturalfidelity:
I was raised loosly protestant, with really no direction. I am very attracted to catholicism and I think I want to begin the conversion, however, since I’ve not even slightly been around that structure, I have no clue about anything. :confused: Could someone please tell me some of the rules and basic traditions, 😦 I read my bible and live as closely as possible to it, however I don’t understand the theologies which are specific to catholicism, thanks! 🙂 God Bless
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Do you know the teachings about the sacraments, and about salvation, and what we think of Mary and other things like that? If you know all this stuff it will make it easier to explain.

Are you refering to things like fasting and stuff, or are you refering to doctrine? If you could give us some examples to start with so that we know what you want to know that would be helpfull.
 
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naturalfidelity:
I was raised loosly protestant, with really no direction. I am very attracted to catholicism and I think I want to begin the conversion, however, since I’ve not even slightly been around that structure, I have no clue about anything. :confused: Could someone please tell me some of the rules and basic traditions, 😦 I read my bible and live as closely as possible to it, however I don’t understand the theologies which are specific to catholicism, thanks! 🙂 God Bless
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First of all W E L C 👋 M E to the forum.

I’m a Catholic Convert (actually there are a lot of us here) and we can help you. There are lots of meaningful traditions passed down through the ages. You are right to come here (Catholic Answers) you will find lots of answers. Let me start by asking you some questoins:
  1. Have you been to a Catholic Sunday service (called a Mass)?
  2. What about the Catholic Church attracts you?
  3. What flavor of Protestant were you raised?
One tradition Catholics to is:
Inside the each door of the Church is a small fount where Holy Water is placed. Catholics dip their finger in the water and then touch their head, their heart and each shoulder (in the sign of a cross) as a reminder of their Baptism.
 
I am familiar with the veneration of Mary, however I don’t know the sacraments or many of the doctrines, unfortunately.

also…

1.) I have been to mass before.
2.) I love the structure and forgiveness and the fact that so many people believe the same thing, with protestantism things get too grey for me to understand or believe.
3.) I was raised Presbeterian, but we really only went on holidays and days which my parents felt like getting out.

Thanks for the replies!
 
Hi! Welcome! I’m relatively new to this forum but I’m a ‘cradle Catholic’. Born and raised Catholic.

Do you know anything about the sacrament of communion and the “Real Presence”? That’s at the core of our belief. Much of what makes the Catholic mass different from a protestant service is the belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the bread and wine. We have the bible readings, but the Eucharist is the centerpiece of the mass.

again - Welcome!
 
I do understand the “real prescence” in the communion, however, I could find a lot of information on the creeds and the service. I don’t understand the daily requirements. God Bless and thanks again for the help.
 
Welcome NaturalFidelity!

It sounds like you’re very much on the right track. Forgiveness is a rare gift – through apostolic power of the sacraments, there’s nothing like it to be found. Plus, Catholic doctrine is what has been handed down to us. The distinctive doctrines are the seven sacraments and how grace is communicated, apostolic succession, the communion of saints, the meaning and purpose of the Mass, the role of the pope and the hierarchy, and our duties as Catholics.

You can pick up the basics quickly. But Catholicism is very deep also – there’s 2000 years of treasure to be found.
 
Lets start with the salvation. In Catholicism we believe that salvation is a process in which we are made to be like Christ. This process takes our whole lifetime. This often involves doing acts of charity and living your life in a way that is most according to that of Christ. We do good works as a way to destroy our tendencies to sin. For example we may give to the poor to help the poor, but we are also helping ourselves by learning to love all Gods people. Or we might fast to build strength when it comes to a time of temptation. So, according to the Catholic teaching we are saved by both faith and works. Faith is necessary because it is the begining of the Christian life. Works are essential because they are the way we accept Christ and show our love for God and His people, and they are also a way in which we prepare ourselves to recieve the grace of God by which we are perfected.

We recieve all Grace(The Holy Spirit) from Christ through His sacrifice. By dieing on the cross Christ merited us Grace. This is shown in Revelation22 where it shows the river flowing from the side of the thrown. Christ is on the thrown and the river is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit proceeds to the people of God. This is also shown in the gospels when it speaks of the passion of Christ and it mentions them pearcing Christs side and water and blood gushed out. This is representative of the Church(the blood) which is guided by the Holy Spirit(the water). Through this Grace which we recieve we are given the strength to reject sin and to recieve salvation, but our will must consent to it. God will not take away our free will.

God tells us in Revelation that nothing impure shall enter heaven. That means that we all must be perfect before we enter heaven. This also means that we must be free from sin and all its attachments. We work toward this perfection here on earth but not everyone dies free from sin and perfect. If we act God and follow Him as we can and repent of our sins He will complete the cleansing process through purgatory. Catholicism teaches that when we die those who have repented of their sins and have been forgiven will be purified by God in purgatory and then they will enter heaven when they are perfected.

The overall message of Catholicism on salvation is that we are to put our sinfull nature on the cross with Christ and crucify it. We are to die to our sins and live like a knew man(or woman). Always keep the virtues in mind and live according to them and never fall to the vices.
 
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naturalfidelity:
I am familiar with the veneration of Mary, however I don’t know the sacraments or many of the doctrines, unfortunately.
QUOTE]

Hi!

The 7 sacraments are (fellow Catholics excuse if my terms are out-of-date):

Baptism
Reconciliation (confession)
Eucharist (Communion)
Confirmation
Marriage
Holy Orders
Extreme Unction (annointing of the sick)

You will find lots of great answers here, make yourself at home.
c
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naturalfidelity:
I do understand the “real prescence” in the communion, however, I could find a lot of information on the creeds and the service. I don’t understand the daily requirements. God Bless and thanks again for the help.
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Can you be more specific about ‘daily requirements’? I am not sure what you are refering to. There are no daily requirements. The only daily requirement is to live the life of Christ as best as you can. Some people place daily requirements on themselves(like praying a certain amount each day or fasting) as a personal devotion to God but that is not required.
 
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naturalfidelity:
I do understand the “real prescence” in the communion, however, I could find a lot of information on the creeds and the service. I don’t understand the daily requirements. God Bless and thanks again for the help.
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Do you mean “How does a practicing Catholic live their faith in daily life”?.
 
the main thing to know is that Jesus founded only one church on earth. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
 
If you aare refering to day to day living then it is quite simple. To be a Catholic is to live the Gospel. I know that is a vague term but I mean it in a different way then most protestants mean. What I mean is that as a Catholic we need to not only follow the teachings of Christ but rather we should try to live like Christ did. We are each called to holiness and Jesus gave us the perfect example of how to live the life of holiness and he gave His Church to us so that we could have the support necessary to live the life of holiness. I think that it would profit you much to enter the RCIA program in the fall when it starts again and in that journey you will hopefully find what you are looking for.
 
“The new document also reportedly contains an apology to the Jewish people for anti-Semitic passages contained in the New Testament”

WHAT!, we’re apologizing for the New Testament?

“If you put off the moment that Jews will come to recognize Jesus as the Messiah until the end of time, then we don’t need to work or pray for the conversion of Jews to Christianity,” he said. “God already has the salvation of Jews figured out, and they accepted it on Sinai, so they are OK.”

Since when do we not have to work to convert anyone Jew or not or spread the Gospel? Christ, or no one ever said Jews salvation is assured. “No man comes to the Father except through the Son.”

“Jews are already with the Father,” he continued. “We do not have a mission to the Jews, but only a mission with the Jews to the world. The Catholic Church will never again sanction an organization devoted to the conversion of the Jews. That is over, on doctrinal, biblical and pastoral grounds. Finito.”

Is it official Catholic doctrine that the Jews are fine without Christs atonement? I can’t reconcile that if it is. The Bible, Christ and the Church have been quite clear on the issue. No more trying to convert Jews then?

Everytime I start feeling a little better I start reading this stuff. This article is distrubuing indeed. I mean we have a different Theology than Jews, let it be, according to their Theology Christians are idolaters, and polytheists. Why do we have to O.K. our religion with Rabbis’ all the sudden?
 
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naturalfidelity:
I was raised loosly protestant, with really no direction. I am very attracted to catholicism and I think I want to begin the conversion, however, since I’ve not even slightly been around that structure, I have no clue about anything. :confused: Could someone please tell me some of the rules and basic traditions, 😦 I read my bible and live as closely as possible to it, however I don’t understand the theologies which are specific to catholicism, thanks! 🙂 God Bless
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Well, the best place to start is by picking up a couple of books at a Catholic bookstore (or online) that give a basic outline of Catholic belief.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the best place to start, although it’s not organized into bite-sized chapters. For that, I’d suggest This Is Our Faith by Michael Pennock and (as much as I hate this title) Catholicism For Dummies is pretty good also.

The best way to experience Catholicism is through the Liturgy-- going to Mass. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know “what to do”, you’ll learn that. There are books in the pew, called a Missalette, that have everything in them that you need to follow along. See about borrowing one and taking it home to study it-- ask the parish office if they have some extras or one that is old. Then you can look at it at your leisure and learn the flow of the Mass.
 
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