Feeling Overwhelmed and Frustrated

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sonoftherosary

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I am a life-long Catholic, and I am starting to read the Bible, beginning with the Four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.

I am also starting to read the Catechism.

I am feeling frustrated and overwhelmed because there are so many passages and complex words that I don’t understand. What do I do? How do I understand a difficult passage?
 
  1. Start by reading in order to get a general overview of what a particular book is about. Read through, for example, St. John’s Gospel; and if you should have things you don’t understand, simply file them away on the shelf. Before you get into too many details, get a feel for the bigger picture.
  2. You may be helped in the above by listening to a couple of audio resources, which give outlines of sections of Scripture for the sake of introducing a person to them.
i. The first is called Inside the Bible, and it was an EWTN program hosted by Fr. Kenneth Baker. (Link)

ii. The second is a podcast called Understanding the Scriptures. (Link)

Please don’t feel you need to rush through the process of getting a general overview of Scripture. This is something that should be spiritually and mentally rewarding, and feel free to take all of this at your own pace. If it takes a 3 months to get through John, so be it.
  1. After a bit of time, or even from the start, you may find yourself either wanting to go deeper, or you’ll observe specific questions you may have on some passage. For this, there are commentaries. Two of the most used commentaries by conservative Catholics today are:
  • The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, for the New Testament;
  • The Navarre Bible, which comes in 10 volumes.
Both of these resources are easy enough to find by doing a Google search.
  1. If you’re having trouble with the Catechism, please don’t fret. Whilst it is invaluable and a wonderful gift for the Church to have, don’t forget it was intended primarily for Bishops, and so is at a somewhat lofty level of expression.
The Catechism is intended, first of all, for bishops as teachers of the faith and pastors of the Church. They have the first responsibility in catechesis. Through the bishops, the Catechism is addressed to editors of catechisms, priests, catechists and all others responsible for catechesis. It will also be useful reading for all the faithful. (Link)

However, as you read above, we are all of us encouraged to read the Catechism, and there is a book that helps give us a succinct presentation of all the material in the work: Compedium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

To see what’s in that book, you can look at the Vatican website: vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

The physical book is available for purchase from your favourite bookseller. 👍

Edit: I really have to mention the St. Paul Center For Biblical Theology – www.salvationhistory.org – which, I’m sure, should give you great food for thought.
 
sonoftherosary said:
I am a life-long Catholic, and I am starting to read the Bible, beginning with the Four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.

I am also starting to read the Catechism.

I am feeling frustrated and overwhelmed because there are so many passages and complex words that I don’t understand. What do I do? How do I understand a difficult passage?
Click to expand...
You don’t need to worry about understanding everything all at once; just try to read the difficult passage in context. When I don’t understand a verse, I like to read the whole chapter as well as verses from just before and after that chapter, to see what the setting is; sometimes, there are clues in other nearby passages that will help it make sense.
 
InNomineDomini said:
  1. Start by reading in order to get a general overview of what a particular book is about. Read through, for example, St. John’s Gospel; and if you should have things you don’t understand, simply file them away on the shelf. Before you get into too many details, get a feel for the bigger picture.
  2. You may be helped in the above by listening to a couple of audio resources, which give outlines of sections of Scripture for the sake of introducing a person to them.
i. The first is called Inside the Bible, and it was an EWTN program hosted by Fr. Kenneth Baker. (Link)

ii. The second is a podcast called Understanding the Scriptures. (Link)

Please don’t feel you need to rush through the process of getting a general overview of Scripture. This is something that should be spiritually and mentally rewarding, and feel free to take all of this at your own pace. If it takes a 3 months to get through John, so be it.
  1. After a bit of time, or even from the start, you may find yourself either wanting to go deeper, or you’ll observe specific questions you may have on some passage. For this, there are commentaries. Two of the most used commentaries by conservative Catholics today are:
  • The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, for the New Testament;
  • The Navarre Bible, which comes in 10 volumes.
Both of these resources are easy enough to find by doing a Google search.
  1. If you’re having trouble with the Catechism, please don’t fret. Whilst it is invaluable and a wonderful gift for the Church to have, don’t forget it was intended primarily for Bishops, and so is at a somewhat lofty level of expression.
The Catechism is intended, first of all, for bishops as teachers of the faith and pastors of the Church. They have the first responsibility in catechesis. Through the bishops, the Catechism is addressed to editors of catechisms, priests, catechists and all others responsible for catechesis. It will also be useful reading for all the faithful. (Link)

However, we are all of us encouraged to read the Catechism, and there is a book that helps give us a succinct presentation of all the material in the work: Compedium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

To see what’s in that book, you can look at the Vatican website: vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html

The physical book is available for purchase from your favourite bookseller. 👍

Edit: I really have to mention the St. Paul Center For Biblical Theology – www.salvationhistory.org – which, I’m sure, should give you great food for thought.
Click to expand...
There is no way that I can do this. The books that you mentioned are extremely expensive, and I am not looking for a general overview of the Bible. Even when I read the compendium - the language that it uses - the words are so complex I can’t even understand the Compendium, letalone the Catechism. My question is - what do I do when I read a certain passage from the Bible/Catechism that I don’t understand?

Do you think that I should just post that verse/paragraph onto Catholic Answers Forum and hope that the responses that I get are faithful to the Catholic Church’s teachings?
 
SecretaryMonday said:
You don’t need to worry about understanding everything all at once; just try to read the difficult passage in context. When I don’t understand a verse, I like to read the whole chapter as well as verses from just before and after that chapter, to see what the setting is; sometimes, there are clues in other nearby passages that will help it make sense.
Click to expand...
Most of the time, even after reading the entire chapter I still don’t understand the passage or verse.

Please tell me not to worry, but I have to. I really want to understand the BIble - if not all of it, then at least the four gospels - AT LEAST the four gospels. Telling me “Don’t worry” is no help at all.
 
sonoftherosary said:
I am a life-long Catholic, and I am starting to read the Bible, beginning with the Four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.

I am also starting to read the Catechism.

I am feeling frustrated and overwhelmed because there are so many passages and complex words that I don’t understand. What do I do? How do I understand a difficult passage?
Click to expand...
You have before you the greatest source of knowledge ever known to man.

A computer with an internet connection.

If a word is causing you trouble, dictionary.com is there to help. You can always look up another Bible translation on Bible Gateway. And Google will help you find different perspectives, Catholic, Protestant and otherwise, on any part of Scripture that might be of interest.
 
My apologies: I looked through some of your previous posts/threads, and noticed you’ve posed specific Scriptural questions, have received hundreds of words in response, but yet didn’t bother to acknowledge those answers or state whether or not they were helpful.

It’s a bit difficult to pin down what you’re having trouble with if you don’t offer feedback. 😉

If you’ve been having trouble understanding what words like “Liturgy” mean, try CatholicReference.net.

I’d love to be of more help, but I sincerely can’t tell if you’re on a wind up or not. 👍
 
InNomineDomini said:
Can you give an example of something you’ve read that you don’t understand?
Click to expand...
Example:

Question 218 / 220 in Compendium: “What is the liturgy? / In what does the sacramental economy consist?”

Answer: “The liturgy is the celebration of the mystery of Christ and in particular his Paschal Mystery. Through the exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ the liturgy manifests in signs and brings about the sanctification of humankind. The public worship which is due to God is offered by the Mystical BOdy of Christ, that is, by its head and by its members. The sacramental economy consists in the communication of the fruits of Christ’s redemption through the celebration of the sacraments of the Church, most especially that of the Eucharist, until he comes (1 Cor 11:26).”

WOW - how can I possible understand something like that - so complex.

Another example:

Matthew 20: 13-16: “Friend I am doing you no wrong: did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go, I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am i not allowed to do what I chose with what bhelongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So that last will be first and the first last.”

There are so many unclear sentences and passage within the bible, including the gospels, that I don’t understand.
 
sonoftherosary said:
Another example:

Matthew 20: 13-16: “Friend I am doing you no wrong: did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go, I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am i not allowed to do what I chose with what bhelongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So that last will be first and the first last.”

There are so many unclear sentences and passage within the bible, including the gospels, that I don’t understand.
Click to expand...
I would recommend reading Mitch/Hahn’s Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, available from Amazon. Excellent commentary on the NT.

Clinton
 
sonoftherosary said:
WOW - how can I possible understand something like that - so complex.
Click to expand...
🙂 I would sincerely recommend taking a few months to read through the Baltimore Catechism: catholicity.com/baltimore-catechism/

Judging from some of your concerns, I think there are some basics that are missing in your formation. Things like Mysteries, Pascha, Priestly Office of Christ, Liturgy, Sanctification, Mystical Body of Christ, the Head of the Body, Sacrament, Sacramental Economy, Redemption, and Eucharist are the main areas of your quote that would cause someone to have some sort of difficulty understanding what was being expressed. But if a Catholic has difficulty with those things, they need to revisit basic formation.

Something like the Baltimore Catechism will help you, not only with the sentences and phrases of other Church documents, but with understanding the basics of Scripture.

As to your Scripture quote, see here, final post: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=60328
 
sonoftherosary said:
… - the language that it uses - the words are so complex I can’t even understand the Compendium, letalone the Catechism. My question is - what do I do when I read a certain passage from the Bible/Catechism that I don’t understand?

Do you think that I should just post that verse/paragraph onto Catholic Answers Forum and hope that the responses that I get are faithful to the Catholic Church’s teachings?
Click to expand...
After reading your posts, I think posting passages on the Catholic Answers Forum and asking for help would be a good solution.

It might be a good idea to end the opening post of each new thread you start with a request similar to:
“Please give your responses in everyday easy-to-understand language. Also, I am interested only in answers that are faithful to the Catholic Church’s teaching.”

If your parish ever has a class on the Bible or Catechism, you might give that a try also. You can always drop out if it doesn’t help you in understanding.
 
sonoftherosary said:
I am a life-long Catholic, and I am starting to read the Bible, beginning with the Four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.

I am also starting to read the Catechism.

I am feeling frustrated and overwhelmed because there are so many passages and complex words that I don’t understand. What do I do? How do I understand a difficult passage?
Click to expand...
You must be very excited on this new journey. I see that what may have been excitement with a zeal for reading and for reading the two biggest writings of our faith, you found yourself feeling frustrated and overwhelmed instead.

Each of those, the Bible and CCC, is a huge endeavor.

With the Bible, it is a collections of books. So, you have an entire library in the one book.

With the Bible, besides simply reading the words, there is the history of the culture, the location, the people, the stories behind the story.

Is it possible that you have embarked on a bigger journey than expected when you “bought the ticket”, than when you made the decision to begin reading these two very large writings.

You may want to re-evaluate what your goal is in reading the Bible and CCC.

Can you read one gospel all the way through for a broad context and then later go back and read it with a study guide? You would be reading it the first time for your head and second time for your heart. You get a flow the first time (for your head) and then more understanding the second time (for your heart).

When you read one of the books in the Bible, keep in mind that most of us are just like you - we need the background behind the writing to understand it. However, we can choose to read knowing that we will not be able to understand it the same way we would read a book written about our current time and homeland.

The choice of Bible you pick will also play a role in how easy it is for you to understand.

It might be helpful to begin with prayer each time you read the Bible or CCC.

May God give you peace in your reading.
 
I second using the Baltimore Catechism. Each level gives a little more information than the previous level, but mostly incorporates the previous level’s words in a longer explanation.

I used the BCs with my homeschooled children and so studied them very carefully and thoroughly over the years as I was challenged by my children’s many questions! We all got a thorough understanding of the Church’s basic teachings this way.

The teachings of the Church are very intertwined, so this is a really good way to learn about them.
InNomineDomini said:
🙂 I would sincerely recommend taking a few months to read through the Baltimore Catechism: catholicity.com/baltimore-catechism/

Judging from some of your concerns, I think there are some basics that are missing in your formation. Things like Mysteries, Pascha, Priestly Office of Christ, Liturgy, Sanctification, Mystical Body of Christ, the Head of the Body, Sacrament, Sacramental Economy, Redemption, and Eucharist are the main areas of your quote that would cause someone to have some sort of difficulty understanding what was being expressed. But if a Catholic has difficulty with those things, they need to revisit basic formation.

Something like the Baltimore Catechism will help you, not only with the sentences and phrases of other Church documents, but with understanding the basics of Scripture.

As to your Scripture quote, see here, final post: forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=60328
Click to expand...
 
You have already received some wonderful advice and I think that the idea of simply coming here with your questions is a good one.

One thing that I cannot emphasize to strongly though is to be patient with yourself. It all takes time…
Keep things simple and know that the most important aspect of our faith is Love.

Also - I have come to the conclusion that not everyone is cut out to understand everything taught in the catechism…or even to understand everything in the bible…Yet another reason that I try to keep my faith simple.

Anyway - on to your concerns…
sonoftherosary said:
Example:

Question 218 / 220 in Compendium: “What is the liturgy? / In what does the sacramental economy consist?”

Answer: “The liturgy is the celebration of the mystery of Christ and in particular his Paschal Mystery. Through the exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ the liturgy manifests in signs and brings about the sanctification of humankind. The public worship which is due to God is offered by the Mystical Body of Christ, that is, by its head and by its members. The sacramental economy consists in the communication of the fruits of Christ’s redemption through the celebration of the sacraments of the Church, most especially that of the Eucharist, until he comes (1 Cor 11:26).”

WOW - how can I possible understand something like that - so complex.
Click to expand...
I use to work in a profession that required a fair amount of technical reading at times. Through this I have found that most things that seem complex really are not - once they are broken down to their constituent parts.
So the thing to do is to break down something like the above and look at each sentence on it’s own…If there are words that you don’t understand, look them up in a dictionary.

It will still take time to absorb the meaning - but it will come.
Again - be patient with yourself.
Another example:
Click to expand...
Matthew 20: 13-16: “Friend I am doing you no wrong: did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go, I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am i not allowed to do what I chose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So that last will be first and the first last.”
Click to expand...
There are so many unclear sentences and passage within the bible, including the gospels, that I don’t understand.
Click to expand...
Things in Scripture can be tricky in a different way from those in the Catechism. This is because Scripture, designed and given to us by the Holy Spirit, has a different purpose than the Catechism. Scripture contains various layers. Passages can strike us differently at different times in our lives. They can have a surface meaning and underlying meaning.

With Scripture, even more so than with the Catechism, the advice to simply read through without too much thinking is very good advice indeed.
Pray for understanding…then read…and don’t worry if understanding doesn’t seem to come right away. Continue to pray for understanding and read the Gospels again…
Repeat as needed - and you will find that gradually things will begin to make sense in ways you had not seen before. This is because your heart and mind will be changing, growing in Christ and gaining - little by little - deeper understandings.

Of course this should not prevent you from asking for what others see in various passages. We all can learn from each other.

In the above passage - which is one of the “the kingdom is like” analogies - Jesus is speaking to the equality of salvation. It does not matter when one comes to faith - be it a long time or a short time the reward is the same.
That’s what I see in this passage.

Hope this helps

Peace
James
 
sonoftherosary said:
I am a life-long Catholic, and I am starting to read the Bible, beginning with the Four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.

I am also starting to read the Catechism.

I am feeling frustrated and overwhelmed because there are so many passages and complex words that I don’t understand. What do I do? How do I understand a difficult passage?
Click to expand...
Let me ask you a couple of questions. How old are you? What is the highest level of your education? How well did you do in your studies? How long have you been Catholic?

Most parishes these days and even some Dioceases have Scripture study classes and even on going studies in the Faith in general. It might be a good idea to take advantage of these. I’m in the same boat on buying books, much too expensive.

Just remember, God doesn’t expect us to learn and understand what is naturally beyond us. I failed College Chemistry and Calculus because they just never made any sense to me. But I did exceptionally well in Philosophy because it made sense to me. See. We each have our gifts.

Did you know that through most of the time since Christ died that most Catholics couldn’t even read the Bible? And for about 1,200 years there was no printing press, so only a very few even had a copy of the Bible. Probably very few priests had a copy. Everything written had to be copied by hand.

You can post your questions but you will get all kinds of odd ball answers because absolutely anyone can come in here and put in their two cents worth and some of it won’t be very helpful.

So, do your best and don’t worry. Keep a good dictionary handy to look up words.

Linus2nd
 
sonoftherosary said:
I am a life-long Catholic, and I am starting to read the Bible, beginning with the Four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.

I am also starting to read the Catechism.

I am feeling frustrated and overwhelmed because there are so many passages and complex words that I don’t understand. What do I do? How do I understand a difficult passage?
Click to expand...
Wow. This is a beautiful post. Welcome back to the Scriptures. I sent some prayers to help you. God bless you. 🙂
 
What Bible translation are you using? I’m assuming you’re using an English Bible translation?
 
sonoftherosary said:
I am a life-long Catholic, and I am starting to read the Bible, beginning with the Four Gospels and the rest of the New Testament.

I am also starting to read the Catechism.

I am feeling frustrated and overwhelmed because there are so many passages and complex words that I don’t understand. What do I do? How do I understand a difficult passage?
Click to expand...
Go slowly. Read very small portions. Stop to look up any words you are unfamiliar with.

In time, your vocabulary will have improved, and you will be able to read more quickly and for longer periods of time.
 
This may sound weird, but there’s an old saying: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

So take it slow. First, pray before you read. That is necessary for understanding.

Now a good tool is practicing to diagram a sentence. Break it down into its parts, and start there. Have a dictionary ready, and a thesaurus.

And then bring questions to someone at your church, or here. There are some very smart people here. I am awed by some of the people here.

No one could just pick up the Bible or Catechism, read them, and understand completely all at once.
 
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