Finding God

[orgel_maestro]

Let me give a little background info before I pose my question. I, myself, am a practicing Roman Catholic, but my two brothers are Baptist (non-practicing), my father atheist and my sister and mother are agnostic.

Recently, my brother passed away, and ever since his death, my mom just recently has expressed interest in finding God and doing a little soul searching. Since my brother was Christian we are having christian burial, and my mom has wanted to learn more about Christianity.

It’s difficult because I am in college now and live far away and only see my family on holidays. My mother went to Catholic schools as a child, and knew some of the basic bible stories, but that was 50 years ago. Her parents were buddhist and so it was a weird mix. She once told me she wanted to be a nun when she was a little girl, and I feel that now God is calling her back him.

What should I do? I have been praying for years for my parents’ conversion, and feel like God is beginning to answer my prayers. I will give her a bible and tell her to read the Gospels first. What other one book might be very good? I would like to her to learn more about the Catholic Christian God but not bog her down with heavy theology like the CCC or some apologetics work, as she is not even that familiar with Christianity.

What should I do? Are there any books out there that you could recommend, keeping in mind the target reader is someone not familiar with Christianity, as I know many of the books out there are written for fallen-away Catholics or apologetic works mainly targeted for Protestants and some atheists.

Thank you so much.
In Christ our Lord,
Roger

 

[Trishie]

Roger,

Definitely the Gospels, the Old Testament might be a bit confusing at first. Do you have access to a Catholic bookstore. Could you get hold of a little book about what Catholics believe, so that she has a general idea of what it means to be Catholic.

I’m delighted that your mother is responding to this grace you’ve prayed so long for. It takes you by surprise when it happens, like the fall of the Berlin wall.

May God continue to bless your family. God be with you all at the funeral. God be with you in everything.

Trishie

 

[Ruthie]

Two books that are easy reads:

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. It’s not Catholic, but not anti-Catholic either. It’s great! It was an immense help to me when I first became Christian, many years before I swam the Tiber.

Theology For Beginners by Frank Sheed. A great overview of what we Catholics believe.

A third book that helped me much when I was converting is Catholic and Christian by Alan Schreck. It’s a bit thicker than the other two. It is out of print; I got my copy on e-bay.

Ruthie

 

[GracedUpon]

When I was first learning about the Faith, I purchased Catholicism for Dummies. It is actually a very good overview of the Catholic faith, and explains why we believe what we believe, even with controversial teachings such as not allowing female priests, contraception, etc. Not only is it good for teaching non-Catholics about the faith, it’s also great as a refresher for currently practicing Catholics.

 

[Sasha]

When I was first learning about the Faith, I purchased Catholicism for Dummies. It is actually a very good overview of the Catholic faith, and explains why we believe what we believe, even with controversial teachings such as not allowing female priests, contraception, etc. Not only is it good for teaching non-Catholics about the faith, it’s also great as a refresher for currently practicing Catholics.

I second this one. I haven’t read it myself, but I know that my priest recommends it to everyone just starting to learn the faith.

 

[cupidlove]

u will find the god if u believe it
in fact the god is along with u all the time