I need help to teach myself Catholicism

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I am 17 and I go to an all girls Catholic high school. I went to Catholic schools all of my life, but, I have learned very few things about the Faith in school. At my high school, it is pretty much secular except for the lukewarm religion classes. My parents are immigrants who did not receive much religious instruction but regularly attend Mass.

I have been trying to teach myself Catholicism for a few years now using Word on Fire, Catholic Answers, and my Bible. I do not own a Catechism and my Bible is not Catholic but that is what I received in grammar school and it seems okay. I have no bookstores walking distance from my house and I need to use the public library. What books should I read on Church history, teaching, and apologetics? Also, I need some advice on how to do this on a tight schedule since I take a lot of rigorous classes with lots of homework and whatever time I have to myself I use outside for walks or other exercise since being indoors drives me crazy. I tried to get around that by listening to C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton in audiobooks, but, I ran out of storage on my Iphone after just four. Documentary suggestions are also welcome. Thanks.
 
Hi there,
I’m a Catholic School teacher who teaches senior Religious Education in Australia. One text I use (among many others) is the Catholic Faith Handbook, it explains some of the most important things about Catholicism in a very reasonable and comprehensible way. You can probably order them from Amazon.com or they may be in your local library.

It’s very step by step and easy to follow so it suits a very busy schedule (which is what my senior students also have to deal with).

Being a young person, I’d also suggest you try the YouCat which is the Catechism for people your age. It’s also very accessible and should suit your busy life.

For Church History - Norman Tanners A Short History of the Catholic Church is a great start, it’s relatively short and easy to follow and will give you the basics.

Fr Robert Barron’s Catholicism series is also excellent (but a little expensive to buy on your own - maybe your parish might have a copy or could be encouraged to get one).

Best of luck in your search for answers 🙂
 
You can read the Catechism online at:

usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/index.cfm

Tim Staples (from Catholic Answers) also says that this website (St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Mississippi) has the best search engine for the Catechism:

scborromeo.org/apol.htm

The parish’s site also has an online Bible study (mostly based on the Sunday readings at Mass plus a few other Masses).

scborromeo.org/biblestudies.htm

That parish has a ton of stuff under their “Faith” section.

Also, check out the following sites:
www.instituteofcatholicculture.org
amm.org/chss/chss.asp
kofc.org/un/en/cis/index.html

Good luck and God Bless.
 
All of the links & info previously posted are great! I’ll just add this link to Catholicity.com and on there they have a section with talks by various people - Priests & Apologists. You can download them in mp3 format…

catholicity.com/cds/

Also someone posted a link to the KofC website. On there they have a Faith Formation correspondance course. I just got it not long ago and I’m starting it. They mail you 2 small course study booklets each of varying subject and a test sheet. You study then take the little test and mail them back. When they receive it, they will send you the next 2. There are 10 altogether. They are free and the best part is you can do them at your leisure with no time constraints.

God Bless you for wanting to learn more about your faith! 👍
 
Convert2013 said:
Also someone posted a link to the KofC website. On there they have a Faith Formation correspondance course. I just got it not long ago and I’m starting it. They mail you 2 small course study booklets each of varying subject and a test sheet. You study then take the little test and mail them back. When they receive it, they will send you the next 2. There are 10 altogether. They are free and the best part is you can do them at your leisure with no time constraints.

God Bless you for wanting to learn more about your faith! 👍
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I was just about to suggest the Catholic Home Study Service 👍

tee
 
redbetta said:
I am 17 and I go to an all girls Catholic high school. I went to Catholic schools all of my life, but, I have learned very few things about the Faith in school. At my high school, it is pretty much secular except for the lukewarm religion classes. My parents are immigrants who did not receive much religious instruction but regularly attend Mass.

I have been trying to teach myself Catholicism for a few years now using Word on Fire, Catholic Answers, and my Bible. I do not own a Catechism and my Bible is not Catholic but that is what I received in grammar school and it seems okay. I have no bookstores walking distance from my house and I need to use the public library. What books should I read on Church history, teaching, and apologetics? Also, I need some advice on how to do this on a tight schedule since I take a lot of rigorous classes with lots of homework and whatever time I have to myself I use outside for walks or other exercise since being indoors drives me crazy. I tried to get around that by listening to C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton in audiobooks, but, I ran out of storage on my Iphone after just four. Documentary suggestions are also welcome. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Have you looked into attending the RCIA classes in your parish? These classes are not just for people who want to become Catholics. They are excellent courses for any Catholic wanting to achieve spiritual growth & development about their Catholicism. You would indeed be welcomed.
 
Watch some of Fr. Fulton Sheen’s videos online 🙂 I enjoy them quite a bit.

Also, the Baltimore Catechism is a great introduction to Catholicism.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I am currently reading the Catechism from one of the links posted. Tawny, I am not looking into any classes for the time being. Besides the basics, could someone suggest some must read books or masterpieces? Any important documents from the early Church fathers and beyond that I should read and, if necessary, a version with notes? Thanks again.
 
redbetta said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I am currently reading the Catechism from one of the links posted. Tawny, I am not looking into any classes for the time being. Besides the basics, could someone suggest some must read books or masterpieces? Any important documents from the early Church fathers and beyond that I should read and, if necessary, a version with notes? Thanks again.
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Also check out augustinus.it/links/inglese/opere.htm to read works from St. Augustine (of Hippo).

and here for St. Thomas Aquinas dhspriory.org/thomas/
 
As for the Fathers, I highly recommend Jimmy Akin’s “The Fathers Know Best”, available right here on the Catholic Answers web site. It’s very readable and, as usual with Jimmy’ work, quite enjoyable as well, despite the very serious subject matter.
 
tawny said:
Have you looked into attending the RCIA classes in your parish? These classes are not just for people who want to become Catholics. They are excellent courses for any Catholic wanting to achieve spiritual growth & development about their Catholicism. You would indeed be welcomed.
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I would not be so quick to recommend RCIA for people who are already Catholic, unless they have not been catechized. We do not open our sessions to the general parish population nor do most of the parishes in our diocese. Our RCIA sessions are specifically designed for those who are converting. They are not classes in the traditional sense. We deal with all the things they need to learn, but our focus is on conversion and developing a relationship with Christ. Practicing Catholics who come to our sessions are usually sponsors or spouses and on a few occasions we had to ask them to keep quiet or even not to come because they were asking questions that were beyond the stage where our catechumens were. Catechumens also feel intimidated at times and don’t engage in the conversation if others are in the session who know more and are already are always chiming in.

Practicing Catholics or returning Catholics who are looking for something in the way of formation or catechesis should look to adult formation programs. If the parish does not have anything, perhaps it should be suggested if there seems to be a need for it, but leave RCIA sessions for the uncatechized or those converting.
 
Brandon Vogt, a somewhat well-known Catholic blogger, has compiled a list of some of his own book recommendations. You can look through it here: brandonvogt.com/best-catholic-books-of-all-time/.

Something I would also recommend is the Baltimore Catechism, volume four. Tan Books puts out a lovely edition, and you can purchase it here: amazon.com/Baltimore-Catechism-Four/dp/0895551470/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_z. Although there are some aspects of this book that are old-fashioned, I think reading it will give you a very solid and intellectual understanding of the faith.

Also, you mentioned Catholic Answers, and if you don’t do so already, I’d highly recommend listening to their radio show. Listening to some of the Q and A sessions can be very rewarding, and I would especially recommend Jimmy Akin’s shows.

Jimmy tries so hard to be objective, and tries to only make the best arguments he knows of. He is also constantly trying to reference official Church teaching rather than his own opinion, and is in general less speculative than some other apologists tend to be. As much as I love apologetics, so much of it can be far less solid than it should be.
 
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