I went to Mass for the 1st time and now have a ton of questions

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skyrain30

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I have been thinking about the Catholic church for about 2 years now. I started to take RCIA classes once but ran into some issues. Anyways, I have been reading and studying for a while now and finally decided to just go. I haven’t been able to get hold of anyone concerning the RCIA classes so I just went to Mass. Is there anything that explains everything or is that something I just need to catch onto with time? I was able to kind of follow along by watching others during the service as far as when to stand and kneel and such. I did not know to kneel and cross myself before sitting in the pew. I am embarrassed to say I did not know to dip my hands in the holy water and cross myself. I did not know that there was a seperate blessing for children. Luckily I did know not to recieve communion. But I am not just talking about Mass. Is there a book that explains Catholic living in general. What prayers to say, when to cross yourself, what is a sin and what to do about it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
👋 WELCOME SKYRAIN
skyrain30 said:
I have been thinking about the Catholic church for about 2 years now. I started to take RCIA classes once but ran into some issues. Anyways, I have been reading and studying for a while now and finally decided to just go. I haven’t been able to get hold of anyone concerning the RCIA classes so I just went to Mass. Is there anything that explains everything or is that something I just need to catch onto with time? I was able to kind of follow along by watching others during the service as far as when to stand and kneel and such. I did not know to kneel and cross myself before sitting in the pew. I am embarrassed to say I did not know to dip my hands in the holy water and cross myself. I did not know that there was a seperate blessing for children. Luckily I did know not to recieve communion. But I am not just talking about Mass. Is there a book that explains Catholic living in general. What prayers to say, when to cross yourself, what is a sin and what to do about it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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There are lots of resources for explaining the Mass [Liturgy]. The Missal [usually found in the pews with the hymnals will have the Mass witht he readings for Sunday and includes [typically] the four most common Eucharistic prayers …

You can search the Catholic Answers [CA] site … lots of good info here 👍

Here is a resource holyspiritinteractive.net/features/theexplanatorymass/

or catholicity.com/cds/mass.html

and here mycatholictradition.com/catholic-mass.html

I think all of these provide good [orthodox explainations … like ll things - the Mass can be explained at various levels of understanding and maturity … the child,the teen, the un-catechized Christian and for Christians at various levels of understanding … for the High School educated to the PhD level …

You can read many books that are fairly good and easy or scholarly to read
  • some authors are Tim Staples, Scott Hahn and ven Ratzinger [now Pope Benedict XVI] and Pope John Paul II…
there is also a “Caholicism for Dummies” …

The Catechism is a good resource

And my favorite would be to recommend the audio talks of Bishop Fulton Sheen - you can find a MP 3 that has all of them [or most anyway] here at the CA I think … I got minie so many years ago that I am not sure where I got it butI think it was from CA …

:wave:Welcome 😃

…Please don’t feel strange … many of those things you mentioned [like blessing yourself in memory of your baptism when you enter the church] - are optional, not required and in truth there are some catholics who don’t know whay they do it … I worl with RCIA …can’t tell you how many times a candidate or catechumen asks why catholics do that [and their sponsor could not answer their quesiton :rolleyes:]
 
Hey Skyrain30,
StrawberryJam on here just did the same thing as you… she just went to her very first Mass today. It seems like both of you desire some explanation of what’s going on. I’m planning on getting together with her online to walk through an actual Mass as we’re watching it, using a Youtube video or something. You’re welcome to join us. PM me and I’ll let you know when I have things ready.
 
Welcome!

There’s a book called “The Mass Explained” that’s very short & to the point. It basically only covers Mass, but there are other books that do a good job w/ all of what it is to be Catholic. I’m not entirely sure, but I think this website has access to the CD of this book for free.

I recommend “Catholicism for Dummies” - it is written with the aid/(name removed by moderator)ut of a very orthodox priest and has things in small bites so as not to overwhelm. Its also very readily available at almost any bookstore that sells Dummies books. This book also appears to have a webpage for free!

You also would probably do really well to find someone at the parish you attended (even just a lay person) to help guide you through what it means to be Catholic. Most of us are very friendly and even if we can’t personally help, we can direct you to someone who can!
 
Rolltide said:
Hey Skyrain30,
StrawberryJam on here just did the same thing as you… she just went to her very first Mass today. It seems like both of you desire some explanation of what’s going on. I’m planning on getting together with her online to walk through an actual Mass as we’re watching it, using a Youtube video or something. You’re welcome to join us. PM me and I’ll let you know when I have things ready.
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JL: That is a great idea Rolltide, I will offer a rosary for your intention today. I need to become more computer literate.
 
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