Thanks to everyone that replied and your wonderful advice. I was hoping that there was some class I could attend before RCIA. I’m not sure if I would like to convert.
tobinatorstark - you wrote, " I am cradle Catholic." what do you mean?
My fiance doesn’t really attend church unless his mother’s in town and we’re not near the church he grew up. So what I’m trying to say is, he doesn’t go to mass. I’ve been to Christmas mass and have attended a couple of masses in the past and frankly, I’m not a fan of mass. I hope I have not offended anyone. The traditions of mass make me feel very much out of place. I see everyone around me knowing what to do when and I’m very much lost.
I enjoy attending Baptist church and enjoy taking in what the pastor has to say. But wanted to “learn” more about Catholicism rather than letting these feelings of ‘out of placeness’ get to me.
I hope I’m making sense.
You’re making perfect sense. Believe me, I was right where you are.
In answer to your first question. A cradle catholic is someone who has been baptized in the Catholic Church, and been Catholic all their life.
For me, I am an RCIA coordinator for our parish, and I am usually the first point of contact for people inquiring about the faith.
As I said earlier, the initial phase of RCIA is the “inquiry” stage.
In our parish, the RCIA inquiry stage lays out our basic beliefs, such as who we know Jesus to be, our desire for God, those types of things.
Our inquiry phase also includes a tour of our church, so you know what all the different things are that are used during the Mass, etc. We even include an explaination Mass, where our pastor explains the different vestments he wears, the different prayers that are used, and where they come from biblically.
Just so you know where I am coming from, I was baptized Catholic, and that was it, and was only in a Catholic church for funerals. My parents weren’t big church goers, and my grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. (talk about one confused family
)
I came into full communion with the Catholic church through the RCIA program, and believe me, I was the guy in the front row with his arms crossed, with the “oh yeah” attitude. I had been to Presbyterian, Methodist,Baptist, Nazarene, Assembly of God, Non Demoninational, just to name a few, and thought I had it all figured out. Boy was I wrong!. The inquiry phase of RCIA really pulled things together for me in the respect that I realized I had alot of preconceived ideas about the Catholic church, and it’s beliefs that were wrong.
Fast forward 5 years, and I am now in charge of the program for our parish.
The Mass can be very intimidating for someone who knows very little about Catholocism, but don’t let that bother you. I tell all of my RCIA students, “You’re going to be about 1/2 step behind everyone else in the congregation for a while, but it will come to you.”
I also understand how the preachings of a protestant minister may seem more inspiring at times, but not everyone preaches the same. I have heard some real on fire Catholic priests in my time, and I have also heard some real dud protestants (Grandpa being one of them…sorry g’pa). It is OK to find a parish where the priest is more in your style of preaching.
You have alot to think and pray about, and I for one don’t want to pressure you one way or the other. I have had inquirers come to me and tell me that they just couldn’t make the conversion to being Catholic. I just tell them, it’s ok, we can still be friends and prayer warriors for our Lord. Pray about it, The Lord will tell you what to do. Just make sure you listen for his answer.
God Bless
