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Vico
Guest
Thank you, I didn’t know that.
I should have mentioned the Kiss of Peace (handshake, but some hug).
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I should have mentioned the Kiss of Peace (handshake, but some hug).
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Church_Militant
Guest
Boy you’ll get every answer under the sun with this one.I often joke that I have more translations of the Bible than God, but I use the
Ignatius Catholic Bible, Revised Standard Version; Pacific Duvelle™ Compact Edition
But if you have been using the NIV, you may find the New American Bible of interest because they read pretty close, except the NAB has all 73 books.
The Douay-Rheims Challoner Bible is also great, especially if one is used to the KJV since they are from the same period, with the DRB coming out a couple of years before King James.
For more discussion on this you can look over Catholics and Bible reading.
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swimmer0964
Guest
It seems like the douay-rheims is popular? I think the New American Bible might be what I will use. I really like the NIV version, so something similar would be best. Reading my Bible is really important to me, so it might seem weird to me if a lot of other people don’t read their Bibles on their own, but I like the idea of the entire Bible being read every 3 years in mass. The churches I’ve gone to pick and choose random verses each week, so even though I read my Bible a lot, I think there are still a lot of passages I have never read.
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swimmer0964
Guest
I did end up going to mass today and absolutely loved it! It was pretty small since it was a Monday mass and also on a holiday, but it felt completely right to me. I have really felt God leading me in that direction and I felt like I had such a strong connection with God today while I was in mass. I’m probably going to keep going to mass for a couple more months and get used to it, and then I will look into finding an RCIA class. I’m really excited to keep going to mass and learn more about Catholicism.
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Havard
Guest
I downloaded the Ignatius Press/Lighthouse Media Bible App onto my phone and use that.
It’s free, it’s Catholic, and since I already have my phone on me all the time, how more convenient can you get!
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Havard
Guest
That’s awesome! God bless you and your journey!
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CAROLOFTHEBELLS
Guest
I have the Catholic New American Bible. I have two Bibles. I bought the first one before I realized the Catholic Bible has more books (or rather the other has books removed). So one Christmas I asked for the Catholic New American Bible and that was my mother’s gift to me. 
So time for honesty. Now I have two Bibles and I don’t make time to read either. I have noticed more and more that priests include in their homily the importance if reading the Bible. We need to be reminded. I am inspired by the priests who have been in my parish, though. Two have come from Africa and we just had a visiting priest on Sunday whose parish is in a poor African area. I get that these priests bring the word of God to remote areas were people truly appreciate it and I am lazy and undisciplined.
So time for honesty. Now I have two Bibles and I don’t make time to read either. I have noticed more and more that priests include in their homily the importance if reading the Bible. We need to be reminded. I am inspired by the priests who have been in my parish, though. Two have come from Africa and we just had a visiting priest on Sunday whose parish is in a poor African area. I get that these priests bring the word of God to remote areas were people truly appreciate it and I am lazy and undisciplined.
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Edmundus1581
Guest
But…but…but…**Right–we don’t use Bibles during Mass. ** Which is probably where the stereotype that Catholics don’t read the Bible comes from.
The format of Mass (Liturgy of the Word then Eucharist and Communion Rite) is straight out of the Bible,
and…
Almost every word of the Mass is from the Bible!
and…
We do have two scripture readings and a psalm (the “Liturgy of the Word”)
and…
The readings cover almost all the the Bible in the the three year cycle.
and…
The missals which many people bring include the scripture readings!
and…
We’ve got more 6 more books in our Bible…
In time, you’ll hear more the Bible in a Catholic Church than you will in many Protestant denominations (apart from Anglican and Lutheran, etc.).
All that we don’t have is each member of the congregation bringing their own Bible.
And you can even do that if you want to!
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TRH1292
Guest
May God bless you in your search.
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kozlosap
Guest
Welcome!!! I agree that buying a St. Joseph Missal is a great idea. I bought my 2014 edition from Amazon for less than $2!!! On my iPad I have an app named iPieta which has all of the readings for every mass plus all of the common Catholic prayers and Rosary verses. On my Android I use Laudate which is very similar to iPieta. When my best friend was investigating becoming Catholic, I gave her a Rosary and she began praying it frequently. She feels that praying daily, she began to “feel” Catholic which in any endeavor, is important. Also, The New Catholic Study Bible is awesome. It is the New Testament only, but the footnotes and explanations given are amazing. God Bless you in your new journey and please go to mass and let the atmosphere envelop you…
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CAROLOFTHEBELLS
Guest
I am so happy for you.
We have some liturgical seasons. In six weeks you will notice that. Lent will begin on Ash Wednesday, which is March 5th this year. This will be a good experience for you. Palm Sunday is April 13 this year. The Passion will be read aloud during Sunday masses that day, with a narrator and the priest. The congregation takes the part of the “crowd”. It is very moving to be part of that. Get to the church extra early that day, as it is usually a day when it fills up quickly. The week before Easter is Holy Week, with Holy Thursday and Good Friday. You may also enjoy viewing Palm Sunday, etc, from the Vatican on EWTN TV, if possible. It is very beautiful and inspiring. The Easter Season continues after Easter and through to Pentecost.
The season of Advent emcompasses the four weeks before Christmas. This is a season of preparation for the coming of the Lord at Christmas, as well as His second coming. You may find this a welcome balance to the commercialism at “Christmastime”. We don’t sing Christmas carols in church during Advent, but sing Advent songs such as O Come, O Come Emmanuel. We wait to sing Christmas carols until the first Mass on Christmas Eve and we sing them through Ephinany (January 6 or the closest Sunday to that date). Christmas does not suddenly end on December 26.
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Celtic_Maiden
Guest
Holding Hands is Liturgical incorrect, this practise has not been discussed nor agreed upon from the Commission of Liturgy and Worship in Rome, by doing this gesture not approved you are bringing into Mass your own thing, In one Church I was at during Mass some woman grabbed my hand for “The Our Father” I took my hand back and told her not to be doing something that is not approved. We are meant to be Glorifying God during Mass we are not at a party holding hands and doing a sing along.
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swimmer0964
Guest
I do really like how so much of mass was straight readings from the Bible. During a sermon at the Baptist church I went to, the pastor would read 1 chapter from the Bible and then talk about it for an hour. I don’t think there is anything wrong with discussing the Bible, but I think there should be a lot more reading of the Bible at church.
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CAROLOFTHEBELLS
Guest
But, does it glorify God to hurt someone’s feelings? And what if that person doesn’t know any better? This practice has been going on for 35 or 40 years! For some people it has been done all their lives. To suddenly tell the person next to you that it is not approved and take your hand back will certainly make them feel rebuffed and rebuked when they see everyone else doing it. It is up to the priest to tell the entire parish not to do it. I remember years ago, priests encouraged us to hold hands. I don’t think it is possible to clear up decades of being mislead but rudely taking your hand away when someone goes to hold it. All that does is make the other person sad. And do you even know what kind of hardship and rejection your neighbor has felt that week that your action may have touched?
It is more polite to tell those next to you that you have a cold. Make a little sign to your chest and say “cold”. Or just be up front. Before Mass begins, tell each person next to you that you think it’s polite to let them know that you won’t be holding hands during the Lord’s Prayer as you know it has not been approved, although it has been accepted for many years. If someone told me that, I would be curious and ask to know more. So it can be an opportunity to teach.
But this is something that the orginal poster can discuss when in RCIA and need not be concerned with just starting out going to Mass.
My personal feelings, though, are that I have never looked at holding hands as a “sing along”. I look at it as a way of symbolically becoming one in prayer.
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ProVobis
Guest
I don’t know how to get around that. Once at a retreat I attended one was chosen over another to do the readings for the day’s Mass. For the rest of the day they didn’t speak to each other. One asks someone else to dance, and another one gets offended. Maybe each of us should pray that others respect our decisions and not to expect too much? Grabbing someone’s hand without his/her consent is an invasion of space so let’s not sugarcoat it by saying something to the effect that “we always do it.”
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swimmer0964
Guest
Okay everybody, I have another question. Do people ever go to mass more than once a week? Would it be okay if I went 3-4 times in a week? I feel like the more I go, the more I will get used to it and learn more about Catholicism. I live really close to the church I went to today, so I can get there in 5 minutes, and as a college student, I have a really flexible schedule so I would be able to go multiple times a week. The church I visited has 2 masses every day Monday through Friday, one on Saturday, and five on Sunday. So there are a lot of times to choose from.
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ProVobis
Guest
Of course. And there are some 23 rites to select from in different languages. One can learn about different cultures within the Church as well.
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swimmer0964
Guest
Okay, I will definitely go more than once a week then. What are rites? I hardly know anything about Catholic terminology so far.
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on_the_hill
Guest
You’re getting more into this than most lifelong Catholics do.
My basic knowledge: when the apostles spread out, they settled in different parts of the (known) world, where they established Christianity. Those areas developed churches with particular traditions and practices. Those that share the core beliefs of Roman Catholicism (the particular Rite that was established by Peter in Rome, sometimes referred to as the Latin Church) are said to be “In Communion” with Rome.
There are roughly 18 to 23 Catholic Rites that are in communion with Rome. This means that while they maintain their particular traditions, they regard the Pope (a.k.a. the Bishop of Rome) as the leader. Most of the Rites have always been in communion, although a few left and came back.
And it can get really confusing, because some of the Rites have names that are all but identical to Catholic churches that are not in communion with Rome (e.g. the Orthodox churches.)
In the U.S., unless you have a very strong family/heritage/ethnic tie to one of the other Rites, you’re most likely to be Roman Catholic.
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hope19
Guest
It is a good news!
God bless you swimmer!
God bless you swimmer!
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