non-Catholic prayer book in Adoration chapel

[crenfro]

Hello.

I found a book about when/how to pray about what, published by the Church of Christ (it’s not a Catholic book), in the Adoration chapel. It made me nervous when I looked through it and didn’t seem to be quite right in how it approached things - it wasn’t of the Catholic faith - but I’m not an expert but something didn’t seem quite kosher about it.

I took it out of the Adoration Chapel. Should I return it? Should I ask the pastor about it? Was this a silly, scrupulous thing to do? I did discuss it with another person I know who goes to the Adoration chapel too.

I want to just throw it away, but it feels like I’m stealing, which is an even worse thing to do.

It makes me nervous to see a potentially misleading book in the Adoration chapel.

People often take books home from this particular Adoration chapel and return them later,

Any helpful, charitable thoughts, insights on this?

Thanks for listening and please pray for me.

 

[Aggies08]

I’d turn it into the lost and found. Some non-Catholics will go to adoration- perhaps they are rcia.

You can always leave a note in it recommending some catholic prayer books of the same style prayer.

 

[Burdensome1]

Throw it away.

At my parish, we have to have people assigned to clean the adoration chapel out every week from the Jack Chick and Jehova’s Witness material left in there.

 

[hieroglyph]

Hello.

I found a book about when/how to pray about what, published by the Church of Christ (it’s not a Catholic book), in the Adoration chapel. It made me nervous when I looked through it and didn’t seem to be quite right in how it approached things - it wasn’t of the Catholic faith - but I’m not an expert but something didn’t seem quite kosher about it.

I took it out of the Adoration Chapel. Should I return it? Should I ask the pastor about it? Was this a silly, scrupulous thing to do? I did discuss it with another person I know who goes to the Adoration chapel too.

I want to just throw it away, but it feels like I’m stealing, which is an even worse thing to do.

It makes me nervous to see a potentially misleading book in the Adoration chapel.

People often take books home from this particular Adoration chapel and return them later,

Any helpful, charitable thoughts, insights on this?

Thanks for listening and please pray for me.

Yes you are being scrupulous. Perhaps the Pastor allowed it because of some good items in it; Everything does not need an imprimatur to be morally sound or spiritually true. Church of Christ is a conservative Christian (Protestant) denomination. I have read some good devotionals from them before. Talk to your pastor about your concerns; He is the spiritual leader for the flock and needs to make the decisions about such things.

 

[Qwestions]

crenfro, I do not at all think you’re being too scrupulous by removing non-Catholic material from your Catholic Adoration Chapel! Having been taught not to take anything that doesn’t belong to you, I can understand your reticence, but such material has no place on Catholic premises, so you’re maintaining the integrity of available reading material, not stealing. Non-Catholic material is, uh, NON-Catholic! Give it to the priest, explaining where you found it, so that he can decide what to do with it. This may be the first of many such items that will be strewn about the premises; if so, he needs to be aware of the potential problem so that other such literature can also be removed.

It doesn’t really matter whether non-Catholic material is morally sound or not. If it’s non-Catholic material, it has no place within a Catholic Church, especially in the Adoration Chapel.

 

[Kathryn_Ann]

You are not being overly scrupulous at all to be concerned about that book, which has no place at all in the Adoration Chapel. It is protestant literature. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain any good thoughts, but it is not Catholic literature. As another one has posted here, sometimes there are all manner of leaflets left by others such as the so called “Witnesses.” You could throw the book away, or give it to the pastor and tell him how you feel about it. But it has no place there. Don’t be hard on yourself for having been concerned.

Remember the scripture “Catch the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines. For our vines have tender grapes.” Literature that is contrary to Catholic teaching, although appearing innocent enough, may seem insignificant. but it might lead some tender-hearted, vulnerable person astray, not because any of the ideas are necessarily wrong, but because, by their protestant association, they offer an alternative path that is contrary to our Catholic journey.

 

[Actaeon]

Hello.

I found a book about when/how to pray about what, published by the Church of Christ (it’s not a Catholic book), in the Adoration chapel. It made me nervous when I looked through it and didn’t seem to be quite right in how it approached things - it wasn’t of the Catholic faith - but I’m not an expert but something didn’t seem quite kosher about it.

I took it out of the Adoration Chapel. Should I return it? Should I ask the pastor about it? Was this a silly, scrupulous thing to do? I did discuss it with another person I know who goes to the Adoration chapel too.

I want to just throw it away, but it feels like I’m stealing, which is an even worse thing to do.

It makes me nervous to see a potentially misleading book in the Adoration chapel.

People often take books home from this particular Adoration chapel and return them later,

Any helpful, charitable thoughts, insights on this?

Thanks for listening and please pray for me.

Take the book to your priest. If he put it there, then removing it was wrong. If he did NOT put it there, then you should encourage him to talk to the local church of Christ pastor and ask him (her?) to tell his people NOT to leave materials in the Adoration chapel, as to think that such is an appropriate venue for proscelytizing (sp?) is gravely offensive to our faith and to Christ!