Prodigal Catholic

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Hi there,

I’m back, after a decade or so of wandering in circles.

This seems like the best place to ask my question.

Does anyone know of any good books that a Catholic returning to the church after a long period of time, might find interesting to read?

Keeping in mind I’ve been Catholic since birth.

Any suggestions would be great. 🙂

Cheers.
 
Have you read Karl Keatings “Catholisim and Fundalmentalism”?
Great book even for cradle Catholics.
 
I’d start w/ the Catholic Catechism.
Then Theology For Beginners by Sheed
 
I always recommend “Yes or No?: Straight Answers to Tough Questions About Christianity” by Peter Kreeft. I am also a cradle Catholic and this is the book that gave me the wake up call I needed to start taking the Catholic Church seriously when I was doing my own wandering. It answered all the doubts I had at the time and I haven’t been the same since! I would recommend pretty much any other book by Peter Kreeft, as well (especially “Fundamentals of the Faith”).

The “Surprised by Truth” books (there are three of them) edited by Patrick Madrid are also good. They are collections of conversion stories, mostly of people converting from other denominations/religions to Catholicism, but there are a few “reversion” stories of cradle Catholics. Even though many of the stories are not of cradle Catholics, I still found them to be extremely helpful to me to more greatly understand the faith. A great conversion story is a great conversion story and we can relate to them even when the person’s starting point may be much different from our own. We’re all seeking to get closer to the same End Point, after all! 🙂

Of course, the Catechism is a must, as well. 🙂
 
Cheers Joe 🙂

And thank you everyone for your advice.

Can someone please give me more info on the Catholic Catechism?

There seems to be a few books with similar titles and I’d like to fish out the one you’re talking about.
 
Thanks Thnknprblm,

The reviews look fantastic. I reckon I’ll start with that.

Much appreciated. 👍
 
You are welcome Prodigal and I wish you all the best!!
Looks like you are an early bird like myself 😉
 
Joe_5859 said:
I always recommend “Yes or No?: Straight Answers to Tough Questions About Christianity” by Peter Kreeft. I am also a cradle Catholic and this is the book that gave me the wake up call I needed to start taking the Catholic Church seriously when I was doing my own wandering. It answered all the doubts I had at the time and I haven’t been the same since! I would recommend pretty much any other book by Peter Kreeft, as well (especially “Fundamentals of the Faith”).

The “Surprised by Truth” books (there are three of them) edited by Patrick Madrid are also good. They are collections of conversion stories, mostly of people converting from other denominations/religions to Catholicism, but there are a few “reversion” stories of cradle Catholics. Even though many of the stories are not of cradle Catholics, I still found them to be extremely helpful to me to more greatly understand the faith. A great conversion story is a great conversion story and we can relate to them even when the person’s starting point may be much different from our own. We’re all seeking to get closer to the same End Point, after all! 🙂

Of course, the Catechism is a must, as well. 🙂
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I’m glad you mentioned Peter Kreeft (forgot about him). My husband just came into the church and “Yes or no…” would be a good one for him.
 
Thnknprblm said:
You are welcome Prodigal and I wish you all the best!!
Looks like you are an early bird like myself 😉
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Not at all.

I’m an Aussie. It’s your tomorrow evening over here. 🙂

I was surprised and happy to see you post.

The rest of you North American folk are all sound asleep.
 
DOH! I’ll third the nomiation for Peter Kreeft. He’s the ‘Catholic C.S. Lewis’ of our times.

And welcome home.👍
 
I’m not familiar with Peter Kreeft. I’ll have to check him out. Thanks!

I’ll second the Surprised by Truth books. The first one really got me started in apologetics and very much strengthened my faith.

Another good one is Four Witnesses by Rod Bennett which summarizes the teachings of four church fathers: Justin Martyr, Ignatius of Antioch, Clement of Rome and Iraeneus of Lyon. It’s a very enjoyable read - not dense or academic, and helps you realize that the Catholic Church really is the ancient church.

Welcome back!
 
Thanks everyone. I’m getting a good list. I love this site. A great resource. I didn’t think I would get such a reply.

While on topic, does anyone know of a good book that can teach you how to pray? It’s been so long, I don’t actually know where to start? :confused:
 
Hi AGB,
My husband bought this wonderful prayer book for me for Christmas one year. It is “The Catholic Prayer Book” - published by Charis - 1986. It has the imprimature stamp. He found it at Books a Million believe or not :eek: .

They are kind of hard to find, so here is the ISBN #
for Paperback edition: 0-89283-283-5
for Leatherette ed.: 1-56955-365-3

The beginning has an introduction to prayer and how to use the prayer book. I have found this extremely helpful (being I am not a cradle catholic) in learning traditional Catholic prayers. It is old enough that the Rosary in it does not include the luminous mysteries. For that I would personally and highly recommend finding the booklet “The Rosary of Pope John Paul II” - A compendium of the Gospel. Compiled, Edited and Introduced by Hans Christoffersen, published by Liguori.
ISBN: 0-7648-1034-0

BTW - welcome back !! 😃
Blessings,
Virginia
 
Hi AGB, and all,

I 've been back 5 years now. It is marvelous.

If you are not aware, tomorrow is Divine Mercy Sunday. Look it up here: ewtn.com/Devotionals/mercy/index.htm This is awesome :bowdown: :bowdown2: :extrahappy:

Books: Rome Sweet Home by Dr.Scott Hahn
Born Fundementalist, Born again Catholic by David B. Currie

Media: ewtn radio, TV, web: www.ewtn.com (Mother Angelica Foundress she is awesome!)

The Journey Home Program on EWTN Global Catholic Network - see here: ewtn.com/journeyhome/index.asp

Other sites:
www.catholicexchange.com
www.dads.org
www.biblechristiansociety.com (returned Catholic like us)
www.deepinscripture.com and www.chnetwork.org (Marcus Grodi - Host of The Journey Home )

One thing I have found is that God has been gracing non-Catholics like Scott and David and Marcus and many others to come to “Home to Rome” and thay have been teaching us…ironic, but very very informative.

God’s Love and Mercy to ALL !
 
AGB said:
Thanks everyone. I’m getting a good list. I love this site. A great resource. I didn’t think I would get such a reply.

While on topic, does anyone know of a good book that can teach you how to pray? It’s been so long, I don’t actually know where to start? :confused:
Click to expand...
In sticking with Peter Kreeft, he has two good books on the subject: “Prayer: The Great Conversation” and “Prayer for Beginners.”

These two books are great books *about *prayer, but of course the best way to get started is to just start praying! 🙂 A good spiritual book can be helpful in this regard. For this, I would recommend, hands down, “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis. If you follow this link, you will see that there are quite a few editions of this book. I can’t speak for all of them or even tell you what the differences are, but this is the one that I have and it has served me well (published by the Confraternity of the Precious Blood). The one thing I would recommend: Don’t get an abridged version. In some non-Catholic Christian bookstores, I’ve seen abridged versions and the part that is left out is the section on the Eucharist (which is just too good to miss out on!).
 
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