Questions from Non-Catholics

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John949 said:
I was raised Catholic but parents never went to church I was confirmed but had no interest. At 19 I became born again and have been in Charismatic evangelical churches ever since. About 5 years ago I started back exploring Catholicism again and read the Apostolic Fathers, the Catechism went to confession and mass and have been going at least once a week. I have been going to both churches as I still have too many questions for me to jump in. I am looking for someone that was like myself and came back to the church to talk with and hash out these issues. Thanks for reading the long version!
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Do you remember your confirmation?

Latin Rite
Renewal of Baptismal Promises
After the homily the candidates stand and the bishop questions them:

Bishop: Do you reject Satan and all his works and all his empty promises?
Candidates: I do.
Bishop: Do you believe in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth?
Candidates: I do.
Bishop: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, and was buried, rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father?
Candidates: I do.
Bishop: Do you believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who came upon the apostles at Pentecost and today is given to you sacramentally in confirmation?
Candidates: I do.
Bishop: Do you believe in the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting?
Candidates: I do.
Bishop: This is our faith. This is the faith of the Church. We are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus our Lord.
All present: Amen.
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I would just like to share that once a person prayerfully understands what takes place at a Mass, he will then realize that it is Heaven on earth.

One may not understand what is going on in the spirit of someone who is quiet and may appear “joyless”. People at Mass are in various stages of their journey with the Lord.
 
John949 said:
How about the people? It seems so Rote and no expression of joy I understand the Eucharist but there seems no life and the priest is hurrying through to get it done and no telling us the mass is not necessary due to Covid.
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Worship in a Catholic context is very different from a Charismatic Evangelical church. The emphasis is on a quiet but profound reverence. Don’t mistake silence for rote joylessness. There may be great depth of faith in some of those quiet people. Not all, of course. Some go out of obligation surely; but not as many as you might think. Find a parish Bible study group and get to know people one on one; As you befriend the more involved people, that’s where you may begin to see the depth of their faith. Daily mass people also often have very deep faith. Quiet, but deep.

In evangelicalism pastors are often successful due to their eloquence and communication & public speaking skills. Being good at those things for a priest is less important than other considerations.

I’m back in the church after decades in good evangelical churches, some Charismatic. The incredible disunity between evangelicals was a very large issue that drove me back into the church. How are you supposed to know which evangelical church’s teaching has the most correct theology? Would God have left his seekers so completely shepherdless, so prone to disunity?

It’s funny, as I considered the differences, issue by issue, I kept seeing authority as the common thread that ran through each different issue. Did God establish an authoritative church, through which he would work to steer the church (and PEOPLE) into the fullness of truth (and unity)? Once my answer to that was yes, then that helped me to hang in there and give the church the benefit of the doubt when I didn’t quite understand their position on certain controversial subjects.
 
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John949 said:
. I am looking for someone that was like myself and came back to the church to talk with and hash out these issues. Thanks for reading the long version!
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I was baptized Catholic & made it to 1st communion. Then lived as a pagan more or less until my oldest daughter was born. At that moment I knew true love & it wasn’t anything like the movies, had nothing to do with sex, & was more real than anything I’ve ever known.

I experienced many different faith traditions, but settled on the Catholic tradition as the most “real.” The only one that everything made sense.

I may not understand everything, but it all makes sense.
 
Speaking as an “old” Catholic, let me try to explain why some see Catholics as not being joyous. When first entering the church, we dip our fingers into holy water that the priest has blessed and make the sign of the cross. We do this facing the front of the church, where the host is. The host is Jesus Christ, therefore when we enter the church, we are in the presence of our Lord. This is a time for prayer and reflection. While in the church, if we are early for mass, we may say the rosary or a decade of the rosary. We may ask the Lord to give us strength or pray for a sick loved one. But at all times, we are in the presence of our Lord. We are reverent because we are in the presence of our Lord. This is not a social occasion or a chance to catch up with neighbors or a rock concert. So many who come from Protestant religions do not understand this aspect of being a Catholic, and are disappointed with the “lack of joy” in a Catholic church. Our joy is expressed in tears you may see in many eyes in a Catholic church, whether praying alone in an empty church or during mass. It is a time for reverence.
 
I barely remember my confirmation I remember being slapped in the face and kissing the Bishops ring. I was told how to answer basically as I recall
 
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That makes sense but I find the most Catholics don’t know the Bible nor care to discuss it I do appreciate those on this site and the dialogue it could be just the parish I actually enjoy going to the nearby Abbey for mass than the local parish
 
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Thank you my wife’s conversion was in the Charismatic Renewal but she left. I met her in a Charismatic group (non-Catholic)
 
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Some of your points is what has brought me to this point although in fairness Catholicism does have its rock star priests and lay people just in a different way. I have not been into any Rock star pastors in evangelicalism. The worship I do love and I hear those songs played at Catholic youth meetings or Catholic nights of worship. I do understand though what you are saying. My study of the Apostolic Fathers has brought me to this place
 
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That does make sense. I am going to ponder this. If it is the reverence then why does the Priest rush through the Mass like he can’t wait for it to be done?
 
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Does the priest have somewhere else he has to go? Does he have to go to say a mission church and celebrate another mass? Is he exhausted and needs to get done so he can get some rest?

Just throwing out ideas why he might seem to be rushing through it.
 
Thank you for your response I appreciate everyone’s (name removed by moderator)ut
 
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I feel blessed that I haven’t been to Mass where the priest is “rushing” through it.
 
John949 said:
How about the people? It seems so Rote and no expression of joy I understand the Eucharist but there seems no life and the priest is hurrying through to get it done and
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It’s interesting - you aren’t the first person I’ve heard say that Catholic services seems a bit joyless. I don’t have much of a response, it just seems interesting that this seems to be a common comment.
 
Mass is the “right and proper” praise and worship of God. It is not about music or the priest or the homily, or smiling faces or others attending or ceremonial or entertainment.

It is about you (the created) worshiping God (the Creator).

With this posture/attitude, all else falls away as we receive the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ in the Eucharist.

Then we are called to go out and be the person of Christ to every other person we meet.

Catholic faith is not complicated - but tough to live!!! However, nothing is impossible to God and He gives us the strength to do so.
 
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John949 said:
How about the people? It seems so Rote and no expression of joy
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I’m a convert who became convinced of the truth of Catholicism so that was my main door, but I just want to respond to this bit of what you wrote, because it does matter. The body of Christ is a living body, and we typically discover our relationship with Christ through our relationships with other people. Those relationships matter, and how people act, not just talk, matters.

The degree of joy and expressiveness you see will depend a lot on your local parish and lay groups. The Catholic Church is globally one, but her members are various and, well, both culture and local history (and temperament of local laypeople) can play a significant role in what a new convert sees on their way into membership in the one larger body.

My advice would be, depending on your age, to check out young adult groups, Catholic Bible Studies, non-Mass praise and worship events, etc. They do exist (where local laypeople or missionaries run them), and they have whatever energy level the local people (which will include you if you become Catholic!) bring to them. A local university might be a place to look for student-focused ministries and group lay activities beyond the specific worship of the Mass.

The Mass is the worship Christ, the Son, as our high priest, offers the Father. We just participate in that act of worship with Him. We’re not free to change the liturgy of the Mass up at random (although certain flexibility exists under certain parameters — can of worms though).

Beyond the Mass though, depending on where you live (and, you know, whether or not a global pandemic has people locked inside their houses by government order), there are a multitude of lay ministries with huge enthusiasm, joy, and spontaneous, warm interaction. I’d encourage you to keep looking. It does exist.

And if the local lay ministries are not strong in your area right now, maybe God has plans for you to help spread that fire, once you’re home in His Church.
 
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al2o3 said:
It is about you (the created) worshiping God (the Creator).

With this posture/attitude, all else falls away as we receive the body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ in the Eucharist.
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I think this is actually part of the problem the OP is seeing. The Church teaches that it’s not ME and God, it’s US and God. We absolutely should not be of the mindset that we’re in this individually or alone in spite of everyone else around us, but I think a lot of people are. It’s a challenging thing to understand our communal theology at times, especially for those of us who are Americans and conditioned to individualism.
 
Thanks - you are right to correct my omission of the dimension of corporate worship. It is an integral part of the living body of Christ.

(I was reacting to the individual expectations of Mass - rote, boring, repetitive, fast, slow etc etc).
 
Cor_ad_Cor said:
It’s a challenging thing to understand our communal theology at times, especially for those of us who are Americans and conditioned to individualism.
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Let’s no go too far down the communal road, however, and forget the salvation of the individual. Catholic theology is not collectivist. It’s personalist.

There’s a great divide between a book like Catholicism: Christ and the Common Destiny of Man by Henri de Lubac and Iota Unum by Romano Amerio. The former stresses the communal aspect so much he lost me, to be honest. It’s so suffused with that spirit as to approach collectivism, in my opinion. The latter stresses more the individual nature of salvation and in my opinion more closely approaches the truth.
 
Since the perception of joyless and boring was mentioned, does some of this depend on the season or holiday that Mass is occurring in?

I ask because if some attended a synagogue Jewish service on certain days, they would find it very solemn whereas on other occasions it’s very joyous and lively.

I’ve been to Mass a few times and where I live, it was typical of Jewish services…some homilies were more upbeat and some more serious. I never thought any of them joyless or even sounding rote…no more than Jewish services are rote. Protestant services can be anything from calm and quiet to almost chaos. I’m not sure how I’d feel about a chaotic Mass…or a chaotic Jewish service! It sure wouldn’t be expected! 😂

Rather than rote, I thought the Mass had more of what I’d call a rhythm…very much as Jewish services have a rhythm.
 
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