RCC Customs...what do I do?

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se_orcampana

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I’m a Protestant who goes to Catholic Mass alot. I’d kinda like to join, but the RCIA schedules never to seem to coordinate at all with my work schedules(maybe that’s just my excuse).

So I’m in a sort of protestant limbo, looking to the Catholic Church, but still heavily influenced by the non-denominational, anti catholic sentiment. 😦

The question is, when I go to Mass as a non catholic, do I genuflect, do the sign of the cross, kneel when others kneel, say the prayers and the creeds?

I already do some of these things but feel like a total imposter…your thoughts?

Texas Longhorns #1 👍
 
Welcome se~orcampana

You’re welcome to participate in every way (excepting of course taking Communion).

If there is anything in any of the prayers that as a protestant you’re not comfortable with then you may of course remain silent.

Kneeling, sitting, and standing at the appropriate monuments is fairly important and if you’re feeling self conscious just follow along with everyone else and you should be fine.

I hope your search brings you permanently to the Church
 
Hi, Se~Orcampana. In short, you may do everything at Mass that others do short of receiving the Eucharist. Making the outward signs (sign of the cross, genuflection, kneeling, etc) may help you to become more open to receiving all of the graces that God wishes to bestow upon you. It just may give you what you need to become fully Catholic.

On the issue of RCIA not meeting your schedule, you can always talk to the priest in charge and see if there is another way. If you cannot change your schedule, then the priest or Director of Religious Education should be able to help you work something out.
 
Genuflecting and kneeling…reverence to God…show reverence if you feel it…which you do…so continue!!!

Sign of the cross…A prayer in essence…stating a belief in the trinity…By all means…Continue if you believe in it…which you do!

The Creed…a statement of belief…Which you believe…

I wish you were in my parish…I would give you a hug and say welcome home! Talk to your priest. My own parish priest always tells us that if anyone can’t attend R.C.I.A. on the schedueled night…well…he’ll instruct you personally at your convienience!

God Bless!
 
My RCIA class just recently discussed Catholic customs, I was told that in matter of these customs, such as genuflecking, you can decide to do them or not. They dont make you anymore catholic for doing them or any less for not doing them. Me personally I like genuflecking and the signing of the cross so I do them, but my girlfriend who is going through RCIA with me doesnt like the customs so she chooses not to.
 
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Roman_Catholic:
My RCIA class just recently discussed Catholic customs, I was told that in matter of these customs, such as genuflecking, you can decide to do them or not. They dont make you anymore catholic for doing them or any less for not doing them. Me personally I like genuflecking and the signing of the cross so I do them, but my girlfriend who is going through RCIA with me doesnt like the customs so she chooses not to.
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Great! Another RCIA class telling potential Catholics that our culture is dispensable! As a convert myself, I find this attitude completely incomprehensible. One of the attractions of Catholicism is that it incorporates the entire body in prayer and has codified the body language so that we all know what it says.

Your teacher was correct to a fault. Crossing yourself and genuflecting do not make you Catholic, but the implicaton seems to have been that these things have little meaning. That, of course, is not true.

The first time a non-Catholic makes the Sign of the Cross he looks for a lightning bolt to come down and strike him dead! Kneeling in public? :bigyikes: Catholics have no idea what this feels like for a non-Catholic.

These gestures and postures are powerful expressions of faith.
 
One other thing…you can join in the communion line to receive a blessing from the priest (this is called spiritual communion) as opposed to sacramental communion (Eucharist). You may want to find out first if your parrish priest offers this, he does in my parrish but some don’t.

Good luck and I hope you will someday soon become Catholic:thumbsup:

.
 
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Roman_Catholic:
My RCIA class just recently discussed Catholic customs, I was told that in matter of these customs, such as genuflecking, you can decide to do them or not. They dont make you anymore catholic for doing them or any less for not doing them. Me personally I like genuflecking and the signing of the cross so I do them, but my girlfriend who is going through RCIA with me doesnt like the customs so she chooses not to.
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“Genuflecking”? Is that sorta like spraying Christmas trees with that white stuff that comes in a can? Oh, wait—that’s “flocking”…

I’m with mercygate—it’s sad to see Catholic customs not encouraged in an RCIA class.
 
Once deep into Catholicity, you are compelled to the customs, signs of faith and the beauty of prayer with your entire body, mind and soul.

Where in the world are these RCIA “instructors” coming from and who is in charge of them?!?
 
Well first off am I considered a convert if I was baptized Catholic? I dont know? Secondly I did not realize that this was a problem to some people. I will be sure to encourage my girlfriend to do these customs. I was just happy that she had decided to convert to Catholicism and I figured her love for the customs would come in time I did not realize that they should be forced on her immediatly.

I am from Seattle but I am going to college in a very small city with a small parish so this may be why my RCIA class is not up to par. The man that gave this presentation on Catholic customs was not our normal presenter and he was the only one other then the other converts in the room so no one knew any better.

I did recognize that the man said he was taught in a Byzentine something or other, isnt that Eastern Orthodox? Maybe that is why he said they were not required, who knows? Anyways I will continue the customs which I have been doing and I will encourage my girlfriend to do them also.

Thanks 👍
 
One more thing, how do I convince my girlfriend to do them now that she heard this man say that she didnt have to. She does the sign of the cross she just wasnt sure about the genuflecting part of the customs. If she refuses to do it should I continue to push her. I dont want Catholicism to become a sour taste in her mouth, She is really enjoying it right now and I would hate for her to lose that excitement.

Thanks
 
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Roman_Catholic:
One more thing, how do I convince my girlfriend to do them now that she heard this man say that she didnt have to. She does the sign of the cross she just wasnt sure about the genuflecting part of the customs. If she refuses to do it should I continue to push her. I dont want Catholicism to become a sour taste in her mouth, She is really enjoying it right now and I would hate for her to lose that excitement. Thanks
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Having been married over forty years, I would hesitate to try to push any woman in a direction she does not want to go. It can have nasty results. Leave her be and let the Lord work on her 👍
 
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Roman_Catholic:
One more thing, how do I convince my girlfriend to do them now that she heard this man say that she didnt have to. She does the sign of the cross she just wasnt sure about the genuflecting part of the customs. If she refuses to do it should I continue to push her. I dont want Catholicism to become a sour taste in her mouth, She is really enjoying it right now and I would hate for her to lose that excitement.

Thanks
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Does she know why we genuflect? To the tabernacle, because Jesus is inside, the red lamp reminds us of this? We’re acknowledging the presence of and giving a sign of respect to the Lord. It’s a bit rude to go waltzing past God without taking a bit of notice.
 
One other note - you don’t have to attend RCIA to become Catholic if you are already a baptized Christian (most Protestants are). I am a recent convert after nearly 30 years as an Evangelical Protestant and was recently received into the Church. You can be received at any Mass - not just at Easter - if you are already a baptized Christian.

Catholic Answers has a great tract that explains the differences on how to join the church for those who are already Christians (baptized) and those who aren’t. Follow the link below for the specifics:

catholic.com/library/How_to_Become_a_Catholic.asp

Scroll down to the “Preparation for Christians” section
 
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axolotl:
Does she know why we genuflect? To the tabernacle, because Jesus is inside, the red lamp reminds us of this? We’re acknowledging the presence of and giving a sign of respect to the Lord. It’s a bit rude to go waltzing past God without taking a bit of notice.
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Yes that was explained and the presenter said the reason why some catholics dont do it is because the act of genuflecting (kneeling) has no meaning in todays society. Remember these are his words not mine. Its kinda hard to explain he said, “I dont do it because Ive never bowed to a king so the act of kneeling has no basis or meaning to me, it may to you though.” something like that. These are his words not mine, I agree with the custom and I have started doing it once I found out why we do it. To anser your question about whether she knows why we genuflect, it was explained and it was discussed, the presenter just left it with it was something some Catholics like to do but is not required. Maybe if we discuss it again I will get the strength to say something about it. I just look at it like this, who am I to question someone about Catholic customs when they were hand picked to present to our class and starts out by saing he had been a Catholic for 30 yrs?

Anyways I am sorry that I may have dishonored anyoes customs, I certainly wasnt trying to tell anyone not to do it, but rather that we had just discussed it in class so I was passing on what I was told.
 
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jdlgolfs:
One other note - you don’t have to attend RCIA to become Catholic if you are already a baptized Christian (most Protestants are). I am a recent convert after nearly 30 years as an Evangelical Protestant and was recently received into the Church. You can be received at any Mass - not just at Easter - if you are already a baptized Christian.

Catholic Answers has a great tract that explains the differences on how to join the church for those who are already Christians (baptized) and those who aren’t. Follow the link below for the specifics:

catholic.com/library/How_to_Become_a_Catholic.asp

Scroll down to the “Preparation for Christians” section
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So I am not supposed to be in the RCIA program? What is going on with this church? Both me and my girlfriend were baptized, I was baptized Catholic and she was baptized something else but it was recognized by the church. In fact there are 10 of us and only one has never been baptized. I wonder if it is just because it is a really small parish. I should have done this in Seattle 😦 I was just tired of waiting to get out of school so I decided to do it while I was in school.
 
I agree with most of the other posts. Please feel free to engage in everything at Mass except for the Eucharist. This will surley bring you closer to the church and probably help to offset any doubt. I also agree that it is sad that people are being told in an RCIA class that this stuff is optional. I totally disagree and see this as proof of some of the poor education that Catholics are recieving today.

While true one doesn’t have to go through RCIA if you are already validly baptised, I often think it is a good idea (as long as you have competant instructors). It can be a good place to learn more about the faith- provided, again you have a good instructor.

It just struck me, do you think some RCIA instructors are making these claims that “some things are optional like genuflecting” so as to not “scare off” potential converts and make the Church look less “strict” in her customs and Traditions? Just a thought. The church can feel overwhelming at first for a protestant, especially for one coming from a “non-denomiantional” sect where custom and tradition is completely absent?
 
The Catholic customs are like keys that help unlock the mysteries of our faith. The sign of the cross expresses the triunity of God and reminds us of Christ’s Passion on the Cross. Genuflecting helps re-enforce that Christ is truly present in the Tabernacle. Kneeling shows deep reverence and submission to our Lord. The list could go on.

The Church has spent 2000 years meditating on the mysteries of God and uses these customs to teach theological priciples. If you throw away the keys it is harder to unlock the mysteries. So, I would suggest that you delve deeply into why Catholics do what they do, it is vital. While in an ontological sense these customs don’t make a person any more Catholic, they are still essential to our identity and should not be tossed aside as if they were simply quaint folk piety.
 
I’m a Protestant who goes to Catholic Mass alot. I’d kinda like to join, but the RCIA schedules never to seem to coordinate at all with my work schedules(maybe that’s just my excuse).

So I’m in a sort of protestant limbo, looking to the Catholic Church, but still heavily influenced by the non-denominational, anti catholic sentiment.

The question is, when I go to Mass as a non catholic, do I genuflect, do the sign of the cross, kneel when others kneel, say the prayers and the creeds?

I already do some of these things but feel like a total imposter…your thoughts?

I can completly sympathize, I was in your shoes 3 yrs ago. Everyone else has pretty much answered you, that yes you can participate. If you dont already know you may want to ask WHY? Catholics genuflect, kneel, bow, etc. I found the action much more meaningful after these questions were answered 😃
I personaly had a ton of anti-catholic garbage I was toting around, and I started my own secret mission to find out why the Lords presence was so powerful in this very strage and misterious church. Every anti-cath thing I thought I new was a complete Lie :eek:
If your intested and cannot make it to RCIA class please call your local pastor and ask to have a meeting with him, maybe you can make other arrangements. God Bless you on your journey, ask many questions, and dont let anything stand in your way. There is not any where on the planet that you can participate in this intimate a relationship with JC except the RCC

Prayers and warm wishes
MM
 
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