taking my baptist friend to church.

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Hello,

I have a very sweet friend that is Baptist. She has recently begun asking me questions about the Catholic Church. I am very blessed in that, although she admits her church members have some antiCatholic sentiment, she does come to me for clarification. Recently she asked me if she could attend Mass. I would like for her to be comfortable. For any other converts-I am one also-what should I tell her about a Catholic Mass before hand that will help make her more comfortable. I don’t want to convert her, just not have her come away with a negative view of my faith.
 
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deb1:
Hello,

I have a very sweet friend that is Baptist. She has recently begun asking me questions about the Catholic Church. I am very blessed in that, although she admits her church members have some antiCatholic sentiment, she does come to me for clarification. Recently she asked me if she could attend Mass. I would like for her to be comfortable. For any other converts-I am one also-what should I tell her about a Catholic Mass before hand that will help make her more comfortable. I don’t want to convert her, just not have her come away with a negative view of my faith.
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Tell her to take note that virtually the entire Mass is taken from Scripture–not just the Epistle and Gospel readings. 🙂
 
Our Sunday Visitor has a pamphlet, Etiquette at Mass, which is great any time non-Catholics will be attending Mass, there is also one for weddings and funerals, great when many of the guests will not be Catholic.

certainly tell her she is not obliged to kneel when we do if she would rather not, provide her with a missal or missalette so she can follow along if you wish, but she may get more out of her first experience if she simply watches and listens. sit in the front row. explain beforehand why she cannot receive communion, use the explanation in the back of the missalette.
 
I second the suggestion to explain before hand why she shouldn’t take communion. Far too often, people see that as a form of exclusion when it’s really not meant to be. It’s better to address that possibility before she gets the wrong impression rather than after.

Sounds like she might not be the kid of person who would get the wrong impression, but still, it won’t hurt.
 
Help her find the right page if she’d like follow along, or if you use the missalette, just share with her. Encourage her to take part in the prayers, responses, and hymns, but let her know that she doesn’t need to. If there are any parts of the Mass that you don’t understand, brush up beforehand so you’re able to answer her questions.
 
Also be ready to give her a tour of the church, as in my experience, first time visitors have a lot of questions about things uniquely Catholic found in our church buildings (altar, statues, icons, holy water, candles, etc, etc.).
 
My advice would be have her read a book that explains what is going on during the mass. One of my friends who is becoming a convert, I had her read a book about what is going on during the mass, before I took her to mass.
 
If you follow the advice given by Fidalis to give her a tour of the Church (good advice I think), make certain to assure her that we do not worship the statues. The Church has long known what educators have begun to realize in the past couple of decades. People learn through a variety of modes, one of which is visual. Hence, the Church provides visual means of learning the truths of the Gospel. This includes the stained glass windows (typically including stories from scripture and the saints), Stations of the Cross (the story of Christ’s Passion), the Crucifix (again the Passion), and more.

There is also the kinesthetic aspect of the Mass, including not only our voices in prayer, but our entire bodies as we sit, stand and kneel in acknowledgement of God. I don’t remember the specifics, but when we stand I believe it is when we are honoring the Father, we Kneel it is in honor of Christ in the Eucharist, and sitting is all the rest, that isnot specifically addressed to one or the other.

The verbal aspect of the Mass (the words spoken) are also fully scriptural. I think this is one of the things that is so often missed by our non-Catholic brethren.

I think it’s wonderful that you have been given the opportunity to bring your friend to Mass. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is working here, even without your intention to be a participant.
CARose
 
I brought a friend to a weekday Mass & I was cringing because of what was being said and how he must have been hearing it. I don’t think he was of the sort, but, I know when I went to a “Full Gospel” school, it was VERY anti-C. Explain to her that in the Nicene Creed, we do say, “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic”, NOT to be offended by this or put off by it, NOR to be put off should a partial litany be said and the two or three times Mary is mentioned…sigh See? It is all very complicated BECAUSE these very things are the very things that it is common to be brainwashed against. You also may want to explain to her, why we genuflect, why we bow during “By the Power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary, & became Man”, & why we cross ourselves (especially with the holy water).
 
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deb1:
Hello,

I have a very sweet friend that is Baptist. She has recently begun asking me questions about the Catholic Church. I am very blessed in that, although she admits her church members have some antiCatholic sentiment, she does come to me for clarification. Recently she asked me if she could attend Mass. I would like for her to be comfortable. For any other converts-I am one also-what should I tell her about a Catholic Mass before hand that will help make her more comfortable. I don’t want to convert her, just not have her come away with a negative view of my faith.
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This prayer may be helpful at the time of communion:

My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
 
I too think it is important to see that your friend is given some overview of the Mass beforehand. You might try looking up something on the internet. You can also explain to her how the structure of the Mass follows the life of Christ, with His teaching ministry echoed in the Liturgy of the Word, and His Sacrifice echoed in the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

And don’t take her to any clown Masses! :eek:
 
If she has EWTN, tell her to watch a few hours of EWTN before coming to mass. Especially the “Coming Home Network”.

Also print out some tracts from here at catholic.com about the Eucharist, etc.
 
I think one important thing is to tell her of the readings for that Sunday so she can read them ahead of time, it will help her follow through the Mass more easily and will be something familiar to her that she will expect and feel comfortable with.

Then I would go throught the internet and find explanations of the Mass, Copy and Paste certain highlights and print them out as sort of a little guide or outline for her to read ahead of time. Don’t worry that it may seem like you are trying to twist her arm into learning all things Catholic, just tell her that you realize that many things are different for her and the explanaition of Mass is just for information purposes. (believe me I wish I had made one out for a non-Catholic friend of mine a few years back.)
 
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deb1:
Hello,

I have a very sweet friend that is Baptist. She has recently begun asking me questions about the Catholic Church. I am very blessed in that, although she admits her church members have some antiCatholic sentiment, she does come to me for clarification. Recently she asked me if she could attend Mass. I would like for her to be comfortable. For any other converts-I am one also-what should I tell her about a Catholic Mass before hand that will help make her more comfortable. I don’t want to convert her, just not have her come away with a negative view of my faith.
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Tell her that the Mass is the participation in the heavenly worship of God. It is not just a symbol of what is happening in heaven, it is actually a participation with the angels and saints. Every time we go to mass we are going to heaven.
 
Thank you for all your suggestions. I will definitly look up something on the order of mass. That is something that I need to learn myself. SO, maybe this will be a learning experience for me.
 
Deb,

One of the things I’ve found when asked questions about Catholicism by non-Catholics, is that in the process, I have been the one who has learned. It’s fun to see that you’re also encountering this opportunity.

Good luck and keep us informed when you do bring her. I’d love to hear what you did in advance and how it went.

CARose
 
There’s a terrific little tract available free from 1Bread Lay Catholic Apostolate (1bread.catholic.org/noncatholics.html) entitled The Scriptural Context of the Holy Catholic Mass. Look over on the right-hand side of the page. It lists each part of the mass and the most oft-used prayer for each, and lists the source bible passage next to it. It really drives home the fact that the mass is biblical and truly holy. It meant a lot to me when I was coming home.
God bless,
Paul
 
I was thinking about this thread during Mass (Matt 16:18 the Gospel reading, nonetheless). How did it go with your friend?
 
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adstrinity:
I was thinking about this thread during Mass (Matt 16:18 the Gospel reading, nonetheless). How did it go with your friend?
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SHe wasn’t able to attend Mass with me this SUnday but she asked if she could go in a couple of weeks.

Both her and her husband are new Christians. My goal is not to convert her, just make certain that she is comfortable. She has mentioned that there is antiCatholism in her Baptist church. I have already fielded several questions about the Catholic church from her. This board has done wonders for me.👍 I couldn’t have answered all those questions without you guys.😃
 
No offense, but shouldn’t you want to convert her? Like totally on a platform of love of wanting her to enter God’s mystical body the Church.
 
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