I was wondering if many here find the CCC to be a very useful resource.
Lately, I’ve had some rough experiences with it. In trying to give Catholicism a fair shake and understand what it REALLY teaches as opposed to what some improperly catechised Catholics may claim it teaches…I’ve turned to it.
. . . .Is this how others find it? That the CCC is so hard to interpret or understand that one needs a Canon Lawyer to figure out the faith?
I am starting to believe what people have told me, that when I left the faith I didn’t truly understand it. But I am starting to wonder if anyone CAN understand it…without having a Canon Lawyer handy.
There is so much there…how much does one have to know to be a good functioning Catholic? Are Catholics expected to read all of the CCC, encyclicals, bulls, etc?
starting with your last paragraph, no you don’t have to study all the writings, in fact, the footnotes in the CCC give you the sources in those writings (and scripture), and in fact the actual cites are in a companion volume, but no, that is more than you need to know at this point.
the CCC is a reference book, not a text book.
it helps to take a basic course in how to use and navigate the book, and any good RCIA or confirmation class will, toward the end, give such instruction, but the course will limp along if the only book used is the CCC.
think of it as the instructions to the 1040, which distills masses of tax code to tell you what amount to enter on line 22 or whatever. You don’t need to know the tax code, you just need to know enough to know whether you have an amount that belongs on line 22. And yes, most of us find we need professional guidance if we have anything more complex than 1040 EZ. But once you have taken a rather simple DIY tax course, you know enough to do your own return, unless it gets much more complex than the standard 1040. You can even learn enough in a 3-month course to work for H&R Block preparing simple returns. That is the level the new Catholic should be on, just beginning lifelong learning in the faith.
You need to know enough to make the Profession of Faith in good conscience, to accept those foundational doctrines expressed in the Creed, and to accept the Church’s authority, given by Christ, protected by the Holy Spirit, in expounding and teaching those doctrines. You don’t have to be able to explain them to another person yourself, at least not at this point.
You need to know enough of the moral teaching to examine your own life and conduct in its light, to know how to fight temptation, and to feel remorse when you transgress. You need to know the basic sacramental economy, and how to have recourse to the grace of the sacraments, and to know and accept above all that Christ is present in all the sacraments, personally and truly, through the action of the Eucharist, in which he is present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
You need to know the elements of Christian prayer, as expressed in the Our Father, the template for all prayer, and how to participate in the liturgical (public) prayer of the Church, and to unite your private prayer with that of the whole Church.
Yes the CCC is the basic reference tool, but understand that one topic may be discussed from several angles in different parts of the book. For instance, the Holy Spirit is discussed in the beginning, in the part on Divine Revelation, further along in the section of the Creed where He is mentioned, in the discussion of the sacraments, particularly Confirmation, and elsewhere.
CCC is not a canon law primer, nor it is a guide to liturgy, so it will not answer specific questions on those topics. It will state the doctrine, and the sources for the development of the doctrine, that govern those topics. So no, you would not go to the CCC for a question about canon law or conduct of the Mass.
Of more immediate use for a basic foundational class in doctrine are both the new US Catholic Catechism for Adults, which has many study guides available, and the Compendium, a Q&A format which is invaluable in finding the “short answer” to your questions. Also many publishers of catechetical materials have prepared basic catechisms for instruction, Alan Schrenk’s and Fr. McBride’s being among the most accessible and useful.
also the CCC is hard to search, even on the bishop’s website
usccb.org. a much more easily searchable catechism is on
catholicity.com, click on the appropriate link on the lower right of the homepage.
