Wanting to know more

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sw_myers

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I have some general questions about catholicism and was wondering if you could help answer them. First I might tell you a bit about myself.

I’m a 26 year old welder from oklahoma, married and 2 kids. I actually was a licensed minister in the church of the nazarene for a few years(children’s pastor). At some point in time, I resigned because I lost my belief in god…sad but true…I came to believe that there was no god out there and that if anything had to be done, I had to do it myself.

But for the last year or so, I’ve began looking for that something that has been missing in my life. I have begun to accept that I do need god…

Anyways, to make a short story long…I am interested in the catholic faith…I have really no knowledge of it though, it very well may not be what I am searching for…but I will never know unless I try. My wife and I are going to attend the catholic church here in town some time in the near future…but one thing that scares us is that we don’t know the liturgy. Are all churches the same? will this one be different? What if we don’t do something right? How can I find someone to talk to me in my town about the catholic faith(i don’t know any catholics). Thanks for the help.
 
This is a good place to ask around for any questions you have, be as general or specific as you need.

In general any catholic church you walk in will have the same liturgy, dont be scared just walk in and sit in the back. There should be a little black book in front of your seat and if you flip through you will see dates on each page, just find the date of the sunday your on and there will be the Scripture readings you will hear that day.

In terms of the “motions” basically you will either be sitting, standing or kneeling depending on the moment, just follow along. During Communion or kneeling you can just sit if you like.

Other than that just walk in and give it a try.

If your interested in theological questions there are plenty of people around here to help you and/or provide quailty info for you.
 
Do you have EWTN on TV or on the radio? You can watch or listen to many good shows on their audio archived Library at www.ewtn.com and read many good articles there and on www.catholic.com

As for looking into the Faith and talking to other knowledgable converts, I highly suggest contacting www.chnetwork.org They can specifically answer questions as many of them were ministers in noncatholic churches before their conversion.

As for talking to someone at the church, just call their office this week and ask to speak to someone about RCIA. It stands for Right of Christian Initiation for Adults and it is a introduction class for people exploring the Catholic Faith. Each parish has their own program (unlike our Worship, it is not the same across the country). I am sorry to say that not all RCIA programs are created equal. To make sure the program is truly teaching the Catholic faith, I highly suggest getting copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church(online here… nccbuscc.org/catechism/text/index.htm )

and another book called Catholisism for Dummies.
shop.catholic.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/p-R2484.html?L+scstore+qthg4595ff459045+1148669073
If the class teaches the basics in these books, then you are good. If you are a little scared about going to classes right away, then just get the two books I suggested and read those. They should basically introduce you to the Faith.
 
Hi sw_myers 👋,

Welcome to the forums and welcome to any Catholic church you might enter. Yes, we are universal, but not every Catholic knows all the same things. There is so much to experience that it takes a lifetime to get a good soaking. There is always something new and interesting to learn.

If you want to just walk in and participate, that is great. If you want to call and get more personal information and some guidance that is great too. Either way is up to you. Please know that one difference you might encounter is how people might interact with you.

Some parishes are very large, so if you just come in some people might have no idea that you are not Catholic. I guess what I am saying is that the Mass is very different than a “worship service.” A worship service is more about fellowshipping and the Mass is a sacrifice. The intimidating part of the liturgy is that everyone else seems to know what is going on. Don’t let that deter you or frighten you off. Other people won’t “get in your business” unless you ask them too.

Pick a friendly face and just say that you are not Catholic and just visiting. Unless the person is terribly shy, he or she will probably be glad to help. Take notes if you want, just try to be discreet so it is not distracting. The only thing we ask that you not do is receive communion because that would, “imply a unity that does not yet exist.” Try the sign of the cross. Try kneeling if you want. Our body posture have a bearing on what we are doing.

We stand to show honor. We sit to learn. We kneel to show humility (humbleness.) Throughout the Mass, noting these postures and what is being said can be very helpful. Most importantly please know that God has continued to love you during your trials of disbelief. God is truly present in the Catholic Church. The body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus is really there. God allows some amazing things to happen in our individual lives that bring us closer to Him. I hope this will be another step for you in this wondrous journey.

Please ask away. If we don’t understand the question, rephrase and we will keep trying. There is an answer to every question. God promised he would not leave us orphans. God Bless! :gopray:
 
Catholic Dude:
This is a good place to ask around for any questions you have, be as general or specific as you need.

In general any catholic church you walk in will have the same liturgy, dont be scared just walk in and sit in the back. There should be a little black book in front of your seat and if you flip through you will see dates on each page, just find the date of the sunday your on and there will be the Scripture readings you will hear that day.

In terms of the “motions” basically you will either be sitting, standing or kneeling depending on the moment, just follow along. During Communion or kneeling you can just sit if you like.

Other than that just walk in and give it a try.

If your interested in theological questions there are plenty of people around here to help you and/or provide quailty info for you.
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First off, welcome 👋 :tiphat: always nice to have genuine enquirers, and I’m sure you’ll fit in round here in no time.

I think you might want to read up a bit more on the structure and wording of Mass and find out a bit more about what it means to us before you jump in the deep end and attend one. I’m sure the good people round here can point you towards the right information.

You can even watch televised masses to get a feel for it first - they have it on EWTN and probably other channels as well (oh the wonders of modern technology … 😃
 
Welcome SW!!!

Glad you’re here!

For doctrinal info, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is the first stop.

For apologetics, well, you already found us, so at your liesure go through the library and that will explain a lot of things. The other web sites suggested are also good.

As for Liturgy, go ahead and go to Mass. Check out the daily Mass schedules too. That may be easier to handle than Sunday Mass. It is shorter but all of the components are there. Scott Hahn has a good book on the Mass entitled The Lamb’s Supper. It would be a good read for you at this time. Just a heads up: Easter Vigil is the sundown celebration on Saturday evening anticipating Easter, and is the time that we welcome the new Catholics…it would be a good one or you to watch to see first hand how entering the church physically happen.

Like the other post, don’t feel unwelcome if no one greets you. To a certain degree, the communication particular to Mass is vertical(God) and the horizontal(community) is a distant secondary. Not that we do not love each other…there’s a plethora of activities during the week and time before and after Mass for socializing. As earlier suggested, ask Christ to find you someone you can introduce yourself to and they’ll be happy to show you around.

God bless you and hope you find your way home with us. We are here and happy to answer as best we can any questions you may have.

in XT.
 
If your ever near Manchester, NH in the future, I’ll gladly introduce you to my parish!
 
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sw_myers:
My wife and I are going to attend the catholic church here in town some time in the near future…but one thing that scares us is that we don’t know the liturgy. Are all churches the same? will this one be different? What if we don’t do something right? How can I find someone to talk to me in my town about the catholic faith(i don’t know any catholics). Thanks for the help.
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I’m glad to hear that you’re interested in the Catholic faith. To answer your questions:

Don’t worry about the liturgy. Just stand, sit, and kneel when everyone else does. The only thing you can’t do is receive Holy Communion. Also, there is a point in the Mass called the sign of peace where you shake hands with your neighboring parishioners and say “peace be with you.” Other than that, I’d just take it all in. You can learn a lot about what the Church teaches if you just listen to the words of the Mass. Of course there will be lots of genuflecting and signs of the cross and memorized responses that us Catholics do that you’ll probably be lost on, but it’s no big deal. One thing that my Protestant friends always seem to ask is, “What is that thing you guys do to your forehead, lips, and heart before the Gospel is read?” So, just to let you know, we are doing a mini sign of the cross with our thumb on those areas to remind ourselves to keep the Gospel in our minds, on our lips, and in our hearts. As for liturgical universality, I would say that pretty much all the churches you could go to should have the same liturgy. I stress “should” because there are some priests that do their own thing…which is wrong. If you do something wrong, it’s not a big deal. Just remember that we believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist in the tabernacle, so the church is usually pretty quiet and solemn because of that. I would suggest that you stick around these forums to learn more about the faith for now. Feel free to ask whatever questions you want. This site (www.catholic.com) is a really good source for commonly asked questions about the faith. You may want to browse the tabs “Library” and “This Rock” over to the left hand side. I’m sure you’ll find some interesting stuff in there. Anyways, I’ll pray for you and your journey. God bless.
 
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AquinasXVI:
Scott Hahn has a good book on the Mass entitled The Lamb’s Supper. It would be a good read for you at this time.
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If you don’t have money for the book, he has a free online course that you can take here:

salvationhistory.com/online/beginner/begcourse2_home.cfm

Also, you can get free tapes or CD’s about the Catholic faith here (you actually have to pay like $1 for each one, but it’s definitely worth it):

catholicity.com/maryfoundation/

AND here:

biblechristiansociety.com/free_tapes.asp

Finally, you can take another free course about the Mass here (they even send you a free book to keep):

amm.org/chss.htm
 
If your ever near Manchester, NH in the future, I’ll gladly introduce you to my parish!
 
Welcome SW! Nice to see you here! Please stay a while and browse around. Don’t worry about the small stuff like knowing when to sit/kneel/stand, you can catch that from just watching the people. The one thing I will tell you about is that we (Catholics) believe in the real presence in the Eucharist. What that means to new folks and non Catholics is that the mass is centered around the Eucharistic Celebration. That is why it is referred to as the mass not a service. Every mass includes communion and there is only one day per year that there is no mass worldwide, Good Friday. Because of our belief in the true presence we do not cross commune with any protestant sects. In other words, if you are not Catholic or if you are Catholic and you are aware of grave sin that has not been confessed, you should not recieve communion. You may still go up in the communion line and cross your arms over your heart and you will receive a blessing instead of communion. That is probably the biggie for confusion when non Catholics go to a Catholic mass. At almost every parish there is a person who is the DRE (Director of Religious Education) he or she is the person you would want to talk to if you would like to attend any classes or seminars that the parish has available. If you wish to learn more about the Catholic faith there is a program called RCIA that you may attend. There is no requirement to join the church after you complete it, but if you are led to, this is how you would do it.

Again, welcome, and please feel free to ask any questions you have. Please remember, unless you ask in the Ask the Apologist section, you will be getting answers from the general public and the answers will not necessarily be the “official” answers. Most of the folks who stick around here for a while and list themselves as Catholic, usually have a very good idea of the right answer though.
 
Welcome to the forum, sw! 👋

As everyone else has said, we are more than happy to answer your questions. And the Mass is the perfect place to start! 👍

The Liturgy of the Mass has some basic parts (which really aren’t as foreign to Protestant worship as you might think):

We gather in the nave (the main part of the Church with the pews) and after genuflecting to the tabernacle in which resides the reserved Eucharist (from a past Mass), we kneel for a few moments for recollection of our hearts, minds, and souls before Mass begins.

Sunday Masses will begin with a processional hymn. Then comes the Penitential Rite in which we confess to God that we are sinners in need of his mercy. This part is sung or said in a responsorial of “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.” Then the priest asks for God’s forgiveness for all present (himself included). Following that the Gloria is either sung or said. We stand for this whole part.

Next is the Liturgy of the Word in which 2 Bible readings, usually one from the OT and one from the NT with a Psalm sung or said in between. The Psalm is done with a responsorial refrain while the rest of it is either sung or read by a cantor or lector, respectively. We sit for these readings and the Psalm. Then we stand for the reading of the Gospel, to honor the Gospel as special since it is the life and words of Jesus himself. After the Gospel is read we sit for the homily.

After the homily we stand to recite/pray the Nicene Creed, which is a sort of short “catechism” declaring what we believe as Christians. This is followed by the Prayers of the People. We stand for all of this.

Then we sit for the preparation of the altar for the Eucharist. The offering is taken up at this time, too. After the priest has asked God’s blessing on the bread and wine and has washed his hands as he asks for God to wash him clean of sin, we stand as we offer God thanks and praise for the Eucharist we are about to assist in and receive. We sing or say the “Holy, holy, holy…” praises and then declare Christ’s death, resurrection, and coming again in glory in one of various forms.

Then we kneel for the consecration of the bread and wine (you may sit if you like since you are not Catholic). After the consecration we stand to pray the “Our Father…” (Lord’s Prayer) and to exchange the Sign of Peace–just a handshake with those around you while saying, “Peace be with you.” Then after singing or saying the “Lamb of God” invocation, we kneel while we wait to go up to receive the Eucharist. Once again, you may simply sit if you like, or you can go up with your arms across your chest to receive a blessing. We return to our pews after receiving and kneel or sit in private prayer until the altar is cleared and the priest sits down.

Then we sit/kneel until he gets up (we stand too) to pray the final prayers and give us his blessing. After the Mass is declared ended, we say, “Thanks be to God,” and sing the recessional hymn. We are then free to go or stay in a few moments of private prayer.

If I have left anything out, no doubt others will fill in what I forgot or correct anything I explained poorly. I’m so used to just doing these things that I don’t have to think about the order in which they come or what to do in each part, anymore. It only takes a few weeks to get the hang of things, really.

The Mass is filled with meaning and beauty since it centers around Christ Crucified, once offered for our sins, and Risen. May God bless you as you inquire into the Catholic Church. We will pray for you, please pray for us! 🙂
 
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sw_myers:
I have some general questions about catholicism and was wondering if you could help answer them.

Anyways, to make a short story long…I am interested in the catholic faith…I have really no knowledge of it though, it very well may not be what I am searching for…but I will never know unless I try. My wife and I are going to attend the catholic church here in town some time in the near future…but one thing that scares us is that we don’t know the liturgy. Are all churches the same? will this one be different? What if we don’t do something right? How can I find someone to talk to me in my town about the catholic faith(i don’t know any catholics). Thanks for the help.
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You can listen to the Fundamentals of Catholicism here trueteaching.net/
 
Hey, thanks for all the answers. I appreciate them all. I have been reading up on catholic beliefs and have gained a basic understanding of them. I do have a question on prayer to the saints though…(I bet you hear that often) Its not in regards to the ‘theological’(don’t know if that is the right word) aspect of it…but I guess it is how often do you pray to the saints…and how often do you pray to god? or better phrased… How does one even pray to the saints? And if I pray to the saints to intercede…do I, in the next breath, pray to God for the same request. I guess I’m just curious how it is applied…Can you say one prays(venerates) to the saints as much as prayer to God?

my protestant background has taught me that prayer is conversation with God…like a best friend. Is that the same with catholicism?

These may sound like dumb questions… but thanks for being patient with me.
 
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sw_myers:
How does one even pray to the saints? And if I pray to the saints to intercede…do I, in the next breath, pray to God for the same request.
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Praying to the saints is done by simply asking them to pray for you. So, yes, it is usually accompanied by a prayer to God for the same request but this is not necessary. For example, say I have lost my keys. I would pray, “Oh, Lord, help me find my keys before I have a conniption,” and then immediately follow that up with a prayer to St. Anthony, “St. Anthony, pray that I may find my lost keys.” Haha. That’s a dumb example, but you get the picture.
my protestant background has taught me that prayer is conversation with God…like a best friend. Is that the same with catholicism?
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Yes. 🙂
 
Don’t worry about knowing the Liturgy backwards and forwards, fake it until you make it. In other words when people kneel, kneel, when people stand, stand. There will be a Missal in front of you where you can flip to the day of the Mass and follow along. The Mass is the Mass, the same it’s been for thousands of years, so don’t expect rock concerts, the Mass will take time to ‘get’, but once you do, it’s unlike any other form of Christian worship out there. To me it’s the only true worship of Jesus in Christendom. The Mass is 100% based on worshipping Jesus.

The real core to the Mass is the Liturgy of the Eucharist. This is the real body and blood of Christ, and the most Holy part of the Mass. To really contemplate this I suggest read John Chapter 6, there are other passages, but this one is very clear that Communion is to be Jesus literal body and blood. Many of the preserved writings of our earliest Church fathers also agree with this 100%. I think that is the main belief to get your arms around when at the Mass. When I have trouble with the Church I really think about the Real Presence in the Eucharist, and Jesus promise to not lead the Church astray and that typically gets me through any problems.

It takes time to learn about a faith such as the Catholic faith, it’s Bible based which could take a lifetime to learn, plus 2000 years of Sacred Tradition. So don’t get overwhelmed trying to learn everything at once. I just reverted recently and started reading the Bible daily, and saying morning and evening prayers from my Missal. Now I started doing the rosary daily, I learn more and more everyday.

Well I’ve said too much, God Bless!
 
Catholic don’t “have” to pray to the saints…it isn’t required.

It is similar to asking your friends to pray for you, only these friends are already in heaven.
There is no formula for asking your friends to pray for you, and there is also no formula for asking our friends in heaven to pray for us.

You will come across standard prayers that have been composed - but it is not required to adhere to a strict form.
If you prefer to have an informal “discussion” with a saint, that is fine too.

We see standard composed prayers to God too…we use them, but we also “talk” to God in a conversation.
There is no set rule or ratio as to which you should use and when.

It comes down to what works for you - what are you comfortable with?
 
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