What is the best day of the liturgical year to show what catholicism is?

  • Thread starter Thread starter MarcoPG
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MarcoPG

Guest
Hello,
I was wondering which mass I could choose for an agnostic to show what my faith is.
It is a person who wants to go with me to the Christmas Mass this year, and it is a great occasion for her as she told me to experience such a feast, but I thought maybe if she wants to come again; what could be the best moment?

Since she is not a Catholic or a Christian, during lent would be too much, I guess :p.
I also thought, the great celebrations like Easter, Pentecost or immaculate Conception may be too hard to get.

So, I thought of a mass of Ordinary time, with a great parable like the prodigal son, or the beatitudes.

What are your opinions?

Thank
 
Easter Vigil is a nice one i took my children and my mum to this years Easter Vigil as i was being confirmed and i have never been before and i thought it was not only beautiful but amazing specially when the church was lit up by candle light.
 
The best day is today. With an Order of Mass so your friend can follow along. 😉
 
MarcoPG said:
Hello,
I was wondering which mass I could choose for an agnostic to show what my faith is.
It is a person who wants to go with me to the Christmas Mass this year, and it is a great occasion for her as she told me to experience such a feast, but I thought maybe if she wants to come again; what could be the best moment?

Since she is not a Catholic or a Christian, during lent would be too much, I guess :p.
I also thought, the great celebrations like Easter, Pentecost or immaculate Conception may be too hard to get.

So, I thought of a mass of Ordinary time, with a great parable like the prodigal son, or the beatitudes.

What are your opinions?

Thank
Click to expand...
If you want your agnostic friend to be smacked in the face with Catholicism, might I propose a Corpus Christi Mass and procession, if you are able to find one?
 
My faith is not in the Mass or in the Church. Mass and Church are part of my faith but my faith is in Jesus. Why not show the atheist who Jesus is?

***What my life was like before I knew Jesus.
How I met Jesus
What my life is like now that I know Jesus. ***

Every Christian should be able to explain that.

-Tim-
 
Easter Vigil. Although if you don’t want to subject them to several hours of Mass, Corpus Christi is a good second. I would say Advent has some good readings for it, focusing on the coming of Christ. All Saints, perhaps, for a different spin. Or, of course, I even just love the name of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (although I’m recommend years B or C for that one, since the year A Gospel might be a little bit too much fire and brimstone for introducing someone to the faith).

Two side notes:
*If you want a good way to describe All Saints, I have a fairly accurate description that even most of my Protestant friends are fine with as a holiday. When you think about it, it is quite literally a holiday held in honor of literally every person ever to have died and gone to Heaven.
*I found this. While I was looking up the readings, I stumbled upon it. It’s pretty much a reverse lookup, where you can say “This Bible story. When is it read?”
 
TimothyH said:
My faith is not in the Mass or in the Church. Mass and Church are part of my faith but my faith is in Jesus. Why not show the atheist who Jesus is?

***What my life was like before I knew Jesus.
How I met Jesus
What my life is like now that I know Jesus. ***

Every Christian should be able to explain that.

-Tim-
Click to expand...
I understand that explaining Christ should be sufficient, but there are 2 problems
  1. People, believers or not, have senses so that they can feel. And that’s partly because of this human nature that the sacrament are not purely spiritual, but spi-ritual 😉
  2. An agnostic won’t have the faith to understand who Jesus is, may I use all the emphasis and passion I have. She posted recently the famous one : you don’t need religion to have morals, etc.
    He or she will say that he was a nice man, like many others, or that we just cannot know whether he was God or not. Scripture is no more than a bunch of writings to them.
That’s why amazement can be a start, and she sure wants to participate to a celebration, so…As Jesus said, if you don’t believe my Word, believe at least for my works.

And I don’t remember who was converted by looking at rose windows in a cathedral (probably a french author if I remember).
 
The Easter Vigil. They get the whole story, from the beginning.
 
Razanir said:
Easter Vigil. Although if you don’t want to subject them to several hours of Mass, Corpus Christi is a good second. I would say Advent has some good readings for it, focusing on the coming of Christ. All Saints, perhaps, for a different spin. Or, of course, I even just love the name of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (although I’m recommend years B or C for that one, since the year A Gospel might be a little bit too much fire and brimstone for introducing someone to the faith).

Two side notes:
*If you want a good way to describe All Saints, I have a fairly accurate description that even most of my Protestant friends are fine with as a holiday. When you think about it, it is quite literally a holiday held in honor of literally every person ever to have died and gone to Heaven.
*I found this. While I was looking up the readings, I stumbled upon it. It’s pretty much a reverse lookup, where you can say “This Bible story. When is it read?”
Click to expand...
Very nice Razanir thank you
 
MarcoPG said:
I understand that explaining Christ should be sufficient, but there are 2 problems
  1. People, believers or not, have senses so that they can feel. And that’s partly because of this human nature that the sacrament are not purely spiritual, but spi-ritual 😉
  2. An agnostic won’t have the faith to understand who Jesus is, may I use all the emphasis and passion I have. She posted recently the famous one : you don’t need religion to have morals, etc.
    He or she will say that he was a nice man, like many others, or that we just cannot know whether he was God or not. Scripture is no more than a bunch of writings to them.
That’s why amazement can be a start, and she sure wants to participate to a celebration, so…As Jesus said, if you don’t believe my Word, believe at least for my works.

And I don’t remember who was converted by looking at rose windows in a cathedral (probably a french author if I remember).
Click to expand...
I did not say that someone should explain Christ.

I said that they should explain what their life was before they met Jesus and what their life was like now that they know Jesus. They would be talking about their own life. That is what Christian witness is, explaining how your life has changed because of your faith.

I said nothing about explaining Christ. I don’t even know how someone would go about doing that.

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
I did not say that someone should explain Christ.

I said that they should explain what their life was before they met Jesus and what their life was like now that they know Jesus. They would be talking about their own life. That is what Christian witness is, explaining how your life has changed because of your faith.

I said nothing about explaining Christ. I don’t even know how someone would go about doing that.

-Tim-
Click to expand...
I see, but if you don’t explain Christ, how do you explain the change, thank to a man, prophet, philosopher, revolutionary?
 
MarcoPG said:
I see, but if you don’t explain Christ, how do you explain the change, thank to a man, prophet, philosopher, revolutionary?
Click to expand...
Hypothetically, it might go something like this…

What my life was like before I knew Jesus

I started using porn when I was 12 and started smoking pot when I was 17. My vocation through my early 20’s was to listen to satanic heavy metal and wreck every car I could get my hands on, and I was quite good at it. I spent my late 20’s trying to kill myself with cocaine but was unsuccessful. I got a girl pregnant shortly before I turned 30.

She was a great grace in my life because she didn’t do drugs and got me to quit because of our daughter, but I married her for all the wrong reasons. Our first child died in my arms of Leukemia and fifteen years later she walked out for another man leaving me with 7 and 11 year old girls to raise by myself.

How I met Jesus

I met Jesus when I had no place else to go and nothing left in my life. I had screwed up everything so bad that I was ready to quit, just give up. I had lost my wife, my job, had no money. I slept two hours each night and lost 25 lbs in one month. The only thing that kept me from doing something stupid were the two little girls who had no mother and were counting on me. One night I prayed to God and told him that I would give him my whole life - everything - if he would make the hyperventilating and panic attacks stop and if he would help me take care of these two little girls. I met Jesus at 43 years old, prostrate on my bedroom floor in a puddle of my dry heaves.

About six months later I was reading John 6 and I realized that the Catholic Church was everything she claimed to be. The next day I made a 37 year confession. This was the second of many profound encounters with Jesus - in the pages of the Bible and in the sacraments.

What my life is like now that I know Jesus
Things are better but life isn’t easy. Through everything that goes on however, there is a sense of peace because I know that this life is only temporary and that there is something better for me. Sometimes people will be freaking out over some crisis and they will ask me how I can be so calm. My reply is always the same - I have the sacraments, and I know Jesus. It doesn’t mean that things don’t hurt, but just that they are bearable, and I am at peace because while the world changes and everyone is freaking out, my life is anchored to something that never, ever changes. My life is anchored to Jesus. And all those things I described are things of the past. No more addictions, except maybe coffee, and I don’t have a single grudge. I know what it means to forgive and to be forgiven.

That’s how it might go. No priest/prophet/king/dogma/doctrine/ritual or arguments about communion in the hand and Latin. Just how Jesus has changed my hypothetical life.

-Tim-
 
TimothyH said:
Hypothetically, it might go something like this…

What my life was like before I knew Jesus

I started using porn when I was 12 and started smoking pot when I was 17. My vocation through my early 20’s was to listen to satanic heavy metal and wreck every car I could get my hands on, and I was quite good at it. I spent my late 20’s trying to kill myself with cocaine but was unsuccessful. I got a girl pregnant shortly before I turned 30.

She was a great grace in my life because she didn’t do drugs and got me to quit because of our daughter, but I married her for all the wrong reasons. Our first child died in my arms of Leukemia and fifteen years later she walked out for another man leaving me with 7 and 11 year old girls to raise by myself.

How I met Jesus

I met Jesus when I had no place else to go and nothing left in my life. I had screwed up everything so bad that I was ready to quit, just give up. I had lost my wife, my job, had no money. I slept two hours each night and lost 25 lbs in one month. The only thing that kept me from doing something stupid were the two little girls who had no mother and were counting on me. One night I prayed to God and told him that I would give him my whole life - everything - if he would make the hyperventilating and panic attacks stop and if he would help me take care of these two little girls. I met Jesus at 43 years old, prostrate on my bedroom floor in a puddle of my dry heaves.

About six months later I was reading John 6 and I realized that the Catholic Church was everything she claimed to be. The next day I made a 37 year confession. This was the second of many profound encounters with Jesus - in the pages of the Bible and in the sacraments.

What my life is like now that I know Jesus
Things are better but life isn’t easy. Through everything that goes on however, there is a sense of peace because I know that this life is only temporary and that there is something better for me. Sometimes people will be freaking out over some crisis and they will ask me how I can be so calm. My reply is always the same - I have the sacraments, and I know Jesus. It doesn’t mean that things don’t hurt, but just that they are bearable, and I am at peace because while the world changes and everyone is freaking out, my life is anchored to something that never, ever changes. My life is anchored to Jesus. And all those things I described are things of the past. No more addictions, except maybe coffee, and I don’t have a single grudge. I know what it means to forgive and to be forgiven.

That’s how it might go. No priest/prophet/king/dogma/doctrine/ritual or arguments about communion in the hand and Latin. Just how Jesus has changed my hypothetical life.

-Tim-
Click to expand...
Amen. Thank you for a beautiful witness.
 
I’d say Corpus Christi, Immaculate Conception, Good Friday or St. Francis Feast Day in addition to Easter and Christmas of course. The Catholic Church does those days very uniquely and very beautifully.
 
That’s how it might go. No priest/prophet/king/dogma/doctrine/ritual or arguments about communion in the hand and Latin. Just how Jesus has changed my hypothetical life.

-Tim-

Thank you Tim.
You take my question somewhere else, but it is ok.
When i was talking about prophets and philosophers, I was talking about how non believers could see Jesus. I could do the same and share my life before and afterCHrist, but there is no way a non believer will get the reason why, if they don’t see where it is coming from, namely Jesus and his Church. That’s what I meant. and because she wants to start with a Mass, and prefers a celebration to difficult conversations, it seems it is the best way.
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
I’d say Corpus Christi, Immaculate Conception, Good Friday or St. Francis Feast Day in addition to Easter and Christmas of course. The Catholic Church does those days very uniquely and very beautifully.
Click to expand...
Immaculate Conception or the Annunciation/Virgin Birth? 😛

But really, though. I feel like, as an event, the Virgin Birth better represents us than the Immaculate Conception. That said, the only significant difference I see is if you’re getting Jesus’ conception foretold in Isaiah or if you’re getting God putting enmity between the snake and woman. Either way, the Gospel is the Annunciation. (I checked)
 
I would say Easter vigil, he will be able to see the whole story. Granted that he is ok with staying up a little late at night to see the whole festivities.

If he is up for whole marathon, take him to the triduum, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and then the Easter vigil.

I agree with the others that if you want it smack in the face, Corpus Christi with a procession is a good one as well.

Christmas is also good, but you have to consider that all Christian denominations celebrate it. But if you want a full on celebration with a real catholic signature, consider the ones above.
 
Depends on the person. I once took a non-Catholic to Christmas Mass and she asked to leave in the middle because it was so long. Another person might have found Christmas Mass to be exceedingly beautiful.

Your safest bet is probably a typical Sunday Mass in ordinary time. The choice of parish is more important. Would this person like Gregorian chant? Guitar music? Gospel? Would he feel more comfortable in a parish that shares his ethnic background?
 
johnmann said:
Depends on the person. I once took a non-Catholic to Christmas Mass and she asked to leave in the middle because it was so long. Another person might have found Christmas Mass to be exceedingly beautiful.

Your safest bet is probably a typical Sunday Mass in ordinary time. The choice of parish is more important. Would this person like Gregorian chant? Guitar music? Gospel? Would he feel more comfortable in a parish that shares his ethnic background?
Click to expand...
She wants to go as near as possible from home. She detests music (!)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top