Where to begin.. Can you help me learn about our religion?

[Hebrews12]

I myself am in a similar situation. I was baptized, and had just the bare minimum of Catechism necessary at my Parish for the next three sacraments, but I really didn’t learn that much as a kid and I’m learning and re-learning now as an adult what it actually means to be a Catholic.

Definitely pick up a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) and I would really suggest getting a good Catholic Bible that has references to the CCC in the footnotes. The Didache Bible is perfect for this. You have your choice of translation, either NABRE or RSV-2CE (I prefer the language of the latter, though the former is currently the basis of readings in Mass in the USA if that matters to you), and it’s filled with extensive commentaries, apologetical essays, and everything is based on and backed up by the CCC. There’s also the Catholic Study Bible by Ignatius Press. Currently only the New Testament and parts of the Old Testament are available, but it also has CCC references and a lot of essays, plus a concise concordance and color maps of the Holy Land. I only own the New Testament CSB, but will pick up the Old Testament once they finish it.

In terms of studying the Bible, I suggest reading the New Testament every weekday and Saturday, and then on Sunday read a bit of the Old Testament. I wouldn’t worry about reading the whole thing in a certain amount of time, the key is just consistency, read a little every day, and then meditate on what you read. If you do use the Didache or CSB for these daily readings, pay attention to the footnotes and look at the CCC references to read a little more in that. The CCC of course references scripture, and you can follow those references back to your Bible as necessary to give yourself a better idea of a particular subject.

Continue to pray daily. Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be are all good to do every day. I would also suggest praying to the Holy Spirit before reading your Bible, if for no other reason than to put yourself in the right frame of mind before your study.

Of course go to Confession, and Mass. If you are able, consider going to Mass during the week, not just on Sundays, at least for a little while. You will hear more scripture readings, and it will make you more mindful about your faith on a daily basis instead of it being a weekly thing. Also consider a group Rosary experience if you can find one, ideally one with some scripture readings at each decade to reflect on the Mysteries. If you can’t find a group, you can pray the Rosary solo, but again I suggest choosing some scripture to read at each decade to help you reflect on the Mysteries. There are websites that can help with that.

I also suggest praying the Stations of the Cross. It’s usually done as an organized group thing during Lent at most parishes, but you can do it by yourself at home whenever you like any time of year. Again, there are websites that can help.

 

[Joe_5859]

In terms of studying the Bible, I suggest reading the New Testament every weekday and Saturday, and then on Sunday read a bit of the Old Testament. I wouldn’t worry about reading the whole thing in a certain amount of time, the key is just consistency, read a little every day, and then meditate on what you read.

This is a great approach. Just starting out, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend reading the Bible cover-to-cover, front-to-back. Most people get a little bogged down once they get to Leviticus when they try it that way. But reading through the New Testament (while still going to the Old Testament) and utilizing a good study Bible (like the Didache Bible or the Ignatius Study Bible), will help you in your meditation on Scripture and how Catholic teaching is all in there.

 

[Zerg1]

Yay! It makes me happy to see that you are interested in learning about the faith. Outside of the great advice that everyone has given you I think that reading scholars like Scott Hahn and Brant Pitre are great resources as well. The Catechism is a great read (although it can be a little daunting to just read straight) so finding a book by an apologist scholar can be a way to get your foot in the door. They will often reference the Catechism and the bible in their books, and you can go and read the chapters that they are talking about to gain context.

As far as reading the bible, there are lots of daily plans that divide the bible into bite sized chunks, but I find that reading the daily readings from mass is a really good way to read it. The readings from mass are organized so that the old testament and the new testament passages are related. It can be fun to discover the connections that you didn’t know existed between those passages.

 

[Frank18]

Thank you so much for you (name removed by moderator)ut, guys! Sorry for taking so long to write back. You have given amazing suggestions and I think I can trace a course based on them.

For the sake of keeping the thread tiddy, I’ll answer everyone with this post.

To answer a question asked, I have been baptized and made first communiona and confession. That was it for me then. Presently I pray everyday (nothing fancy, I just thank God for the positive parts of the day and ponder on what could be improved; and some Our Fathers; when I have the time I read some chapters of the Bible) and as soon as I am done with this semester’s finals I will resume going to sunday Mass. I will try to go during the week as well but it might prove difficult given the sheer ammount of classes and work hours I have everyday.

Based on your advice, I think I will:

1. look for RCIA classes (I live in Spain at the moment; did some research and they are called RICA here)
2. begin studying the Catholic Church Catholicism in parallel with the RCIA classes and trying to study portions of the Bible the CCC refers to. One question: is the CCC 900+ long or about 100 pages long? I have looked for it in local book shops and it seems there are several versions of it…

I think this will keep me busy for a while. After I feel I have a better understanding of the ‘basis’ of Catholicism I will study authors such as Saint Augustine.

I believe this to be a course of action. What do you think?

Once again thank you so much for helping me find answers to my questions.

edit: grammar.

 

[Joe_5859]

One question: is the CCC 900+ long or about 100 pages long? I have looked for it in local book shops and it seems there are several versions of it…

A “catechism” can be just a generic word for a book that attempts to systematically explain the faith. So there are many different “catechisms” that are out there.

When most people here on the forum refer to the “Catechism”, they are referring to the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” (often abbreviated as “CCC”). This is also known as the “universal Catechism.” It is the official catechism produced by those in the Vatican and was promulgated by Pope John Paul II. It is 900+ pages. (Side note, most people reference the Catechism by the paragraph numbers, not the page numbers.) Also, the CCC you should see in most places is the 2nd edition. The 1st edition came out in 1992, but then the 2nd edition (1997) features some (mostly minor) changes in light of the official Latin edition.

There is also the “Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.” This is shorter (around 200 pages), and is in question and answer format. It, too, was produced by those in the Vatican and uses the main CCC as it’s constant reference point. It’s meant to be sort of a more readable abridgement of the CCC, but it always points you back to the CCC for more information.

Here in the United States, there is also the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults, which was produced by the U.S. bishops conference and seeks to make the CCC readable to an American audience. The CCC was always intended to serve as a resource for local bishops’ conferences to do exactly that. So it is about 600 pages, but is divided into chapters and features snippets about lives of the saints and/or other important Catholics in America. But again, it covers primarily the same content, just in a different way.

And there are many other books—of varying degrees of quality—that also use the word “catechism” somewhere in the title. I’d generally recommend sticking with ones that are more official (i.e. those listed above).

 

[Tis_Bearself]

After I feel I have a better understanding of the ‘basis’ of Catholicism I will study authors such as Saint Augustine.

I think this is the way to go.
The books by St. Augustine and Ven. Mary of Agreda tend to be quite long, meaty and involved. You need a good grasp of the basics of the faith before you “go there” in my opinion. Many Catholics never get around to reading such things but are still good or even great Catholics just following the lessons of the Catechism and the Bible (especially the New Testament).

God bless.

 

[0104]

The Bible is confusing if your just starting out. I would say have talks with your priest and start reading the lives of the saints. And the CCC and see as a Catholic what we believe. Then I would start with the Synoptic Gospel‘s Matthew Mark and Luke because they are similar . John’s gospel doesn’t tell about the Lord’s supper, Jesus gives the long discourse in John 6 on the Eucharist, his real body and blood that all must eat to have eternal life at the synagogue at Capernaum.

 

[Hebrews12]

I like your plan. That’s a good course of action.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church I referenced is indeed the 900+ page book. I would get the Second Edition. It’s not something I would necessarily try to read straight through, but it does make for a good reference when one wants an answer to a specific question (or when using it as a reference direct from a study Bible’s footnotes). If you do want to read it straight through, it’s organized quite well, starting with the Profession of Faith, then moving on to an explanation of the Liturgy and the Sacraments, then morality, then finally prayer. In the very back there’s a glossary in case you want to know what anamnesis or parousia means. It’s very much a how-to guide for the Catholic Church.

 

[Frank18]

When most people here on the forum refer to the “Catechism”, they are referring to the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” (often abbreviated as “CCC”). This is also known as the “universal Catechism.” It is the official catechism produced by those in the Vatican and was promulgated by Pope John Paul II. It is 900+ pages. (Side note, most people reference the Catechism by the paragraph numbers, not the page numbers.) Also, the CCC you should see in most places is the 2nd edition. The 1st edition came out in 1992, but then the 2nd edition (1997) features some (mostly minor) changes in light of the official Latin edition.

Seems like the book to get then. Right now I’m going through the Gospel of St. Mathew (beautiful book! It is a much more powerful text than I remember) but after my finals I’ll begin RCIA. Maybe they have a CCC I can use before I get mine.

The books by St. Augustine and Ven. Mary of Agreda tend to be quite long, meaty and involved. You need a good grasp of the basics of the faith before you “go there” in my opinion

You are probably right: I am still years out from being able to correctly interpret those texts.

If you do want to read it straight through, it’s organized quite well, starting with the Profession of Faith, then moving on to an explanation of the Liturgy and the Sacraments, then morality, then finally prayer. In the very back there’s a glossary in case you want to know what anamnesis or parousia means. It’s very much a how-to guide for the Catholic Church.

I am still unsure as to how I will read the book: I understand it should be used similarly to a reference book or a college text book. I will probably do as you recommend and use it as a companion to my Bible studies.

I have another question, if you don’t mind… I understand it must sound ridiculous but during Sunday mass at the local church at certain moments, the people present utter some words in response to the what the priest said. I don’t remember that from when I was a child… Is there a place where I can read about that ‘ritual’? (is there a proper word to call it?)

 

[Joe_5859]

I have another question, if you don’t mind… I understand it must sound ridiculous but during Sunday mass at the local church at certain moments, the people present utter some words in response to the what the priest said. I don’t remember that from when I was a child… Is there a place where I can read about that ‘ritual’? (is there a proper word to call it?)

That would generally be referred to as the “Order of the Mass”. Much of it remains the same from Mass to Mass. Of course, some of the prayers the priest says change depending on what feast is being celebrated. Also, sometimes there are several options for responses.

This site has the basic order (with drop down menus to see the different options):

https://universalis.com/static/mass/orderofmass.htm

 

[Hebrews12]

A number of years ago, the Order of Mass changed a bit, which may also cause some confusion if you’ve been away from the Church for a while. It all stems from changing the original latin to the vernacular, and the imperfections that come from any translation. Anyway, they came up with a better translation a while back, and implemented it. Having spent most of my life with the old translation, it’s still difficult to get it right every time.

 

[Joe_5859]

Good thing to mention! Yes, the translation changed back in December 2011. So what you heard as a child would be different in certain places.

 

[Bon_Croix]

I would advise receiving the sacraments during the week (confession and eucharist), which would include attending weekday masses. From there, Jesus will open your mind about the religion and give you understanding (pray for understanding it is a gift of the Holy Spirit).

Read the Catechism, Bible, and listen to homilies. The Catechism should be read first-particularly about the Ten Commandments, so that you can do a better job in confession.

Pick up a Roman Missal as well if you plan to attend weekday masses or subscribe to “Magnificat” so that you will have the weekday mass readings.

You can spend the rest of your life learning about the religion.