Why is Catholicism So Hard to Understand?

[TrueLight]

As someone not averse to learning, I find the process of discovering new things exciting.

However, I can’t help but feel that Catholicism is a difficult religion to understand and I’m not sure that is a good thing.

This is coming from someone who was raised in the protestant church and therefore already understand Christianity and have had years of Biblical instruction. How does someone who have no background in Christianity fair?

How is someone supposed to really understand all the rubrics? You don’t learn them in RCIA. There seems to be a lot of self study and not everyone has the gift of learning on their own.

Are we to use the GIRM and dig up all sort of esoteric Canon law to really understand Catholicism? I am someone that needs to know. Is that a negative?

Are most people not meant to focus on the itty bitty details and just concentrate on the essentials?

There are people who have been faithful Catholics for years and still don’t know a lot about how or why things are done.

I noticed that one can ask a question in the forum and get 20 answers agreeing with the same answer. Two weeks later the same question is asked and there are 20 answers advocating another answer. How is one ever supposed to be sure of her or his beliefs or how things are done?

Aside from the Bible, what are the essential documents that Catholics should be well-versed in?

Are most folks not as obsessed with rubrics as people are on this forum? Is that the key?

I don’t have a problem with putting in the time and studying, but tell me, am I expected to study in depth all these documents (not including the catechism, which of course I should read and understand thoroughly)?

It shouldn’t be that hard, should it?

 

[Phemie]

You know, the average Catholic wouldn’t even know the word rubric, forget about knowing what the rubrics are. He/she knows that everyone stands at the beginning of Mass until it’s time for the readings, then sit for the first two and stand for the Gospel, etc. How do they know? By doing it. Once in a while a priest will say, “OK, from now on we will be doing X.” And from then on something, a gesture, a posture, becomes different and he/she will go along with everyone else.

The average Catholic knows nothing of the GIRM or any other document. The average Catholic doesn’t hang around on these boards. What happens at Mass is for the priest to worry about. He/she knows that there is the Catechism of the Catholic Church and might know that there is such a thing as Canon Law but isn’t quite sure what that is. How do I know? Because until I started working in the parish I was the average Catholic. The people I talk to are average Catholics. Now I’ve read documents, done courses, and have a certificate in Liturgy. Has it made me a better Catholic? No, it’s only made me a dissatisfied Catholic, one who can’t be at Mass without keeping her eyes closed to avoid seeing blatant disregard for the documents.

That’s why the RCIA instruction doesn’t go into the documents, they’re not important to the life of the convert. Scripture and the Catechism are.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

Are most people not meant to focus on the itty bitty details and just concentrate on the essentials?

Are most folks not as obsessed with rubrics as people are on this forum? Is that the key?

It shouldn’t be that hard, should it?

The answer to all these questions
YES!!!

There are some who want to make it very hard for others, and then there are some who want to make it way to easy! But for the most part, IMHO, the majority of Catholics, really do not care about a lot of what you see here on CAF.

As far as what books are essential- The Bible and The Catechism of the Catholic Church
Anything else is just icing on the cake, as far as I am concerned!!

 

[Oneofthewomen]

You know, the average Catholic wouldn’t even know the word rubric, forget about knowing what the rubrics are. He/she knows that everyone stands at the beginning of Mass until it’s time for the readings, then sit for the first two and stand for the Gospel, etc. How do they know? By doing it. Once in a while a priest will say, “OK, from now on we will be doing X.” And from then on something, a gesture, a posture, becomes different and he/she will go along with everyone else.

The average Catholic knows nothing of the GIRM or any other document. The average Catholic doesn’t hang around on these boards. What happens at Mass is for the priest to worry about. He/she knows that there is the Catechism of the Catholic Church and might know that there is such a thing as Canon Law but isn’t quite sure what that is. **How do I know? Because until I started working in the parish I was the average Catholic. The people I talk to are average Catholics. Now I’ve read documents, done courses, and have a certificate in Liturgy. Has it made me a better Catholic? No, it’s only made me a dissatisfied Catholic, one who can’t be at Mass without keeping her eyes closed to avoid seeing blatant disregard for the documents. **That’s why the RCIA instruction doesn’t go into the documents, they’re not important to the life of the convert. Scripture and the Catechism are.

Regarding the bolded- I agree 100%!!
Sometimes a little knowledge is not a good thing!!!

 

[OscarsMama]

There are people who have been faithful Catholics for years and still don’t know a lot about how or why things are done.

Yes! This is exactly right. I am a 32 year old cradle Catholic and I find that there are a lot of people who came into the religion as adults who know more about certain things than I do. As cradle Catholics, we know our prayers and what we say at mass, but not always the WHY? we do things. To some people, that does not matter. They are fine not knowing WHY. For me… I want to know WHY (hense I am on CAF).

Regardless, the Catholic faith has been around for 2,000 years and is very deep and involved. It takes a lot of time to learn a lot of different things. I don’t think that it is necessarily HARD to understand. I think that there is a LOT of information to understand.

I think the best thing to do is ask lots of questions. Lots and lots of questions.

 

[TheMc]

TrueLight,

Don’t worry. All this digging around in the GIRM, Redemptionis Sacramentum and Canon Law is extra, so to speak. Don’t worry about all the rubrics and everything. Just stand, kneel and sit when everyone else does, and worry about learning about things like the real presence, Mary, or the communion of saints.

Personally, I do this because I find it enjoying. Yeah. Really. I’m an oddball, like many of us on these forums. We are not the “average catholics.”

Honestly, don’t worry about it, and just try to pray at Mass.

As cradle Catholics, we know our prayers and what we say at mass, but not always the WHY? we do things. To some people, that does not matter. They are fine not knowing WHY. For me… I want to know WHY (hense I am on CAF).

That’s me too!

 

[DCNBILL]

As someone not averse to learning, I find the process of discovering new things exciting.

However, I can’t help but feel that Catholicism is a difficult religion to understand and I’m not sure that is a good thing.

This is coming from someone who was raised in the protestant church and therefore already understand Christianity and have had years of Biblical instruction. How does someone who have no background in Christianity fair?

How is someone supposed to really understand all the rubrics? You don’t learn them in RCIA. There seems to be a lot of self study and not everyone has the gift of learning on their own.

Are we to use the GIRM and dig up all sort of esoteric Canon law to really understand Catholicism? I am someone that needs to know. Is that a negative?

Are most people not meant to focus on the itty bitty details and just concentrate on the essentials?

There are people who have been faithful Catholics for years and still don’t know a lot about how or why things are done.

I noticed that one can ask a question in the forum and get 20 answers agreeing with the same answer. Two weeks later the same question is asked and there are 20 answers advocating another answer. How is one ever supposed to be sure of her or his beliefs or how things are done?

Aside from the Bible, what are the essential documents that Catholics should be well-versed in?

Are most folks not as obsessed with rubrics as people are on this forum? Is that the key?

I don’t have a problem with putting in the time and studying, but tell me, am I expected to study in depth all these documents (not including the catechism, which of course I should read and understand thoroughly)?

It shouldn’t be that hard, should it?

What is so hard to understand about Love?

 

[nicolep]

Others have posted well though responses so far. I agree with them.

While I don’t think it’s hard to understand, there is a lot to learn. The Church has existed for 2,000 years. There’s a lot of history and a lot to “why”. The Church writes down everything. It’s an invaluable resource, but can be exhausting if one were to try to take it all in at once.

I further agree that most Catholics don’t go into the detail involved here (on CAF). If they ask a priest a question, they take it for truth. They don’t proceed to request a source. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a bad thing.

When I converted, I received my information from watching others at Mass and attending RCIA. I learned a lot from those two things. On my own, I have filled in some of the details. I’m never going to know everything about the Church. There is too much history. I enjoy learning the new things.

It’s enough for me to know the things in the bible and in the catechism. I’ll continue to learn more, if I can, but I’m not going to let it overwhelm me.

 

[TrueLight]

What is so hard to understand about Love?

Come on now. You know that’s not what I mean. I understood the concept of God’s love for us before I became interested in Catholicism.

In any case, I didn’t mean hard in terms of hard to understand but as another poster pointed out, there seems to be a lot of doctrines/practices one has to absorb.

 

[TrueLight]

Others have posted well though responses so far. I agree with them.

While I don’t think it’s hard to understand, there is a lot to learn. The Church has existed for 2,000 years. There’s a lot of history and a lot to “why”. The Church writes down everything. It’s an invaluable resource, but can be exhausting if one were to try to take it all in at once.

I further agree that most Catholics don’t go into the detail involved here (on CAF). If they ask a priest a question, they take it for truth. They don’t proceed to request a source. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a bad thing.

When I converted, I received my information from watching others at Mass and attending RCIA. I learned a lot from those two things. On my own, I have filled in some of the details. I’m never going to know everything about the Church. There is too much history. I enjoy learning the new things.

It’s enough for me to know the things in the bible and in the catechism. I’ll continue to learn more, if I can, but I’m not going to let it overwhelm me.
Good point.

Unfortunately, since I’m very cerebral, I just have to know. It’s good to know though that focusing on the Bible and Catechism is good enough to start with.

 

[Spirithound]

As someone not averse to learning, I find the process of discovering new things exciting.

However, I can’t help but feel that Catholicism is a difficult religion to understand and I’m not sure that is a good thing.

This is coming from someone who was raised in the protestant church and therefore already understand Christianity and have had years of Biblical instruction. How does someone who have no background in Christianity fair?

How is someone supposed to really understand all the rubrics? You don’t learn them in RCIA. There seems to be a lot of self study and not everyone has the gift of learning on their own.

Are we to use the GIRM and dig up all sort of esoteric Canon law to really understand Catholicism? I am someone that needs to know. Is that a negative?

Are most people not meant to focus on the itty bitty details and just concentrate on the essentials?

There are people who have been faithful Catholics for years and still don’t know a lot about how or why things are done.

I noticed that one can ask a question in the forum and get 20 answers agreeing with the same answer. Two weeks later the same question is asked and there are 20 answers advocating another answer. How is one ever supposed to be sure of her or his beliefs or how things are done?

Aside from the Bible, what are the essential documents that Catholics should be well-versed in?

Are most folks not as obsessed with rubrics as people are on this forum? Is that the key?

I don’t have a problem with putting in the time and studying, but tell me, am I expected to study in depth all these documents (not including the catechism, which of course I should read and understand thoroughly)?

It shouldn’t be that hard, should it?

Dear friend, you are perfectly free to be Baptized and Confirmed, go to Mass once a week, believe the articles in the Creed, receive Holy Communion when you are in a state of grace, confess your sins when you need to, be married in the Church, receive the Anointing of the Sick, and die a good Catholic.

From there, you can make it as hard as you want to.

 

[TrueLight]

You know, the average Catholic wouldn’t even know the word rubric, forget about knowing what the rubrics are. He/she knows that everyone stands at the beginning of Mass until it’s time for the readings, then sit for the first two and stand for the Gospel, etc. How do they know? By doing it. Once in a while a priest will say, “OK, from now on we will be doing X.” And from then on something, a gesture, a posture, becomes different and he/she will go along with everyone else.

The average Catholic knows nothing of the GIRM or any other document. The average Catholic doesn’t hang around on these boards. What happens at Mass is for the priest to worry about. He/she knows that there is the Catechism of the Catholic Church and might know that there is such a thing as Canon Law but isn’t quite sure what that is. How do I know? Because until I started working in the parish I was the average Catholic. The people I talk to are average Catholics. Now I’ve read documents, done courses, and have a certificate in Liturgy. Has it made me a better Catholic? No, it’s only made me a dissatisfied Catholic, one who can’t be at Mass without keeping her eyes closed to avoid seeing blatant disregard for the documents.

That’s why the RCIA instruction doesn’t go into the documents, they’re not important to the life of the convert. Scripture and the Catechism are.

Hmm. I suppose I might have a skewed view of Catholicism.

 

[YankeeRC]

Welcome to the Catholic Church TrueLight!

There are almost two thousand years of traditions in the Catholic church, and various churches and orders within the one Church, and that’s why there are so many things to learn.

Canon law is a big subject, even many priests we hear in interviews defer to Canon Lawyers because of their lack of knowledge of Canon Law.

The Catechism of the Church is probably the book to have after the Bible. It can be used more as a practical reference book than a leisurely read. These forums have lots of experts for questions on Catechism.

By rubrics you mean practices like the Liturgy of the Hours or practices like genuflecting? If you mean the reverent practices like when to bow ones head, cross oneself, etc. you can pick them up from attending mass. I find it easy to discern between the more reverential mass attendees in my parish and I tend to imitate what they do.

Maybe, just maybe, God is calling you with your deire to learn, to be an RCIA instructor

 

[Joe_5859]

The thing I love about Catholicism is both the beauty of its supreme simplicity and the plumbs of its theological depths.

Fundamentally, Catholic doctrine is simple. Do you know the Creed? The Our Father? Then you pretty much know everything you need to know. That’s why someone like St. Thérèse of Lisieux – who had very little in the way of formal schooling – is able to be a Doctor of the Church. Many of the greatest saints are simple people.

God came to earth and died and rose to save us. His name is Jesus. He left us a Church to make sense of it all. That’s really the whole thing in a nutshell.

And yet, after 2000 years of reflection on these Sacred Mysteries, there is certainly more to be said for those who want to go deeper.

As far as rubrics go, they are in place for a reason. And if someone has a question, I think it can be helpful to spell out the *what *and the *why *of them. But we definitely need to keep our pride firmly in check as we articulate such things. Not everyone is called to be a liturgical expert or a theologian. In fact, most are not.

What we are all called to do is to draw closer to Christ continually and daily seek to be converted and conformed to Him. I think that part of this equation is learning more about our wonderful Catholic faith. But, of course, we cannot learn everything, and we especially cannot learn it all at once. And I agree that it is better to turn to Scripture and the Catechism than the GIRM or Canon Law (though those documents do have their own important function).

As with most any internet forum, we find here at CAF those of us who like to spread our “vast” knowledge with others (in this case, our knowlegde of Catholic practice and teaching). We are definitely not a substitute for the Magisterium. So try not to let our pettiness and/or know-it-all-ism be confusing. Sometimes, it may be better for your peace of mind to write us off as well-meaning, lovable rogues.

 

[TrueLight]

TrueLight,

Don’t worry. All this digging around in the GIRM, Redemptionis Sacramentum and Canon Law is extra, so to speak. Don’t worry about all the rubrics and everything. Just stand, kneel and sit when everyone else does, and worry about learning about things like the real presence, Mary, or the communion of saints.

But at the same time is one also missing out on the beautiful complexity of the faith if one only does the above?

 

[TheMc]

But at the same time is one also missing out on the beautiful complexity of the faith if one only does the above?

I’m not saying that is the only things you should do. I’m saying those are some big ones, and you can go from there. The other posters also give a better sense of this than I do. Just work on the basics for now, then move on to bigger things.

 

[Stylteralmaldo]

…It shouldn’t be that hard, should it?

It shouldn’t be that hard, but people make it harder than it should be.

Being a faithful Catholic is actually very simple. It takes a lot of trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If you trust that the Catholic Church is being led by the Holy Spirit, everything else will fall into place.

I believe people mistake simple trust with blindly following what they do not understand. There is a difference.

 

[nicolep]

Good point.

Unfortunately, since I’m very cerebral, I just have to know. It’s good to know though that focusing on the Bible and Catechism is good enough to start with.

I’m very cerebral, too. There comes a point that one has to let it go though. No one person is EVER going to be able to absorb the entire history of the Church. It’s simply not possible. One can know that Catholisim holds the fullness of faith without knowing every detail of the Church’s history.

 

[TrueLight]

If you mean the reverent practices like when to bow ones head, cross oneself, etc. you can pick them up from attending mass. I find it easy to discern between the more reverential mass attendees in my parish and I tend to imitate what they do.

The problem is I see people doing different things and looking around at times to make sure they are correct.

Maybe, just maybe, God is calling you with your deire to learn, to be an RCIA instructor

Maybe.

 

[DCNBILL]

Come on now. You know that’s not what I mean. I understood the concept of God’s love for us before I became interested in Catholicism.

In any case, I didn’t mean hard in terms of hard to understand but as another poster pointed out, there seems to be a lot of doctrines/practices one has to absorb.

Sorry, but really, in my opinion it is best to start with the basics. And I am not only referring to the love that God has for us. More importantly is our response to the love of God by following the greatest of commandments, to love God and our neighbor. This love of neighbor is one of the critical key elements in Catholic theology and central to the message that Jesus has for the Faith Community that He started. I would say this is the level that any “good Catholic” should focus on and it will lead you to the rest of the truth.