Catholicism For Dummies

Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Part I: What Do Catholics Believe?
Part II: Celebrating the Mysteries of Faith
Part III: Living a Saintly Life
Part IV: Praying and Using Devotions
Part V: The Part of Tens
Part VI: Appendixes
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part I: What Do Catholics Believe?
Chapter 1: What It Means to Be Catholic
What Exactly Is Catholicism Anyway?
Knowing What the Catholic Church Teaches
Grasping the basic beliefs
Respecting the role of the Church and its leaders
Worshipping as a Catholic: The Holy Mass
Bringing body and soul into the mix
Participating inside and out
Behaving Like a Catholic
Following the general ground rules
Avoiding sin
Heeding the Church’s stance on tough issues
Praying as a Catholic: Showing Your Devotion
Praying and using devotions
Realizing the importance of Mary and the saints
Following traditions
Chapter 2: Having Faith in God’s Revealed Word
How Do You Know If You Have Faith?
Having Faith in Revelation
Faith in the written word: The Bible
Faith in the spoken word: Sacred Tradition
Backing Up Your Faith with Reason: Summa Theologica
Through motion
Through causality
Through necessity
Through gradation
Through governance
Chapter 3: In the Beginning: Catholic Teachings on Creation and Original Sin
Making Something out of Nothing
Breathing Life into the World: Creationism or Evolution?
Angels and Devils: Following God or Lucifer
Infused knowledge, eternal decisions
The angels’ test and the devil’s choice
Witnessing the Original Sin
Tempting our first parents
Losing gifts
Wounding our nature
Being redeemed by God’s grace
Facing the four last things
Anticipating What’s to Come: Moving toward the End of Creation
The Second Coming
Resurrection of the dead
General judgment
The end of the world
Chapter 4: Believing in Jesus
Understanding Jesus, the God-Man
The human nature of Jesus
The divine nature of Jesus
The Savior of our sins; the Redeemer of the world
The obedient Son of God
The Gospel Truth: Examining Four Written Records of Jesus
Catholic beliefs about the Gospel
How the Gospels came to be
Comparing Gospels
Dealing with Heresy and Some Other $10 Words
Gnosticism and Docetism
Arianism
Nestorianism
Monophysitism
Chapter 5: Defining “The Church” and What Membership Means
Establishing a Foundation: Built on Rock
Seeing the Church as the Body of Christ and Communion of Saints
Understanding the Four Marks of the Church
Fulfilling Its Mission
The priestly office: Sanctifying through the sacraments
The prophetic office: Teaching through the Magisterium
The kingly office: Shepherding and governing through the hierarchy
Membership Has Its Benefits
Chapter 6: Who’s Who in the Catholic Church
Getting to Know the Pope
How the pope gets his job
Is he really infallible?
Now that’s job security
Where the pope hangs his hat
Who’s Next in the Ecclesiastical Scheme of Things
Cardinals
Bishops and archbishops
The vicar general
The parish priest
Deacons
Monks and nuns, brothers and sisters
Part II: Celebrating the Mysteries of Faith
Chapter 7: Body and Soul: Worshipping Catholic Style
Getting Your Body and Soul into the Act
Understanding Some Symbols and Gestures
The sign of the cross
The genuflection
The crucifix
Holy water
Sensing God
Through sight
Through touch
Through smell
Through sound
Through taste
Chapter 8: Entering the Church: Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation
Come On In — The Water’s Fine
Becoming Christ’s kith and kin
Washing away original sin
Baptizing with water
Receiving the sacrament of Baptism in other ways
The Holy Eucharist
Understanding the consecrated host
Discovering who can receive Holy Communion
Partaking of First Holy Communion
Coming of Age: Confirmation
Chapter 9: The Sacraments of Service and Healing
The Sacraments of Service and Community
Marriage — Catholic style
Holy Orders
The Sacraments of Mercy and Healing
Penance
Anointing of the Sick
Chapter 10: Celebrating the Catholic Mass
What Exactly Is the Mass?
Honoring the Sabbath publicly
Participating fully
Uniting past, present, and future
The Two Parts of the Mass
Beginning the Mass
Acknowledging sin (Penitential Act)
Gloria
Opening Prayer (Collect)
The Liturgy of the Word
The Liturgy of the Eucharist
Vatican II and the Celebration of Mass
Allowing worship in vernacular languages
Other changes resulting from Vatican II
Checking out the Roman Missal, Third Edition
Understanding the Latin roots
Seeing why change was necessary
Knowing what it means for you in the pew
Adjusting the Mass for the Occasion
Weekday and Sunday
Holy days of obligation
Simple and solemn celebrations
Spiritual Seasons of the Year
Christ Our Light: The first half of the liturgical year
Christ Our Life: The second half of the liturgical year
Part III: Living a Saintly Life
Chapter 11: Obeying the Rules: Catholic Law
Following the Eternal Law of God
The divine positive law
The natural moral law
The human positive law
Playing by the Church’s Rules
Attending Mass on all Sundays and holy days of obligation
Receiving the Holy Eucharist during Easter season
Confessing your sins at least once a year
Fasting and abstaining on appointed days
Contributing to the support of the Church
Observing Church marriage laws
Supporting Missionary Work of the Church
Chapter 12: Loving and Honoring: The Ten Commandments
Demonstrating Love for God
I: Honor God
II: Honor God’s name
III: Honor God’s day
Loving Your Neighbor
IV: Honor your parents
V: Honor human life
VI and IX: Honor human sexuality
VII and X: Honor the property of others
VIII: Honor the truth
Coming Out Even Steven
Chapter 13: Being Good When Sinning Is So Easy
Cultivating Good Habits
Prudence: Knowing what, when, and how
Justice: Treating others fairly
Temperance: Moderating pleasure
Fortitude: Doing what’s right come hell or high water
The Seven Deadly Sins
Pride goeth before the fall
Envying what others have or enjoy
Lusting after fruit that’s forbidden
Anger to the point of seeking revenge
Gluttony: Too much food or firewater
Greed: The desire for more and more
Sloth: Lazy as a lotus-eater
Chapter 14: Standing Firm: The Church’s Stance on Some Sticky Issues
Celibacy and the Male Priesthood
Flying solo for life
No-woman’s-land
Matters of Life and Death
Abortion
Euthanasia
The death penalty
The Just War Doctrine
Planning Your Family Naturally
The moral argument against artificial contraception
The natural alternative to contraception
What if you can’t conceive naturally?
Defending Traditional Family Life
Part IV: Praying and Using Devotions
Chapter 15: Growing in the Faith
Having a Personal Relationship with God through Prayer
Practicing the four types of prayer
Getting to know spontaneous and formal prayer
Praying in Private and in a Community
Taking personal time with God: Private prayer
Joining others for communal prayer
Saying the Lord’s Prayer
Taking It to the Next Level: The Stages of Spiritual Growth
Purgative: Practicing self-denial and sacrifice
Illuminative: Distinguishing good from evil
Unitive: Connecting with God
Chapter 16: Showing Your Love for God
Going Beyond Your Basic Duty
Knowing when and where to pray devotions
Separating devotions from Mass
Running the Gamut of Devotions
Praying novenas to the saints
Loving litanies
Looking at statues and icons
Making pilgrimages
Going on a retreat
Wearing sacred gear
Praying the Rosary
Saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet
The Way of the Cross
Chapter 17: Expressing Affection for Mary
No, Catholics Don’t Worship Mary
What Catholics Believe about Mary
She’s the Mother of God
She’s the Mother of the Church
She’s the Mother of the Mystical Body of Christ
She was conceived through Immaculate Conception
She went to heaven, body and soul
Her never-ending virginity
Up Close and Personal with Mary
May crowning
First Saturdays
Marian shrines and apparitions
Chapter 18: Honoring the Catholic Saints
Having a Place in the Hearts of Catholics
Honoring God’s Good Friends
It’s All about Intercession
Recognizing a Saint
Looking at the process to becoming a saint
Going through the investigations for sainthood
Experiencing the beatification and canonization Mass
A Saint for Every Day of the Year
Discovering the Communion of Saints
Saints in heaven
Believers on earth
Souls in purgatory
Chapter 19: Practicing Catholic Traditions
Adoring the Blessed Sacrament
Participating in Benediction
Adoring at church during Perpetual Adoration or the 40-hour devotion
Representing Life’s Journey: Other Religious Processions
Meatless Fridays
The tradition of abstaining
Substituting Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy for abstinence
Using Sacramentals
Signifying death with ashes
Commemorating with blessed palms
Receiving the blessing of throats
Exorcising demons
Tolling bells
Celebrating Year-Round
Feast of the Epiphany
Feast of Candlemas
St. Patrick’s Day
St. Joseph’s Day
Marian Feasts in May
Feast of St. Anthony of Padua
Feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Part V: The Part of Tens
Chapter 20: Ten Famous Catholics
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910–1997)
Blessed Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979)
Mother Angelica (1923)
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)
Alfred E. Smith (1873–1944)
Father Edward Flanagan (1886–1948)
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892–1973)
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
Christopher Columbus (1451–1506)
Chapter 21: Ten (Plus One) Popular Catholic Saints
St. Peter (Died around a.d. 64)
St. Jude (Died during the first century a.d.)
St. Benedict (480–circa 543)
St. Dominic de Guzman (1170–1221)
St. Francis of Assisi (1181–1226)
St. Anthony of Padua (1195-1231)
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274)
St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556)
St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844–1879)
St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897)
St. Pio of Pietrelcina (1887–1968)
Chapter 22: Ten Popular Catholic Places
Rome
The Basilica de Guadalupe
San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy
The Basilica of Czestochowa, Poland
The Basilica of Lourdes, France
Fatima, Portugal
The Cathedral of Notre Dame
The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
The Minor Basilica of Saint Anne de Beaupré
The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Part VI: Appendixes
Appendix A: A Brief History of Catholicism
Non-Christian Rome (A.D. 33–312)
Christian Rome (A.D. 313–475)
Barbarian invasions and the fall of Rome (A.D. 476–570)
Pope St. Gregory the Great to Charles Martel (590–741)
Christendom: One big, mighty kingdom
The Golden Age
The downward spiral
The growing need for reform
The reformers
The Catholic Church’s response: The Counter Reformation
The Age of Reason
The Age of Revolution
The Modern Era
Appendix B: Popular Catholic Prayers
Our Father (Pater Noster)
Hail Mary (Ave Maria)
Glory Be
Salve Regina
Memorare
Act of Contrition
Prayer to Guardian Angel
Grace Before/After Meals
Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
Act of Faith
Act of Hope
Act of Love (Charity)
Prayer before meals
Prayer after meals
Prayer of the Publican
Prayer of St. Ephraim of Syria
Prayer to St. Maron
Cheat Sheet