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WHY ARE OUR CATHOLIC LAITY SO ILLITERATE WHEN IT COMES TO THE CATHOLIC FAITH
Southern Orders ^ | May 31, 2013 | Fr. Allan J. McDonald

Posted on 05/31/2013 2:44:05 PM PDT by NYer

WHY ARE OUR CATHOLIC LAITY SO ILLITERATE WHEN IT COMES TO THE CATHOLIC FAITH--BLAME THE TEXT BOOKS, BLAME THE TEACHING METHODS AND BLAME THE PARENTS, BUT BLAME THE BISHOPS, PRIESTS AND CATECHISTS TOO, BLAME EVERYONE INCLUDING SATAN, EXCEPT NO ONE TEACHES ABOUT HIM ANYMORE OTHER THAN POPE FRANCIS, DON'T BLAME HIM!

Do our Catholic children and most adults know what these images teach?

All of us know one of the elephants in the room of the Catholic Church. Our religious education programs are not handing on the essence of our Catholic Faith, our parents are befuddled about their role in handing on the faith and the materials we use are vapid or if good do not make an impression on young minds. We are afraid of asking for memorization and thus most don't remember anything they've learned about God and Church other than some niceties and feel good emotions.

I teach each class of our grades 1-6 (we don't have 7th or 8th) each Thursday, rotating classes from week to week. For the last two years I have used Baltimore Catechism #1 as my text book. It is wonderful to use with children and it is so simple yet has so much content. If Catholics, all Catholics, simply studied Baltimore Catechism #1, we would have very knowledgeable Catholics.

These past two years I've used Baltimore Catechism #2 with our adult religious program which we call Coffee and Conversation following our 9:30 AM Sunday Mass, which coincides with our CCD program which we call PREP (Parish Religious Education Program).

This #2 book has more content and is for middle school, but upper elementary school children must have been more capable of more serious content back when this book was formulated and used through the mid 1960's because it is a great book to use with adults and not childish at all. We all use this same book as a supplemental book for the RCIA because it is so clear, nobly simple and chocked full of content!

Yes, there are some adjustments that need to be made to some chapters, but not that many, in light of Vatican II and the new emphasis we have on certain aspects of Church that are not present in the Baltimore Catechism. But these are really minor.

What is more important though is that when the Baltimore Catechism was used through the mid 1960's it was basically the only book that was used for children in elementary and junior high school. It was used across the board in the USA thus uniting all Catholics in learning the same content. There was not, in other words, a cottage industry of competing publishing houses selling new books and different content each year.

The same thing has occurred with liturgical music, a cottage industry of big bucks has developed around the sale of new hymnals, missalettes and new music put on the open market for parishes to purchase. It is a money making scheme.

Why do our bishop allow this to happen in both liturgical music and parish catechesis? The business of selling stuff to parishes and making mega bucks off of it is a scandal that has not be addressed.

In the meantime, our liturgies suffer and become fragmented because every parish uses a different resource for liturgical music and the same is true of religious formation, everyone uses something different of differing quality or no quality at all.

Isn't it time to wake up and move forward with tried and true practices that were tossed out in favor of a consumerist's approach to our faith that has weakened our liturgies, our parishes and our individual Catholics?


TOPICS: Apologetics; Catholic; Ministry/Outreach; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: catechism; catholic; catholicsects; ignorantprotestants; papalpromotion; traditionalcatholic
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To: wonkowasright

Einstein indicates that it is all relative, lol, and entirely dependent upon frame of reference, that science can formulate laws in support of either one. A matter of opinion, essentially. There apparently is strong bias against even our solar system being special in any way, let alone this planet. Whether we’re sitting still with the planets swirling, the sun arcing and the universe ever so slowly spinning around us, or spinning in place, or the whole shooting match is in motion, is irrelevant. The one is no more “right” than the other and entirely dependent upon perspective. Again, this is according to Einstein and Special Relativity, so spare the freakout about geocentrism. I’m no more and no less of a geocentrist than he was.


481 posted on 06/01/2013 4:35:15 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: Iscool
In the thread: A question for my Catholic and Orthodox bretheren you made this statement:I hear ya...I feel your pain...

I’m a Catholic but I’m leaving to join a Baptist church...Hey, do they let you drink alcohol at those Baptist churches???

12 posted on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 8:10:38 AM by Iscool (Was the doctor that would have found the cure for cancer aborted as a baby???)

Now you made this one: You are funny...I never was a Catholic...Except that I have been baptized and some of you guys say that everyone who is baptized is Catholic...

Please clarify which one if false.

482 posted on 06/01/2013 4:38:19 AM PDT by verga (A nation divided by Zero!)
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To: Iscool
You learned that after you became Catholic didn't you??? After they told you Mary never sinned...

Is intellectual dishonesty the reason you you refuse to give a direct answer? Can any of those listed sin? yes or no.

483 posted on 06/01/2013 4:40:14 AM PDT by verga (A nation divided by Zero!)
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To: metmom

If you read the Creation account literally, as many do, you have to conclude that the time between Creation and the Incarnation is about 4000 years. Add the 2 millennia that have passed since the Incarnation, and you get 6000. My point is that it isn’t sufficient to just “read the Bible”. We need an authority to guide us. Just as the Jews of the Old Testament had the Patriarchs to guide them, we have our own patriarchs to guide us, namely, the Church.


484 posted on 06/01/2013 4:41:56 AM PDT by RPTMS
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To: boatbums
Were they ordained ministers? Hahn was a Presbyterian minister and theologian and Staples was an Assemblies of God youth pastor. Their "violation" is okay with you because they became Roman Catholics?

Neither of Hahn's or Staple"s "ordinations" were sacramental in nature. Nice try though.

485 posted on 06/01/2013 4:43:30 AM PDT by verga (A nation divided by Zero!)
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To: metmom; MeganC
I'm rather amused by those who claim that the Bible is too hard to understand, therefore needs an interpreter so that it's not misunderstood.

Would that include the Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 20

486 posted on 06/01/2013 4:44:49 AM PDT by verga (A nation divided by Zero!)
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To: trebb

Mongo only pawn in game of life.


487 posted on 06/01/2013 4:45:56 AM PDT by RPTMS
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To: Syncro
One such "heretic" had the audacity to teach that the earth revolved around the sun, while the Church taught that the sun revolved around the earth. He was burned to death tied to a stake for knowing (and talking about) the truth.

Galileo was not burned at the stake, he was imprisoned, and not for the reason you erroneously claim.

One was burned at the stake for endeavoring to get the Word of God out to the masses. (John [Jan] Hus)

Hus was killed for preaching heresy and refusing to recant his lies.

If you have these simple things wrong what other things do you have wrong?

488 posted on 06/01/2013 4:48:46 AM PDT by verga (A nation divided by Zero!)
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To: metmom
Doesn’t look like any Catholics can refute what you posted.

All they’re left with is mocking and ridiculing you.

Good job......

He was refuted. Perhaps you would like to try and support his claim that it is required for salvation. That is not a DOGMATIC TEACHING. It is an opinion that it is a good thing.

Do you understand the difference between opinion and dogmatic teaching? would you caare to try to explain the difference?

489 posted on 06/01/2013 4:53:39 AM PDT by verga (A nation divided by Zero!)
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To: verga
Hus was killed for preaching heresy and refusing to recant his lies

What heresies did Jan Hus preach and what lies did he have to recant, verga? Do tell.

490 posted on 06/01/2013 4:54:50 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
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To: metmom
What they fail to consider is that support for contraception is a symptom of a breakdown of faith

Began by the COE at the Lambeth conference in 1929 and EVERY single protestant faith followed suit shortly there after. How many Protestant churches support Gay marriages?

Thank you for making the case for the Catholic Church.

491 posted on 06/01/2013 4:56:42 AM PDT by verga (A nation divided by Zero!)
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To: metmom; BipolarBob
Met mommy I am still waiting for bobby to prove that he actually understands what binding and loosing is and what it meant to a first century Jew.

If he every gets back to me I will ping you, or if he gets back to you, then you can ping me. I know how you are about such thing.I mean if you can't contribute, you might as well just throw stones.

492 posted on 06/01/2013 5:01:34 AM PDT by verga (A nation divided by Zero!)
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To: batmast
You know darn well that I was referring to the New Testament.
Spare me ... and I sure don't need any "insight" links from you either.
493 posted on 06/01/2013 5:02:43 AM PDT by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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Comment #494 Removed by Moderator

To: RPTMS
Mongo only pawn in game of life.

Really? Making an observation means I'm selfish and self-centered (as the comment seems to be intimating)? Maybe you had adequate teachers when you were young - too many don't and that is part of the problem. No need to protect that which isn't being attacked, especially with smug egoism.

495 posted on 06/01/2013 5:04:20 AM PDT by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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To: verga

Sheesh. I don’t get the secrecy. I used to be a Mennonite. Ask me what church I go to and I’d have been more than happy to tell you that I was a mennonite.

Of course back then I still liked Pope John Paul too. So I’d not be here!


496 posted on 06/01/2013 5:09:58 AM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas is a state of mind - Steinbeck)
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To: JCBreckenridge
So the real issue isn’t, “Scott Hahn changes words,” but rather, “the Catholic church inteprets words in a way that I disagree.”

I already told you they add to or remove scripture and then try to expound on their subtractions/additions...It's not a matter of interpretation...It's a matter of deceit...

497 posted on 06/01/2013 5:10:20 AM PDT by Iscool
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To: RegulatorCountry
What heresies did Jan Hus preach and what lies did he have to recant, verga? Do tell.

His defense of Wycliffe was the beginning of it. The culmination was his writings: "De ecclesiâ" and "De sex erroribus", and his final act of defiance of claiming sola scriptura.

498 posted on 06/01/2013 5:17:52 AM PDT by verga (A nation divided by Zero!)
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To: Iscool

Given that the Catholic church advances the thesis that they were the ones who put the bible together in the form that it is today, I fail to see how their position is in any way deceitful.

Either their position is false (in that they really didn’t do this), or it is true.

So, what evidence do you have that the position of the Catholic church on the issue of the Canon is in fact a lie?


499 posted on 06/01/2013 5:20:12 AM PDT by JCBreckenridge (Texas is a state of mind - Steinbeck)
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To: JCBreckenridge
I guess this raises the question - if two people have a scriptural dispute how does it get settled?

If it has to do with Christianity, it can be found in the scriptures by comparing scripture with scripture...

That's one of the reasons I know your religion is the false religion...You guys are forced to throw away much of the scripture to keep your beliefs from being condemned...

It's like when you guys use one of the few scriptures that you know to justify works plus faith: YOU MUST DO THE WILL OF THE FATHER...But not a single one of you will tell us what the will of the Father is even tho scripture tells us/you...You simply and falsely imply that it is some sort of good works...

500 posted on 06/01/2013 5:20:46 AM PDT by Iscool
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