In 27 years as a Catholic, I knew no one who carried around or read a bible, certainly not to Mass.
Well, now you know me, and I’ve carried a Bible to Mass. (And I am a cradle Catholic!) LOL!
BTW, you are a baptized Catholic and will always be a Catholic. You will be welcomed back into the church at any time.
The local priests shared that many of the Confessions here at Christmas time were people coming back to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church after being away many, many years.
I pray for all of you to come back to the first and true Church all the time......Many blessings to you during the remainder of the Christmas season.
You know me, I'm Catholic and read the bible. That's at least 2 you know now.
You wrote:
“In 27 years as a Catholic, I knew no one who carried around or read a bible, certainly not to Mass.”
First of all, why would someone carry a Bible to Mass when there are missals in the pews? Second, maybe you simply should have gone to a better parish or made better friends. Almost very Catholic I know, and I mean ALMOST EVERY CATHOLIC I KNOW, reads the Bible and many, like me, read it every day or darn close. In my tiny office I work with five people. Three of them are former Protestants - now all Catholics - including one who used to be a Protestant minister and who has a profound knowledge of scripture. Another one of those three has a Bible degree from a Protestant seminary. Two of my best friends of the last decade are former Protestant ministers who are now Catholics and both love scripture more than ever.
I think you simply hung out with the wrong people.