How should Catholics live?

[Anonymous No.23489820]

I grew up catholic and have recently started reading more and attending mass. As an adult looking at the faith I'm struck with several observations.

There are very vague general lessons and stories but I sometimes feel a little underwhelmed or uncertain how I'm supposed to apply the ideas to my life.

The faith itself feels very caught up in sin and what not to do. Is there any literature on what Catholics should be doing with their lives and how they ought to be behaving?

Mass feels very dominated by rituals that I feel somewhat disconnected from. I quite enjoy the priest talking about the bible or telling personal stories but this pales in comparison to the other incomprehensible stuff that's going on. How can I feel connected to what's going on or at the least understand it?


After mass everyone goes their separate ways and no one talks. This is how I remember church as a child. Compared to the Muslims and Jews I know and their communities this feels kind of sad. Are all catholic churches not very community oriented?

[Anonymous No.23489824]

>>23489820
So you've read the Bible?

[Anonymous No.23489828]

>>23489824
I don't think I'm reading it correctly. When I read the new testament it doesn't resonate with me at all. I find Christ to be a really confusing and somewhat incomprehensible figure and I also am kind of freaked out by some of his followers. It all feels very cult like and shocking honestly.

By contrast I find myself extremely moved by the lives and writings of the saints and their interpretations of the bible. I don't think reading the bible is enough. Clearly there's a step I'm missing.

[Anonymous No.23489830]

>>23489820
>>23489828
talk to one of the priests in your parish about this. ask him your questions. 100% guaranteed to be much more helpful than anons here.

[Anonymous No.23489833]

>>23489824
Of course not, he's catholic.

[Anonymous No.23489838]

>>23489820
It varies from place to place. Some parishes have strong communities, in others the community is non-existent. Total luck of the draw, there's no reliable way to find one that does have a strong community. Trad communities seem to be better in this regard, though they come with their own set of caveats.

If you want to learn more about the faith, particularly the way you're supposed to live, and participate in the mass, the catechism is usually recommended but it's extremely dry and unintuitive, so I wouldn't recommend it; but it is the comprehensive and definitive guide to living as a catholic, and what you should go to if you want the church mandated rules.

Otherwise, what's best is to read literature written by the saints and other important figures in the church. But really, there's nothing that beats the bible, and you must always remember that. The point of the Christian faith is to live rightly, but you shouldn't become obsessed with avoiding sin because that is not focusing on the most important aspects of the faith, which is pursuing truth, goodness, treating others rightly, etc. i.e pursuing God himself. People droning on about sin and becoming obsessed with eliminating or controlling it have unironically missed the point and you should avoid them whenever possible.

[Anonymous No.23489863]

>>23489820
Imitiate Christ.

[Anonymous No.23489880]

>>23489820
Brant Pitre has the "Introduction to the Spiritual Life". It is a book for beginners, but you are a beginner so it might be what you are looking for. After that, you might look for Garrigou Lagrange, the Doctors of the Church, etc. But in the end it is all about:

>Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself."

But remember that what we consider to be love is not what "The Atlantic" considers to be love.

[Anonymous No.23489879]

>>23489820
Does your parish have Knights of Columbus? In a lot of parishes it's mostly just a men's group for the dads of kids who go to the school, but they'd give you things to go to and do that'd make you feel more connected.

[Anonymous No.23489881]

>>23489830
Yeah that makes sense

>>23489838
Thank you anon I will read this

Out of interest do or have you ever felt apprehensive about Christianity. I like a lot of the Christians I meet but I am also terrified by some of the stuff in the bible. Namely how brutal the consequences are for none believers. There was one story I remember teasing about a guy trying to burt his dead father before following Christ and that was somehow wrong.

I really want to live a better life but I also am kind of afraid I'm sublimating my rational faculties to what may well have been the newish equivalent of Scientology. That being said I would rather that than relt solely on my ego and logical reasoning.

[Anonymous No.23489882]

>>23489880
Thank you this is what I wanted I think.

What do you mean by the last sentence?

[Anonymous No.23489898]

>>23489830
>Don't take their opinion, just take my opinion to take someone else's

[Anonymous No.23489923]

>>23489820
This is a great article on the purpose of the liturgy.

https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/liturgy-and-contemplation-10083

I would look to the classics. Fr. William Harmless has two great books in this respect. The first is called Mystics. It's out of print but not too hard to find online and it is on Libgen. This has stuff by Merton, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Bonaventure, Evargrius Pontus, Meister Eckhart, Hildegard. He is very good at having people speak in their own words with long excerpts. It's a great one.

His boom Saint Augustine In His Own Words is a really tremendous introduction to Augustine too and very worth looking at. If you like those, he has a good book on the Desert Fathers too.

From the philosophical angle, D.C. Schindler's Love and the Postmodern tradition is the most accessible of his very good works. Retrieving Freedom is better but pretty complex and requires some background in philosophy (Wallace's Philosophical Mysticism in Plato and Hegel is a good place to start for that).

I'd also highly recommend Merton's The Inner Experience of his more famous work. He is much more modern. The Imitation of Christ is great too.

[Anonymous No.23489926]

>>23489923
Oh, and Saint John of the Cross is great too, but I wouldn't start there. Mystics covers him I believe.

[Anonymous No.23489927]

>>23489820
read st francis de sales introduction to the devout life

[Anonymous No.23489928]

>>23489881
The Bible in the western world has undergone for centuries an attempt to "sanitize" its image and present it as some kind of quaint happy moralizing. The Bible is in reality a very wild and mysterious collection of texts.

I don't know how much you know about actual Catholic dogma. If hell and punishment are scary to you (as they should be), remember God wants everyone to be with him in heaven and that it's biblical that God allows us to pray for the sake of those who have died so that they might be given mercy (2 Maccabbees 12:46).

[Anonymous No.23489930]

I was raised Mormon and now I'm considering beginning RCIA. What am I in for?

[Anonymous No.23489936]

>>23489923
And lastly, Boethius' the Consolation of Philosophy. It was the most copied book outside the Bible for 800 years for a reason. It's a deep book and easy to read in a shallow way, but stick with it and it's among the most beautiful works ever written. Everything it says about how to live life is timeless. Recall that Boethius, a Christian, was awaiting a grizzly execution and likely undergoing torture when he composed it.

[Anonymous No.23489938]

>>23489882
I'm not very good at explaining it, but you will probably get it after reading Brant Pitre's book

https://catholicexchange.com/four-loves-ascent-god/

[Anonymous No.23489939]

>>23489926

[Anonymous No.23489942]

>>23489930
I was born into Catholicism so I can't tell you much about RCIA. The thing I've heard from other people is that they go through everything in broad detail despite the fact that, as someone who's researched and chosen to Catholicism, you may already know a lot of it. It it ever feels like a drawn-out process I guess I'd just approach it as a way of making you worthy and protecting the faith with some proper gatekeeping.

[Anonymous No.23489943]

>>23489820
Check out the letters and works by St. Therese of Lisieux. Her thought is far less philosophical than the other writers posted in this thread, but that's in her favor; her way is all about how simply loving those around you will deliver you to God.

[Anonymous No.23489950]

>>23489820
1. Read the Bible
2. Read the Golden Legend
https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=6AC09C88EB9C183DD8F1F5833E2C9716
"Jesus and the Saints" as I heard it in a dream few days ago. Maybe it was a message for you
Go in peace

[Anonymous No.23489962]

>>23489820
This feels like larp. But since you're asking: we're meant to use all those gifts of the spirit to better show our innate grace that others may want to know the grace of God better too

[Anonymous No.23489981]

>>23489962
Why do you think he's not sincere? He seems pretty earnest compared to a lot of religion posts.

[Anonymous No.23489987]

>>23489943
I think that's great advice. It is also a very "charming" read.

[Anonymous No.23489996]

Do what thou wilt

[Anonymous No.23490059]

>>23489962
Yeah but larping with Saint Francis will ultimately bite him in the behind so we might as well help him now
Also OP is 100% right, the "Catholic church experience" is light years behind Jews & Muslims & Mormons. Maybe it's because Vatican II but can't tell since I never attended Latin mass. The certainty is that the current Pope ain't helping either.

[Anonymous No.23490063]

>>23490059
>& Mormons
Lol no. Mormon worship services are the dullest thing imaginable. Yes, this includes the temple rites they don't let outsiders see.

[Anonymous No.23490068]

>>23490063
I like dull

[Anonymous No.23490087]

>>23490068
No, you don't. Mormonism is both boring and spiritually and philosophically empty. Mass and Liturgy at least have beauty and mystery.
t. 5th generation mormon

[Anonymous No.23490100]

>>23490087
Yeah but they have a community like Catholics uses to have before WW2..
And add to that the fact that it's not acceleratig downhill either
I wouldn't convert to Mormonism but then again I don't have any place to enjoy Mass or Liturgy either

[Anonymous No.23490106]

>>23490100
>And add to that the fact that it's not acceleratig downhill either
I have bad news for you.

[Anonymous No.23490116]

>>23490106
Dont tell me they started having priestesses and lgbt picnics

[Anonymous No.23490129]

>>23490059
This depends on the church I think. My local parish is run by a priest and deacon who are both Jesuit fanboys doing the NO mass so one could assume the worst but its actually extremely reverent and the priest is very passionate and a great singer who incorporates that into the liturgy. Its night and day when he does versus the bishop who is extremely dry. The community has pretty good vitality but being a college town helps. OP is right though generally about everyone leaving right away at most Catholic churches, and I do have to say that evangelicals do the community thing really well, my mum's Baptist church is very active in doing group events and people hang around longer after church, it would be good to see more of that with Catholics.

[Anonymous No.23490148]

>>23490129
>my mum's Baptist church is very active in doing group events and people hang around longer after church, it would be good to see more of that with Catholic
That's nice

Imdeed it also depends on the people who attend (the "church" itself). If you are living in places like the USA or Latin America it may not make a big difference but in the rest of the world the Catholic church has become just an extension of the state, exactly like Easten Orthodoxy. The Latin mass (and general promotion of Latin) and the "fellow kids" attitude and the machinations to remove Benedict XVI were the last nails in the coffin IMHO
Quite ironically OP has the exact opposite problem than I do lol yet he ain't happy either and that's probably the saddest part

[Anonymous No.23490149]

>>23490148
>The Latin mass (and general promotion of Latin
Meant to write " removal of Latin mass (and halting the general promotion of Latin)"

[Anonymous No.23490156]

>>23489881
I have felt apprehensive at times, but never enough for lasting doubt. The core of it, at least to me, I believe to be pure and the closest man can ever get to reaching "truth", and everything else is tacked onto that. You have to realise that it's not a flawless religion, and even within the bible itself not everything fits together perfectly. There are stories about the consequences for not believing like you said, but there are also many more about treating people with compassion and understanding, and helping yourself get closer to God, or, perhaps, what God is.

Really, I think you should ask yourself what a better life looks to you, why you think that is a better life, and how you think you might reach it. For me, that answer is Christianity and its beliefs, and it is not all contained in the heaven/hell dichotomy, which is a profound misunderstanding of the purpose of the Faith.

[Anonymous No.23490234]

>>23489923
>The Imitation of Christ
Cringe

[Anonymous No.23490388]

>>23489923
>>23489926
>>23489936
I already knew about those books but I still want to thank you for sharing