someone explain wat being catholic means?

Question

well im currently an athiest trying to find religion..
im going to this catholic summer camp and i dont want to seem completely lost..
i know nothing about christianity watsoever exept that there was a guy named jesus...
in a couple paragraphs can somebody PLEASE explain to me being catholic...the foundation and basics of teh religion

Answer 1

Catholicism is an ancient yet modern faith full of very holy people and very human (read sometimes foolish and bad) people.

It's kind of like chess, you can learn the basics in an hour and not delve into the farthest depths of faith in an entire lifetime.

"Come and see."

A summary of Catholic beliefs is contained in the Nicene Creed (from the year 325):

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

For a complete description of what Catholics believe, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/index.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Funny story, I was in your situation when I was a kid. I wasn't Catholic but I went to Catholic school so I know what you’re going through. I have to break your question into two parts 1) your search for religion and 2) Catholic beliefs.

1) Your search for religion

While I did go to Catholic school I don't agree with many of the teachings of the Catholic Church. Many of my problems come from the fact that the Catholic Church teaches some things are not found in the Bible but are rather tradition. I believe that the Bible should be the only basis for religion, because this is what Jesus taught Mark 7:6-8. I have many other problems with the Catholic Church that would take a while to explain. I am a Seventh-Day Adventist; obviously I am going to encourage you to look at my religion. My advice to someone who is trying to find religion is pray a simple prayer “God help me find the truth, Amen” and read the Bible for yourself, don't let people tell you what they think it says, no matter if they are a priest or pastor. if it's not in the Word it shouldn't be heard. Compare the teachings of the church to the Bible. Look for the truth and stick with it even if it is not popular or convenient.

2) Catholic beliefs
Jesus is the Son of God
He was born to the Virgin Mary
Jesus died on Good Friday and rose Easter Sunday
He ascended into Heaven on Pentecost
Catholics believe in Heaven Hell and purgatory
Every Sunday they go to mass and have communion
They believe that in communion it actually becomes the body and blood of Christ
They confess their sins to a priest
They sometimes use the rosary (a necklace made of beads with a cross at the end) when they pray

What worked for me when I went to Catholic School was watch what everyone else does. A lot of what goes on repeats itself so after a lit bit you get the pattern. My experience is that many young people don’t know much about what they believe so with the basics you should be alright.

Let me know if this helps. If you have any questions you can e-mail me, just put Conundrum in the subject

Hope this helps


This is a link to my Church's website
http://www.adventist.org/

Answer 3

You will definitively the following three websites. I refer to them all the time when answering Catholic related question.

The first is www.scripturecatholic.com. This website contains a rundown of basic Catholic beliefs and lists the biblical citations and explanations for them. It also contains excerpts of the writings of the Church Fathers.

The next one is http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm. This is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. 'Catechism' means 'teaching'. It covers everything and it is written in layman's terms so it is easy to understand.

The third is www.catholic.com This is a webiste of, by , and for Catholic Apologetics. They do a great job explaining misconceptions about the Catholic Faith, as they are very, very, good at explaining doctrine.

If you feel really ambitious, you might want to take a look at the 1983 Code of Canon Law. This isn't anything lay Catholics are required to know, but in my opinion, if you were to familiarize yourself wih Canon Law, you'd be one of a few. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_INDEX.HTM.

No doubt, as you become more familiar with the Catholic Church, you will hear about certain encyclicals or proclaimations, etc. They are all available at vatican.va.

If it is basics you want, scripturecatholic, should be your first stop. The Catechism is a must. It's big but there's a wealth of information in there.

I know I just passed on a boat load of reading material. Whatever you do, don't feel discouraged or overburdened by it all. The basics will take you no time at all. As for the rest, you have the rest of your life to educate yourself. The more you know, the more confident you will become in knowing that the Catholic Church is the One True Faith. And that will make you a better Catholic.

I'm very fond of converts, by the way. They often have more zeal and appriciation for their faith than many life-long Catholics do.

Good luck and God Bless.

Answer 4

First of all you need to see for yourself that the religion is good or bad .when they preach to you make sure that what they are saying is coming from the bible,and not just talk.their is a lot of religions out there we don't know which one is right.but for one thing I'm for sure is that catholics are the number one that is false.I'm not sure if you know the ten commandments,but the catholics worship grave images,one of GODS laws forbid that .that's why i can truly say that they are false.you may want to look more into the bible or try other religions and you will see for yourself which one you think is correct.just have faith in GOD and you must believe that JESUS died for our sins,which to through JESUS you get to know GOD,I hope that you find the true God or even just by you reading everyday and studying the bible you yourself will take in the knowledge of GOD and his son JESUS Christ,don't just go by what people say,research and have faith,ask question when you don't understand but check the bible to make sure that its correct.because the bible says "beware of the false Prophets",read Luke chapter 6,the .whole chapter.it tells about happiness and the Golden rule.also judging others and known by their fruits

Answer 5

God created the universe, and the earth, and all life.
God created man special, "in his image"
Man wanted to be God, and sinned by disobeying God
All the human problems in the world are because of man wanting more than he should
God gave man laws to follow, through Moses, to get back on track.
Man didn't follow the laws (10 commandments)
God came down as a man, Jesus, to save us from ourselves.
Jesus became a man through being born to a virgin, Mary
We, wanting to be God, killed Jesus by crucifying him on a cross.
God brought Jesus back to life.
Jesus had followers, who spread his message of love.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help his followers until the end of time.
God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit, are all One. This is known as the Trinity.
We are "saved", and will live forever with God, after death, by believing in Jesus as our Savior.
Jesus' followers organized themselves into a church.
That church has existed since the time of Jesus, historically.
That church is the Catholic Church.
Jesus told us the most basic formulation of our religion is:
"Love God before all else, and love your neighbor as yourself."

Christianity, and Catholicism, in a nutshell.

Answer 6

properly that could be a Christian answer lol. Our purpose on earth is in certainty to deliver glory to god, help others to god, and go away the international a extra constructive place than once you purchased there. We have been made in god's image we are no longer his "toys" we are his infants. you will desire to understand that God probable does not sense lonesome lol. Sorry 'bout the religious answer lower back. edit- properly i do no longer relatively think of that anybody on earth top now can answer that question, dude. i do no longer think that god can administration human beings. all of us have loose will and if by using human beings affected by terrorist assaults and such properly than that grew to become into the determination made by using those terrorists and not something would desire to be carried out. yet contained related to a disease? properly, all i'd desire to furnish is the conventional "possibly it grew to become into their time to circulate..."

Answer 7

Search on Wikipedia for catholicism.

If I were you, I would try to learn to be a little bit more respectful. "A guy named Jesus" may sound offensive to some Catholics.

Answer 8

Being Catholic means being nasty M-Sat and holy and repenting on Sunday.