Question about lack of understanding by Catholics?

Question

When I look at many people raised catholic I realise that most of the sacrements are received prior to any real cognitive understanding.

Baptisim, Communion and Confirmation are typicaly taken prior to being 12 years old. At that age its difficult for many people fully grasp (if you could at any age) the magnitude ad mystery of Salvation through Christ.

People do leave the Catholic church and either stop going or move to a Protestant denomination could it be because they never really get thought the actual meaning of the Mass and what it is for.

I find some protestant denominations a lot more "fun" than mass can be as they are geared more towards our need for entertainment rather than the model that the early apostles would have adopted (mass).

So when people do leave is it because they are not properly understanding their faith and when they return (often as adults) is it because they do. What do you think.

I disagree that Catholics dont have a relationship with Christ. In fact catholics are the only ones who do the ONLY thing Jesus asked us to do for him.

That was to drink his blood and eat his flesh, and before the counter arguments comes, if Jesus was talking figurativly then when everyone walked away he would have said so. He literaly meant to drink his blood and eat his flesh. You cant get closer to him than that.

Astonishing, some of the answers, Who is the crazy guy calling the Catholic church the beast.

I mean come on, its the Church that Jesus founded.

The Baptist, Pentecostal, Anglican etc etc were all founded by men, 1600 years plus after Jesus said You are peter and on this rock I will build my church.

Answer 1

Maybe people leave because they find something that suits their own personalities, whether it be another church, religion, or a personal philosophical position.

Answer 2

The Catholic Church is sorely remiss in providing religious education to Catholics. Additionally, they have many of the worst homilists of all the Christian faiths.

Most of this is understandable; for Catholics the Mass is about the Eucharist more than anything else -- such as the homily.

Many protestant preachers, by contrast, get paid only to preach. So they can be more selective with the people they hire. And if they don't cut it -- they can fire them and hire a better one.

The Catholic priest, by contrast, handles marriages, confessions, annointing the sick, funerals etc. The Mass is just one part of many tasks... so they have a lot less time to devote to the homily.

To the average Joe Catholic--if you are not getting a firm grasp of the subject material from the homily -- where are you getting it from then ? Either you get it from sources on the periphery-- EWTN, books, internet articles etc. Or you don't get it at all; which is often the case.

People have theological questions and no real way to have them answered. They do not understand the Mass--to them, it appears nothing more than a set of monotonous rituals. In the end, they wind up partaking a ceremony that they do not understand. The whole thing feels empty... lifeless and unfulfilling. The exact opposite of what the Church says that Christ is.

So they simply stop attending.

Answer 3

Confirmation is now done at the age of 16, with two years of cathecism required - in which you learn what the holy spirit is, how it will affect you, and all of that good stuff, so when a candidate does get Confirmed, they know what to expect.
(And I read a question about a girl who accepted jesus at 13, and she's not a Catholic.)

Again, prior to be able to take the First Communion, I think four years of study are required.

And I have "grasped the magnitude and mystery of Salvation through Christ", thank you very much.

Furthermore, I do not intend in leaving my Church. Indeed, I find it to be much more free. The Catholic church does have many traditions, rituals and such (I know about the Church's dark history) which I find very much enthralling, since I am attracted to drama and theatrics. I've been only once to a protestant church, and I found no joy in it.


You wrote that Protestant masses " are geared more towards our need for entertainment rather than the model that the early apostles would have adopted". Hmmm...I don't believe that the primary reason for going to church is to be "entertained". If you need to be entertained, then how strong is your belief in god? I also thought that most protestant Christians believe in taking the bible literally, therefore, I figured you'd rather stick to what the "apostles would have adopted" than to be "Let's hold hands and sing songs".
If you want entertainment, go watch a movie, or go to a concert, church is not for that.
But I understand, our culture which has turned into a visual one has made almost everyone crave for "entertainment" - just look at schools (Powerpoints opposed to lectures, etc).

And I do properly understand my faith, and I like it -- thank you very much.

Have a nice day.
-A Catholic

Answer 4

My sentiments precisely. I think we have done a poor job communicating the beauty of our faith. We are finally feeling the reprecussions of poor catechetics and overall bad teaching in seminaries and amongst the faithful since the 60's.

ALSO, our society has become so used to being mindlessly entertained that anything with real substance, ancient beauty, philosophical or mystical wording, etc. just leaves them confused. It is a sad state of affairs because once one properly understands the riches we have in the catholic church, it would be hard to imagine them turning away. I find it abhorant that people would rather go to a church to shout and dance and be entertained for an hour than to participate in the eucharistic assembly that so many martyrs gave their lives for in the early church. (Some) American protestants have turned their religion into a mindless charade of lights and smoke and popular music. All emotion and no substance. If I wanted that, I would go to a circus, thank you very much. BELIEVE ME, even the reformers would be apalled and confused by what some protestant denominations have devolved into! No wonder atheists cannot take such rediculousness seriously, no thinking person can! Jesus did not do a song and dance to entertain the masses, he gave them the truth, the living water and the bread of life.

I for one hope the catholic church NEVER gets into such a state of affairs about the mass. When religion becomes entertainment, it becomes a fraud. It was going downhill for a while but it looks like Benedict XVI is finally making some changes to bring about the more traditional aspects of the mass, I think for the better.

People don't realize that the mass goes back for two milenia right to the apostles and christ. That the very priest offering the mass can be traced right back to those same men by the laying on of hands. TIME FOR A WAKE UP CALL!

Being able to better express and teach our faith and answer questions is the first step, the second is that all good catholics need to witness to the beauty of their faith life, mostly by example.

My rant is now concluded.

^.^

Answer 5

Some of what you said is correct, some of what you said couldn't be more wrong. Let's go through this one piece at a time to see if we can clear things up a bit.

< When I look at many people raised catholic I realise that most of the sacrements are received prior to any real cognitive understanding. Baptisim, Communion and Confirmation are typicaly taken prior to being 12 years old.>>

First, "cognitive understanding" is not an issue. If it was, none of the mentally handi-capped in the world could possibly be saved. Given the mentally handi-capped condition, they are incapable of sinning, thus - they are closer to God than you or me. Cognitive understanding can be a curse as well as an assett.

"Age of Reason" is what I think you meant. And, it is possible for even a toddler to exhibit the ability to reason, at least on some level. A youth who receives their first Holy Communion at the age of seven/eight is perfectly capable of reasoning, and thus believing, that consecrated bread and wine are the Body and Blood of Christ.

Concerning Confirmation: No, typically, one does not receive Confirmation until the age of 17, give or take a year. Clearly one is capable of both cognitive understanding and ability to reason at that age. You should have no objection to one receiving Confirmation at the age of 17.


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It is difficult "at any age". This is why the innocent mind of a child is most apt to accept the Truth behind the Real Presence of the Eucharist (before they become "educated" and proud), so why not instruct them in these precious Truths as youths?


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For some, yes. There are Catholics who do not understand the Mass. Typically, they won't seek to convert. They just stop attending Mass. It's usually those who have forgotten what the Mass is, or have been mislead to believe it is something it is not, that seek to convert.

It is essential that Catholics learn what the Mass is, why the various rituals of the Mass are done, and what they mean, if one is to remain enthusiastic about going to Mass. The Mass is the sort of thing where you get out of it what you put into it. The more one knows about the Mass, the more they can "invest", the bigger the spiritual dividends will be.

I have to agree with you when you say many Catholics don't possess a strong command in understanding the Catholic Mass. However, I can tell you with assurance (because I do attend Mass regularly) that there are many who do understand.


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Again, this goes back to what I just said. A Mass should not have to be made more "entertaining" in order to get people to attend. Those with a solid understanding of Mass find it entertaining enough.

Something tells me, you don't believe the Catholic Mass does not resemble what the Church has adopted from the Apostles. I can assure you that the Mass today does do justice to the Mass held by the Apostles themselves.


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Misunderstandings have less to do with the Mass itself and more to do with other elements of Dogma that are not in sync with one's political persuasions.

And those who do find the Mass "boring" do so because they don't understand the Mass.

I think a lot of this misunderstanding has to do with the idea that. by the time they've completed structured religious education, they think they've learned all there is to learn about the Catholic Church. The fact is, structured religious education does provide the basics, but it also provides the tools for people to do their own self-education in the faith from now on. A lot of people think they already know everything so they don't bother with always trying to learn more about their Faith. After a while, they begin to forget what they've learned and then they don't even know why they bother attending Mass.

The Church is not going to "force" people to keep learning, because such an action would contradict Dogma as it pertains to Freedom of the Will. The Church is there to help anyone and everyone in their journy in the Faith, but the Church waits for those to come to it. The Church does not assert it's will on the lax.

Answer 6

It is sad that despite nearly every parish's frantic efforts to provide abundant education in the Faith there are many "Sunday Catholics" who don't bother to send their kids. The kids show up just often enough to get admitted into First Holy Communion and then vanish for years until it's time for Confirmation classes. Then we see them for a year, they get confirmed and we again are denied their presence except at Christmas and Easter. It's no wonder at all that these sadly ignorant types then leave the Church. After all, they don't have a clue what they're leaving.

And I must clear up a misconception. The Apostles would have wondered at certain parts of the Mass. The part with which they would be most familiar is the Eucharist itself and the homily (sermon or teaching). They'd stare in confusion at the readings from the Old and New Testament. The former because that belongs in their minds to Judaism proper and the latter because those books didn't exist in their time; at least not until they and their disciples wrote them. The Prayer of the Faithful would be different from anything they would have practiced and the Creed would simply floor them since they hadn't yet got around to codifying the new faith.

Answer 7

There are many 'cradle Catholics' who believe that because they were born and raised Catholic that they should be allowed to forgo the normal sacrements the rest of us hold dear.

Part of it has to do with the lack of understanding as it's usually converts who want to learn the faith and understand what the Mass is more than those who were raised Catholic. But I think part of it is also the decrease in a God centered society. Many people believe in God, but they'd rather go somewhere where the pastor knows their name and there's a 'welcoming committee' that makes them feel good.

The Church isn't about feelings, it's about God and the Eucharist. So we lose those who would rather have coffee after service than just leaving after Mass. Yes, we have gatherings after Mass and welcomings for new converts, but the Church refuses to move towards the liberalistic views as a whole, even though there's some churches that do.

Most will return to the Catholic Church because they found the others were truly lacking something they had at first thought nothing of. The friendships only go so far and the Eucharist renews our souls and it is the Eucharist that calls most back to us.

I'm reminded of my father, whom is not Catholic, and step-mother who came home from their church one day mad that there hadn't been coffee afterwards like usual. I was flabberghasted when my step mother said "If they don't have it next week, we're finding a new church."

The social hour was everything to them and attending service was just a bonus, something you had to do to get into that social time.

It's one of the reasons the Catholic Church doesn't broadcast itself to the world. We are here and waiting for those who wish to know more about the True Church, but we will not bribe people into coming.

We come for one thing and that is God. It is in the Mass we find the True Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and the amount of emotions that overwhelm me in His presence dull all others. They are nothing compared to the love I feel during the Mass.

Answer 8

I think that many of them do not understand their faith. They are taken to CCD and Mass every Sunday, but at home no one expresses the importance of living their faith. They are not taught the love and reverence due the Eucharist, the awesome gift of Christ's sacrifice, the importance of obedience etc. Many cradle Catholics are easy targets for the evangelical fundamentalists because they do not understand why Catholics do what they do. The have a vague understanding and can easily be derailed by a Bible-thumper.

As they get out there in the world, experience other churches, many of them do return because they realize the "substance" they knew in the Catholic Church is missing from other gatherings.

And yes, Catholics do have an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus. Nothing is more intimate than the Eucharist. To receive Him body, blood, soul and divinity is as intimate as it gets.

Answer 9

I had a very good "mystagogy"
,sacramental,spiritual,moral ,intellectual and cultural early formation,
so i "got it together" early on and i could experience other Christian( and Jewish) forms of worship without being mislead or tempted seriously to defect from the Catholic Church even with all the problems in the Ark (which was a "floating zoo" after all), which i find the Catholic Church to be

The Charismatic Movement and movements like Life-Teen and liturgical 'rites' like the Byzantine or Tridentine or Anglican Use RC can offer in the Catholic Church everything psitive that I have found in the other churches which latter i still love and value.

One does have to seach out a lot in the Church but we should not be spiritually lazy.

Answer 10

It takes more than simply knowing Jesus is the Messiah to be saved; even the Evil One knows Who Christ is.

The Bible and the Catholic Church don't separate the "works of faith," preceded and caused by grace, from salvation . You can have all the faith in the world, enough to move mountains, but if you don't have charity, you are nothing.

The Catholic Church and Her Bible condemn the idea that one can work his way to Heaven on his own merit or that God "owes" a person for doing the right things.

All our works get their merit only from Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf. We can do "works" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for the rest of our lives, but without Christ's grace, they are nothing. Works have no merit in themselves -- and faith without works is not enough. We are saved by grace alone -- a grace that we accept neither "by faith alone" nor "by works alone," but "by faith that works in charity" (Galatians 5:6).

Answer 11

Disagree; He gave us the '2 or more witnesses' principle (Jews Deut. 10-20, Christians Matt. 18:16, 2 Cor.13:1). He also told us to go by his word (not Satan's) (Jews Joshua 1, Christians 2 Tim. 3:16-17). Applied; The scriptural old testament is not Genesis-Malachi, but the law of Moses. That concept is not limited to Catholic or Protestant here on Earth past (roughly 2000 years) or present.