Let me repeat…
Repetita iuvant! Repeated things help!
Repetitio mater discendi! Repetition is the mother of learning!
Changing the image a bit… Si vis pacem, para bellum! If you want peace, prepare for war.
A couple weeks ago in Rome I attended the presentation of Bp. Athanasius Schneider’s catechism entitled Credo: Compendium of the Catholic Faith published by Sophia Institute Press.
At the end of his talk at the presentation, Bp. Schneider said:
Let us humbly ask the Lord to grant us through the intercession of our Lady the grace to be able to say, “I know my Catholic Faith. I will not permit to be confused. For the sake of this Faith I am ready to die.”
“I know my Catholic Faith.”
“I will not permit myself to be confused.”
Do you know your Catholic Faith?
If you are disturbed, confused by what you see going on in the Church and in the world, perhaps also in your smaller world of your family and other relationships, take steps. I wrote about this longer HERE. One of those steps must be to learn and review your Catholic Faith. Use can use any good, time-proven catechisms – Bp. Schneider mentioned the Baltimore Catechism – as well as new tools from reliable sources such as this new compendium.
Here’s a little challenge. Find someone to do this with. Find online the Baltimore Catechism and quiz each other. It is Q&A format. Once upon a time students had to memorize the answers. Perhaps you did! If you don’t get the exact wording right, okay. Did you get the concept right? Quick! Can you name the attributes of the Church? [Inspired by another post!]
Repetita iuvant! Repeated things help!
Repetitio mater discendi! Repetition is the mother of learning!
Si vis pacem, para bellum! If you want peace, prepare for war!
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Ah! We just purchased this book through your Amazon link, Fr. Z. We’re so glad we purchased it. We lost confidence in the previous Catechism, and don’t have the Baltimore, so all things considered it seemed like a good idea to have something current. The book is sturdy, weighty, with lots of information and the question and answer format which is user-friendly. The answers are to the point, so you’re reading brief, clear answers to relevant Catholic questions, not long, involved passages. It seems a great resource for any time but especially confusing times.
If anyone reading this is like me, here’s a reminder to please use Fr Z’s Amazon link.
Strangely enough, one of the very few things that brings me comfort is the quote of Saint Padre Pio (yes, yes, he was rigid ?) to a young Father Gabriele Amorth that in a very short order, Satan would ascend to the heights of the Church and rule the false Church.
“One, holy, catholic and apostolic.”
Catholic trivial pursuit cards are available from Angelus Press. Fun and educational.
HERE
I have unbounded respect for Bishop Schneider. I cannot however agree with how he treated the issue of the morality of vaccines (Nos. 499-503). The statements on the issue create the impression that it is sinful to knowingly receive any “abortion-tainted” vaccine “however remote the original abortion,” and no matter what the degree to which the vaccine is needed or the nature of the link between the vaccine and abortion. The statements are too broad and vague to present as a consensus teaching of the Catholic Church.
A good review of the good bishop’s Credo was published over at Crisis today:
https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/a-catechism-to-reclaim-catechisms
Also recommended: Vol 3 and Vol 4 of the Baltimore Catechism from Baronius Press. Extra text, more explanation, but concise words that fit in my brain, and easily pop out during prayer.
Highly recommended.
https://www.baronius.com/baltimore-catechism-no-4.html
_Once upon a time students had to memorize the answers. Perhaps you did!_
All the kids in our parish still do.
@donato2
The moral law doesn’t function based on consensus.
One cannot morally profit from a known evil action. However, there is a distinction between direct participation in evil and remote participation in evil. The greater the remote participation the less culpability, or the more the sin of participation transitions away from moral and into degrees of venial sin. The venial sin, though, never fully goes away to something morally neutral- there is still participation in the evil action and a debt of justice incurred and owed.
We are constantly participating in thousands of actions of remote participation in evil throughout our days, some knowingly, some knowingly. If we knew though, truly knew, we wouldn’t be able to stop weeping for each one of those Christ took upon Himself on the Cross to pay the affront to the Father. That is the depth of Christ’s love for us, the reality of the horror of sin and how it propagates like ripples from a stone cast into a calm lake.
We do what we can. We are obligated to know the moral law (which is written upon our hearts) and to act accordingly. People don’t like the vaccine issue primarily because either 1.) they are morally wounded 2.) “bodily health/health of the social organism” is seen as superseding spiritual health. 3.) They want Christian morality to not cost much.
Now, again, we do what we can. Strive for holiness. Heroic virtue is not impossible; we are all called to be saints. Shun great evil. Avoid lesser evils according to one’s strength. Practice the presence of Christ. Look always to the Mass to see Christ, both priest and victim who paid for all the countless sins, mortal and venial, and who restores us to the Father, by the Spirit, where there will be no more of this confusion and this mixture of wheat and tears in our actions.
Because I have the grace and privilege to self-catechize through the Catholic homeschooling of our children (God really knows what He’s doing and Deo gratias for MODG school!), I had to find a way to bring my husband gently into the loop. We are both victims of 80s catechism, meaning none, or worse, counter to the faith. Voice of the Family family catechism is a beautiful program, free, and we turned it into a family night with pizza, so it’s something to look forward to. It’s the Baltimore Catechism, beautifully explained.
https://voiceofthefamily.com/join-our-new-family-catechism-programme-become-crusaders-for-christ/
Still not available from Amazon UK. :-(
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Lurker 59, I did not say, nor do I believe, that the moral law functions on the basis of consensus. My post concerns what the content of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church in fact is.
I have purchased this excellent compendium not because I heard good reviews but quite the opposite. Michael Lofton of Reason and Theology has taken to criticize Bishop Schneider in regards to what is said on Baptism. He also thinks, among other things, that Bishop Schneider is borderline schismatic. I just don’t understand. He labels any bishop that presents a dubia to the Pope a schismatic and worse, being led by Satan.
I just realized that I erred in my above comment. I named the Four Marks of the Church not the attributes as Father remarked on. Thank you Father Z for not bringing my error to public attention.
The Attributes of the Church are Authority, Infallibility and Indefectibility. Now, it’s back to studying!
Fr. Ó Buaidhe: You might be able to order the book if you go to Amazon’s USA website and have it shipped to a UK address. I have done the inverse: ordering from the UK website and having a book shipped to a USA address.