Beginning the Journey to Catholicism
Dear Catholic Exchange,
I have felt the calling for years now to convert from being raised a Baptist in faith to becoming a Catholic. Please send me information so that I may begin my new life and my new journey!
Thank you,
Lori Mahathy
Congratulations, Lori. Praise God!
The normal process for entering the Church is to go through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). It culminates in the Rite of Baptism and reception into the Church at Easter.
The RCIA, which lasts from roughly September to Easter, introduces you to the basic teachings of the Church and walks you through the various seasons
of the Church calendar. A good RCIA program (and alas, they aren't all good) will probably supply you with a Catechism of the Catholic Church (indispensible for knowing what the Church teaches) and an overview of the Creed (which outlines what we believe), the sacraments (which are the way we worship), the Ten Commandments (which outline what we must do) and the Lord's Prayer (which summarizes how we pray). Don't settle for junk. If you get an RCIA program which neglects to give you the content of the Faith for you to intelligently consider and instead focuses on just making sure everybody believes “whatever feels comfortable for you,” drop it and find another one that actually proposes the fullness of the Faith for you to consider. Check with Catholic Answers for the best RCIA program in your area.
Also, don't hesitate to supplement your education with the following great resources: Peter Kreeft's Catholic Christianity: A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Kreeft is an endlessly fun read, light and accessible. You'll like him. The book is available on Amazon. For a flyover of the basics on how the Catholic Church reads its Bible, I'd recommend our own Mark Shea's Making Senses Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible as the First Christians Did. For a nice introduction to prayer, see Simon Tugwell's delightful Prayer in Practice (also on Amazon).
Also, anything by Scott Hahn, whether book or tape, is well worth your time (including — ahem — our Catholic Scripture Study!). And there's also a wealth of Catholic resources on marriage, child-rearing, work, and most other concievable topics, many of them right here on Catholic Exchange.
But start by contacting Catholic Answers and asking if they can recommend a local parish in your area that has a good RCIA program or some other form of good instruction in the Faith. Blessings on your journey and don't hesitate to write again!
Tom Allen
Editor, President
Catholic Exchange
Thank you
Dear Mark,
I just wanted to drop a quick note to thank you for your simple but deeply beautiful and moving article about our need for Reconciliation and about our constant pattern of falling down and getting back up. I have no means to back this up, but I hope that you never doubt for a moment that you are doing exactly what God wants you to do in proclaiming His Word through your website.
May God bless you and your organization. You make me so happy to be Catholic!
Dan Maier
Dan:
Many thanks for your kind words and your help in our work! It's deeply appreciated!
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
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Marital Chastity
Father Perozich wrote a good article in the Edge section of CE (Clergy and Sexuality) on June 12, 2002. In looking over the Catechism, I see that marital contraception does not appear to be explicitly listed as an offense against chastity (see CCC 2351-2356). Nevertheless, I think that the practice of contraception as an offense against chastity can certainly be inferred. Why do we use phrases like “marital chastity?” I believe that to be understood as a couple not using contraception. All these sins are listed in this same general section of the CCC (Article 6: The Sixth Commandment 2331-2400). The laity must pull their “fair share” of holiness if we are to get out from the mess our Church is in.
Kathryn Groening
Midland, MI
Dear Mrs. Groening,
Your question for Catholic Exchange has been forwarded to us at Catholics United for the Faith. You noted that the Catechism does not mention contraception as an offense against chastity, though it would seem contraceptive intercourse could be inferred. You also asked why we as Catholics use phrases like “marital chastity.” I hope the following provides a sufficient answer to your question.
First, you are correct that contraception can be inferred from the Church’s teaching about offenses to chastity. Specifically, Catechism, no. 2351, teaches:
Lust is disordered desire for or inordinate enjoyment of sexual pleasure. Sexual pleasure is morally disordered when sought for itself, isolated from its procreative and unitive purposes (last emphasis added).
Though there are many ways in which sexual pleasure can be isolated from these two purposes, contraception is certainly significant among them. The Catechism is speaking generally of man and woman, sexuality and chastity, in this passage and does not mention contraception specifically. A few sections later, under the heading of “the fecundity of marriage,” the issue of contraception in the marital act is mentioned (Catechism, nos. 2366-70). The Church does not speak of prohibiting contraception outside of the context of husband and wife, because the “marital” act outside of marriage has already isolated sexual pleasure from its procreative and unitive purposes and is, therefore, “morally disordered.” Why use the phrase “marital chastity”? Chastity is a vocation to which all are called in any state in life. Chastity is defined as “the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being” (Catechism, no. 2337). Chastity does not mean refraining from sexual activity, but the proper expression of sexuality according to our state in life.
Marital chastity would be the proper giving and mastery of our sexuality in a way proper to married love. Marital intercourse that is carried out as an expression of love and mutual self-donation for the building up and strengthening of love, keeps a proper respect for fertility and openness to the gift of new life, is true marital chastity. Anything that offends the gift-character of married love is against marital chastity. One can be married, yet fully unchaste — i.e., lacking the ability to govern the passions and order them to integrality of the self and the gift-character of sexuality. This is why the Pope said some time back that adultery could even be committed between spouses! Jesus said that whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her, commits adultery in the heart (Mt. 5:28). If we consider the definition of lust given in Catechism, no. 2351, this is easy to understand. Lust is always a sexual disorder and does not become justified by marriage.
If one makes of his spouse an object of sexual pleasure, “sought for itself, isolated from its unitive and procreative” aspects, one offends chastity, including marital chastity. I hope this answers your question. If you have further questions about this or any other subject, or if you would like more information about Catholics United for the Faith, you are welcome to call us toll-free at 1-800-693-2484.
Catholics United in the Faith,
David E. Utsler
Information Specialist
