It's Caeruleus!

[Caeruleus]

Or just Caer I guess...

Hi, my name is Caeruleus, caer for short. It means sea green in Latin. One of the few words my dad taught me. I live in Austin, TX.

My grandma is very religious, she has been a Baptist for her whole life (although she recently started visiting a Pentecostal church with her brother and her brother's wife). My mom isn't religious. She's not atheist, but she doesn't go to a church or follow any particular religion. My dad is religious in spurts, like, he'll take us to church for a couple of weeks then stop for a few months.

Recently I have become interested in religions, so I bought a few world religion books, and Christianity really popped out to me. I read The Complete Idiots Guide to Christianity, just to get my feet wet, you know? A couple religions have popped out to me; Catholicism, Episcopalian, and Methodist. The only church I have been to is a Baptist one, and my mom wants to take me to a Methodist one (she's trying to get back into religion, a whole other story).

So I was wondering, for those of you who are Catholic/Episcopalian, can I visit a church? What goes on in Mass? I have seen Mass on Christmas day, at the Vatican, on TV. Do I need to know the Lord's Prayer (I'm working on it)? Where do I get a Rosary (I have see them for sale at the mall, but I have seen people get them at their Church).

My last question (sorry for all the questions!) how do I break it to my family that I want to learn about Catholicism? For some reason my Dad and Grandma have some inherent hate of Catholicism. We were at the book store and I was looking at a book about Saints, then she said, "Oh, you don't want that, it's a book for Catholics." What's so wrong with Catholicism?!?!

Thanks!
Caer

 

[handy]

Hi Caer, it's good to have you here. There are Catholics here, and there are those who disagree with the Catholic doctrines regarding Christianity. By some careful reading, asking questions and searching the Scriptures, you may be able to get some of your questions answered. Whether you decide that the Lord is leading you to Catholism or not, you'll have better understanding of some of the issues that folks have on both sides, and perhaps can understand your Dad and Grandmother's point of view.

 

[Vic C.]

caer, welcome to the Forums. :D

 

[OnFireForChrist]

Hello Caeruleus! I'm new, too. :D
Well, I know of a few good Catholic authors that might interest you. GK Chesterton is very good--his work "The Everlasting Man" helped inspire CS Lewis to convert to Christianity! He has hundreds of books. If you want to understand the Mass, I recommend Scott Hahn's works. Also, probably a good idea to get a Catechism if you are really serious.
I also am learning about Catholicism. :wink: You can visit any Catholic Church whenever they are saying Mass. They have various parts of the Mass which I'm learning about, but it is all very interesting.
You can probably buy a Rosary at a Christian or Catholic bookstore, but if you don't have one near you, you can go to http://www.ewtn.com and go to their gift shop thing and look for one there. It also probably has other Catholic things.
It is probably a good idea to know the Lord's Prayer--it is said during the Mass before communion. ;)
I'll pray for your family so that they can be more understanding. I don't know exactly what to tell you there. They may not accept it at all, so it will be hard to tell them.
Anyway, nice to meet you! May God bless you in your faith journey! ;)