The Catholic Christian lifestyle

Icemoon SG

This is a sharing topic and has none of the debating flavor familiar in other topics.

The purpose is for the reader to know more about the Catholic spiritual lifestyle. We are not interested in how frequent they read their bible in private, we are interested in their public spiritual lifestyle, like mass, catechism class, activities in Vatican-sanctioned organisations (sorry, can't find a better word) ..

I suspect many Protestants are ignorant of Catholic practices, like what Catholics do during the Mass. So this is a good time to know.

Catholics, care to share?

Icemoon SG

I attended Mass and made some observations. These were a few months back. If anyone dunno where to start, can use my points as a guide.

1. I was quite surprised as the Sunday Mass I attended is only 1 hr?! Shorter than most, if not all, Protestant services .. haha

2. At the entrance, we had to take this book entitled "Misal" (spelling is wrong, can someone correct me?). It is interesting if you contrast the practices in different kind of churches. In churches like city harvest, new creation etc. you enter the service with NO book. Bible dun count. In traditional churches, you take the book of hymns at the entrance. And we have this "Misal" for RC Mass.

And so, here comes the first question. How do Catholics use this "Misal" book? I think it is according to week of year, but I think it has a book A, B and C at the same time. The one I took was a book C.

And so I went through the whole service.

3. Of course I skipped the eucharist. The eucharist was another eye opener for me. You see, in Protestant churches, you sat on your chair or bench waiting to be served (nay, actually they pass the bread and wine around). But for the RCs, they actually queued up to take the bread and wine! Luckily there were a few queues, or the Mass will be longer than 1 hour .. haha

Icemoon SG

Here is the second question.

I like never hear b4 Catholics have cell group. So do they have one? They give me the impression, once Mass is over, they zao4 liao. Once Mass is over, some of them may pray? (dangerous word to use here, may cause misunderstanding again) to the statue outside the Hall. Some may do that inside the Hall. But within I think half an hour, the church will be without a soul .. haha .. car park also empty liao.

I contrast this with Protestant churches. In smaller churches, after service is over in the morning or noon, you join your cell group for fellowship. I'm speaking from the perspective of youths, or young adults. Some may have duties like looking after the children ministry, but generally they don't zao4 after service. In bigger churches like chc, they get together on another day, like for the sat evening service for chc, can't expect them to fellowship to midnight right .. lol

Icemoon SG

The third question is, how many RCs here actually belong to Catholic sanctioned organizations? Apologies for the poor choice of word here.

I mean orgs like Opus Dei, Legion of Mary etc.

I find Opus Dei, made famous by Dan Brown, interesting. Been to their HQ outside NUS Biz School. Was quite surprised they actually segregated their male and female members.

SingaporeMacross SG

Whassup...

Which church did you go to? Oh yeah, Mass on weekdays is only half and hour.

1) It's spelt 'Missal'. Basically we rotate between Years A,B,C. So next year will be year A. Why the difference? Every year we use a different Gospel for Gospel readings.

2) The Catholic concept of Eucharist is vastly different from the Protestant one. The word 'Transubstantiation' may be familiar to you. Hence we Catholics have great reverence for the Eucharist, and it is good to prepare oneself mentally before recieving Him. That's why there is no rush to recieve Communion.

3) The concept of cell group is not alien to the Catholic Church. Some parishes have a system of Neighbourhood Groups, where parishioners are happy to come together once a week to have fellowship. There are also the Small Christian Communities, which are essentially Catholic cell groups. See whether one wants to join or not lah...

4) Yeah, it is dangerous to say that Catholics pray to statues. It has been explain countless times that we do not pray to statues. Merely, we use them to aid us in prayer. You can see quite a number coming before Mass to pray and staying after Mass as well. You notice that in all the Catholic Churches that there is a tabernacle near the altar? Well, I need not say what is in there. It is highly desirable to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, whether exposed in a monstrance or reserved in the tabernacle. Of course, this devotion is constantly being attacked by the Churchs numerous detractors. They call us idolaters and satanists. Too bad they are missing out on what God has kept for them.

5) I am from the Legion of Mary. It is every Catholics responsibility to take part in a ministry, whether in these sanctioned organisations, or in the parish communitys apostolates.

Honeybunz SG

Ok, lemme see how much I can answer tonight (sorry har... mentally stressed today, but will try my best)

Yes, most Sunday Masses last for only 1 hour or slightly more. Only when there is some special occasions like baptism or confirmation during the Mass that the service last for two hours or so.

I don't think it is a must to keep within 1 hour. But if you notice, there are a lot of Masses going on every Sunday to cater for the huge population. So we cannot have 2 hour Mass every time. Keeping it within 1 hour will allow the church to hold at least 3 Masses on every Sunday.

As for Protestant ones, I have attended the 1-hour service as well in a Presbyterian Church. They also have two hours service and this is because this service caters for different languages group. Thus they need a interpreter to translate the sermon, from Mandarin to Hokkien.

Same thing in Methodist Church also. Not sure about Anglican though. Should be the same.

Icemoon SG

Need not be 1 hour. You know the population of CHC? Their service, Ito can confirm, is definitely more than 1 hour. Bet. 1.5 to 2 bah.

Wah leow .. got 1 hour service in Protestant church? 1 hour do what siah? Sing 2 hymns then short sermon then end liao?

Icemoon SG

Ya, I almost forgot the name .. haha

I remember my experience in Opus Dei. Cool! They have this small air con room where they put the Blessed Sacrament. It is in a tabernacle, like a mini ark of the convenant liddat. Then got I think 2 candles? beside. Everything looks so golden.

You can smell the aroma from the candles. Cool

SingaporeMacross SG

There are always candles burning beside a tabernacle. It signifies that God is there.

We Catholics have made use of this kind of imagery to inspire the imagination. Can you feel it, even a bit?

Honeybunz SG

Originally posted by Icemoon:

2. At the entrance, we had to take this book entitled "Misal" (spelling is wrong, can someone correct me?). It is interesting if you contrast the practices in different kind of churches. In churches like city harvest, new creation etc. you enter the service with NO book. Bible dun count. In traditional churches, you take the book of hymns at the entrance. And we have this "Misal" for RC Mass.

And so, here comes the [b]first question. How do Catholics use this "Misal" book? I think it is according to week of year, but I think it has a book A, B and C at the same time. The one I took was a book C.
[/b]

Missal, in the Roman Catholic Church, is a liturgical book containing all instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Masses throughout the year. The Roman Missal (Missale Romanum) published by Pope Pius V in 1570, eventually replaced the widespread use of different missals by each episcopal see. Missals are now published first in Latin and from this definitive text translations are made into native languages. The first complete translation of the Missal into English took place between 1969 and 1970 when the Order of Mass was reformed by Pope Paul VI (1963-7 Cool . The word 'Missal', like Mass, is taken from the Latin missa, meaning 'sent'. In the United States, the word 'Sacramentary' is used though this has been criticised by the Vatican as a sacramentary is a book containing the order of all the Sacraments, not just Mass.

The Mass will be conducted using the text according to the week no. The sermon and hymns will be revolve around the topic in the text.

Book A B and C.... these three books are rotated every year. This year C, then next year A and go on

Honeybunz SG

Icemoon SG

Interesting .. so I can confirm the Mass I went was this year.

SingaporeMacross SG

What else can I talk about...Ah yes, Cathecism classes.

Cathecism classes are usually for the kids and the teenagers. The kids in primary school prepare for their first reconcilliation (confession) and their first holy communion. The teenagers prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Depending on the parish, they may be confirmed in sec 2,3 or sometimes even 4.

Unconfirmed adult Catholics will go for adult confirmation classes. It is prerequisite for all Catholics to be confirmed before getting married.

Those interesting in joining the faith can take part in the RCIA, Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. These classes are conducted by laymen and priests. They will be given instruction on the faith. Along their journey, they will have a sponsor, a practising Catholic who will guide them along the way.