| |
| |
Introduction | |
| |
| |
About This Book | |
| |
| |
Conventions Used in This Book | |
| |
| |
Foolish Assumptions | |
| |
| |
How This Book Is Organized | |
| |
| |
Icons Used in This Book | |
| |
| |
Where to Go from Here | |
| |
| |
Getting Familiar with the Basics | |
| |
| |
What It Means to Be Catholic | |
| |
| |
What Exactly Is Catholicism Anyway? | |
| |
| |
The General Ground Rules | |
| |
| |
Celebrating Year-Round | |
| |
| |
Understanding the Four Marks of the Church | |
| |
| |
Membership Has Its Privileges | |
| |
| |
Who's Who in the Catholic Church | |
| |
| |
Getting to Know the Pope | |
| |
| |
Who's Next in the Ecclesiastical Scheme of Things | |
| |
| |
Understanding All Those Beliefs | |
| |
| |
Ya Gotta Have Faith | |
| |
| |
How Do You Know If You Have Faith? | |
| |
| |
Having Faith in Revelations | |
| |
| |
Seeking the Truth | |
| |
| |
Believing in Jesus | |
| |
| |
Understanding Jesus, the God-Man | |
| |
| |
Looking At the Gospel Truth | |
| |
| |
Dealing with Heresy and Some Other $10 Words | |
| |
| |
Worshipping Catholic Style | |
| |
| |
Getting Body and Soul into the Act | |
| |
| |
Understanding Some Symbols and Gestures | |
| |
| |
Sensing God | |
| |
| |
The Seven Sacraments | |
| |
| |
The Sacraments of Initiation | |
| |
| |
Come On in--the Water's Fine | |
| |
| |
The Holy Eucharist | |
| |
| |
Coming of Age: Confirmation | |
| |
| |
The Sacraments of Community and Mercy | |
| |
| |
The Sacraments of Community | |
| |
| |
The Sacraments of Mercy | |
| |
| |
Celebrating the Catholic Mass | |
| |
| |
What Exactly Is the Mass? | |
| |
| |
The Two Parts of the Mass | |
| |
| |
Vatican II and Latin | |
| |
| |
Dressing for the Occasion | |
| |
| |
Spiritual Seasons of the Year | |
| |
| |
Behaving Like a Saint | |
| |
| |
Catholic Law 101 | |
| |
| |
Following the Eternal Law of God | |
| |
| |
Playing by the Rules | |
| |
| |
Loving and Honoring: The Ten Commandments | |
| |
| |
Demonstrating Love for God | |
| |
| |
Loving Your Neighbor | |
| |
| |
Coming Out Even Steven | |
| |
| |
Being Good When Sinning Is So Easy | |
| |
| |
Cultivating Good Habits | |
| |
| |
The Seven Deadly Sins | |
| |
| |
The Church's Stand on Some Sticky Issues | |
| |
| |
Celibacy and the Male Priesthood | |
| |
| |
Matters of Life and Death | |
| |
| |
Planning Your Family Naturally | |
| |
| |
Practicing Catholicism through Devotions | |
| |
| |
Showing Your Love for God | |
| |
| |
Going Beyond Your Basic Duty | |
| |
| |
Running the Gamut of Devotions | |
| |
| |
Expressing Affection for Mary | |
| |
| |
No, Catholics Don't Worship Mary | |
| |
| |
The Official Scoop on Mary | |
| |
| |
Up Close and Personal with Mary | |
| |
| |
Calling on the Canonized | |
| |
| |
Having a Place in the Hearts of Catholics | |
| |
| |
Honoring God's Good Friends | |
| |
| |
It's All about Intercession | |
| |
| |
Recognizing a Saint | |
| |
| |
The Communion of Saints | |
| |
| |
A Saint for Every Day of the Year | |
| |
| |
Catholic Traditions | |
| |
| |
Adoring the Blessed Sacrament | |
| |
| |
Religious Processions | |
| |
| |
Meatless Fridays | |
| |
| |
The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy | |
| |
| |
The Scoop on Sacramentals | |
| |
| |
The Part of Tens | |
| |
| |
Ten Famous Catholics | |
| |
| |
Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997) | |
| |
| |
Pope John Paul II (1920- ) | |
| |
| |
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979) | |
| |
| |
Mother Angelica (1923- ) | |
| |
| |
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) | |
| |
| |
Alfred E. Smith (1873-1944) | |
| |
| |
Father Edward Flanagan (1886-1948) | |
| |
| |
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) | |
| |
| |
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874-1936) | |
| |
| |
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) | |
| |
| |
Ten Popular Catholic Saints | |
| |
| |
St. Peter (Died around A.D. 64) | |
| |
| |
St. Jude (Died during first century A.D.) | |
| |
| |
St. Benedict (480-543) | |
| |
| |
St. Dominic de Guzman (1170-1221) | |
| |
| |
St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) | |
| |
| |
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) | |
| |
| |
St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) | |
| |
| |
St. Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879) | |
| |
| |
St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897) | |
| |
| |
St. Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968) | |
| |
| |
Ten Popular Catholic Places | |
| |
| |
The Basilica de Guadalupe | |
| |
| |
San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy | |
| |
| |
The Basilica of Czestochowa, Poland | |
| |
| |
The Basilica of Lourdes, France | |
| |
| |
Fatima, Portugal | |
| |
| |
Rome | |
| |
| |
The Cathedral of Notre Dame | |
| |
| |
The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception | |
| |
| |
The Minor Basilica of Saint Anne de Beaupre | |
| |
| |
The Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament | |
| |
| |
Appendixes | |
| |
| |
A Brief History of Catholicism | |
| |
| |
Ancient Times (A.D. 33-741) | |
| |
| |
The Middle Ages (A.D. 800-1500) | |
| |
| |
The Reformation to the Modern Era (1517-Today) | |
| |
| |
Fun Facts for the Faithful | |
| |
| |
All the Popes | |
| |
| |
Solemnities, Feasts, and Memorials for the Year | |
| |
| |
Index | |