Stuff Catholics Like

Catholics can’t remember anything, God bless us. With great effort and much discipline we can sometimes remember the Gospel until the homily starts, but most of couldn’t guess the number of readings done on Sunday let alone the subject matter. We enjoy Palm Sunday when the Gospel is written out like a play and we have our own part. Because of our bad memories and the importance of tradition in Catholicism, it is imperative that we write down everything. Everything (and in every language). Catholics have Sacred Scripture. Catholics have Canon Law. Catholics have Lectionaries and Sacramentaries. Catholics have encyclopedias and dictionaries. And Catholics have catechisms. Boy do we have catechisms.

A catechism is basically a summary of beliefs, often written in question and answer format. The first Catholic catechism was written after the Council of Trent and was primarily intended for the use of priests in their pastoral duties. Prior to Vatican II (and still widely used today) the Baltimore Catechism was fashionable in First Communion and Confirmation classes. The Baltimore Catechism has the distinction of being one of the few Catholic books capable of sending a chill down some people’s spines by just mentioning the title. True, making children memorize the Faith is probably one of the greatest injustices ever committed by Catholic educators, but even by the 1990’s this book was still used in confirmation classes. The good monsignor leading my class quizzed each teenager with a random question from the catechism.

Monsignor: Who made us?

Tiny Student: God made us.

Monsignor: That’s correct. Now your studies are complete.

This is the stuff Catholic nightmares are made of.

One of the great treasures of the modern church is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This two thousand, eight hundred sixty-five article book sums up the teachings of the Church using the thought of the early church fathers, the doctors of the church, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition and serves as a reminder that Church teaching has remained constant throughout history. Such a great work is deserving of much commentary and Catholics in America can collect many peripherals. We have the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults for those people who still like the question and answer format. My personal favorite is Our Sunday Visitor’s Catechist’s Companion to the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. They had to make this one a coffee table book so they could print the title on it. Other great peripherals include Living the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 100 Activities Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Catholic Catechism.

Aside from official Church catechisms and unofficial add-ons, there are also catechisms penned by people unlike you and me. There are some for kids and teenagers, some for adults, and some for pockets. We also have the Aquinas Catechism and the Penny Catechism (retailing for $4.00). So if you have trouble remembering what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is all about and if the Precepts of the Church are not quite at the tip of your tongue, then get a catechism. You might not know anything, but with the right reference book, you’ll never have to.

Guest post by James Rutherford, General Manager, Aquinas and More Catholic Goods