Customer Reviews

Handbook for Today's Catholic: Fully Indexed to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (A Redemptorist Pastoral Publication)

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This little volume has sold over 5 Million copies in four different editions since 1978. It is indexed to the Catechism written in easy to read language. This book is clear, concise and coherent. It looks at major doctrine's of the Catholic faith, traditions and practices as well as a section on traditional prayers. It has easy to implement ideas for how to integrate your faith into day-to-day life.

The book is composed of 4 sections:

1. Beliefs

2. Practices

3. Prayers

4. Living the Faith


This is one of those little books you will reference again and again.

Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Liguori Publications; Revised edition (June, 2004)
ISBN: 0764812203

11/12/05
I think this book was a very helpful and concise overview of the Catholic faith. It presents the traditional faith in modern language heavily citing and referencing the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It's lite reading for the initiated Catholic and might be superfluous. It is good for a refresher on the core tenets of the faith. Good for the inquiring Protestant.

It contains a useful resource on the go. It has the basic prayers, as well as useful lists such as the Beattitudes, the Precepts of the Church, The Corporal Works of Mercy, or the Spiritual Works. It contains a very useful method of meditation. It also gives a concise guideline to a proper confession.

I found it to be an easy read, but not very challenging. All in all, pretty good booklet.

God Bless,
Laurence

Would you like an easy reference for someone who would like to see the beliefs of the Catholic Church in summary form, read the texts of the prayers Catholics frequently use, and get a brief introduction to some of the spiritual practices Catholics employ? I've given this to RCIA candidates interested in joining, Catholic parents with children now wanting to revitalize their religious roots, and individuals totally unfamiliar with Catholic ways who would like a first glimpse.

This short book provides a very basic overview of Catholicism for the RCIA catechist, the curious or the Catholic who would like to reconnect with their faith. The writing style is very easy reading, and the book contains all the basic prayers, terms, devotions, theology, beliefs and information that the introductory seeker would want to see. The caveat is that this book is not a substitute for the "big" catechism, and the information it contains lacks deep explaination. It is probably best seen as a gateway book to more study and a lifetime of exploration, and not a destination itself.

We use this booklet in our Rite of Christian Initiation sessions. The RCIA is the way adults are initiated into the Catholic Faith. The booklet is given as a independant information resource for our initiation sessions.

A friend gave me this book back in 1998, when I was Protestant and just asking some questions about Catholicism for another friend. This was an earlier version of the book, of course. Reading this I realized that most of my assumptions about Catholicism were wrong, and this started me on a spiritual journey of my own. The first part has brief explanations of Catholic beliefs that are just long enough to give a glimpse of the beauty of the faith. Since it is indexed to the Catecism, I was able to read more about topics of interest. I joined the Catholic Church in 2000, and I'm very thankful for this little introduction and the friend that provided it.