Customer Reviews

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

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The Handbook for Today's Catholic is a wonderful resource for those who wish to learn more about their Catholic faith, and have a hard time reading through the Universal Catechism of the Catholic Church (which is not light reading). This handbook is fully indexed to the Catechism, which affords an easy read along with the exact wording of the Catholic Church.

The handbook is broken down into four sections. The first section is entitled "Beliefs" and gives a quick review of all the essential doctrine and dogma of the Church. The second section is entitled "Practices" and reviews the commandments, the precepts of the Church, the sacraments, liturgical seasons, etc. The third section is entitled "Prayers" and lists a number of more often used prayers by Catholics. It also has an explanation and review of community prayer and meditative prayer, along with suggestions for how to successfully employ meditative prayer. The final section is entiled "Living the Faith in the Spirit of Vatican II" and talks about how Catholics are a the living embodiment of God here on earth. We are God's people, and accordingly, we should act like it. It talks about God in Scripture, how we worship as a community through the Liturgy and the Sacraments, how we are stewards of God's property, how we are to deal with vocations, social justice issues and evangelization.

Overall it is a very thorough book, and covers the essentials in a condensed form in such a way that no other book to date has been able to do. If you are a Catholic who truly wishes to know more about your Catholic faith, this is an excellent book to study and meditate on. If you are a non-Catholic and wish to learn about the Catholic Church, you can turn to this book for some straight-forward and easy answers.

When I decided to join the Catholic Church, the first thing my priest gave me was this handbook. It is a crash-course on what it means to be Catholic. The book is divided into four sections: Beliefs, Practices, Prayers, and Living the Faith in the Spirit of Vatican II.

The Beliefs section covers the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Mary, the Church, Sin, Scripture, Tradition, the nature of Revelation, the Sacraments, and more. Grace, the Theological Virtues, and our final destiny, which includes Church teaching on issues like Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, are all explained in plain English.

The Practices section includes Church Precepts, Holy Days of Obligation, Proper Confession, Worthy Reception of Communion, Works of Mercy, and many more practices and customs all Catholics should know about. I learned the most from this section, because my educational background prepared me for much of the theology of the Church, but not all of her practices and customs.

The Prayer section contains common Catholic prayers and creeds. These include the Lord?s Prayer, the Rosary, the Apostle?s Creed, Grace before meals, Thanksgiving after meals, and virtually all the major prayers Catholics usually know and love. There is also a short explanation on how to pray the Rosary, although the luminous mysteries are not included because they are too new.

The last section, Living the Faith in the Spirit of Vatican II, explains the way Catholic faith and values affect our lives. We are called to live the faith, not just mentally assent to it. Serving God in our state of life, Meeting God in the Scriptures, and Respect for Other Faiths are some of the topics covered. Evangelization is also discussed, and we are reminded that we Catholics are called to share our faith regularly, in word and deed.

Overall, this is a great resource for those exploring the Catholic Church, those joining, or for long-term members who need a concise handy source of important Catholic beliefs, prayers and customs. I have greatly benefited from this handbook.

Getting started again and need a good reference that is both portable and useful? This is the book you need. It's not too big and supplies the basics you need for getting started again, or just starting out even. I don't have the memory of an elephant and have to "freshen up" on a few of the prayers and practices I have become a little fuzzy on since I have been away. Good reference when you dont want to carry the entire Cathechism or tote your Catholic Study bible everywhere.

This is a quick and handy source of Catechism. I recommend it. A+++

Wonderful resource! A must-have for all serious Catholics.