The core of most religious misunderstandings I've witnessed with irreligious people is that they fundamentally misunderstand what religion is to religious people. It's not simply a matter of choosing what worldview most appeals to you or matches your own opinions. This is how you fundamentally believe the world already works, and living accordingly. It's not selecting from an array of possibilities with varying appeal, but aligning yourself with truth. You may not always like that truth, but that doesn't mean you get to throw it out or pick something else - you do the changing to match religious reality, not the other way around. I'm coming at this from a Christian experience, obviously, but this is true of any religion that claims objective, exclusive truth. "Why would you choose to follow a God who—" Because I didn't choose this God; this God, the only true one who exists, chose me; and I best get my priorities and values in order with his, because this world is here by his creative whim. He alone defines truth; he is truth.

For the purposes of this poll, "veiling" refers to wearing specific types of garments to cover specific parts of your body, usually in a religious or cultural context. Examples include hijab, kippah/yarmulke, a nun's habit, etc.

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I don’t know exactly when veiling became optional for Catholics, but as recently as the 90s when I was a child, only older ladies (my grandmother’s generation and older) consistently wore veils to church. I bought a set of veils and wore them during Mass when I saw more and more women my age wearing veils. This was further reinforced when my second cousin who is currently discerning priesthood actively encouraged me to wear them. So these days I’m one of the few ladies besides the lay ministers and older parishioners that wear a veil to Mass.

just read an article where some ex-Catholics said they left the church because their parish's new priest started including some latin and chant to the Mass and brought up confession and sin more often in homilies.

my brothers/sisters in Christ, if that is all it takes to make you leave the religion (minor aesthetic differences and reminders that we need confession), i don't think you were ever Catholic to begin with beyond the technicality of your baptism.

This isn't just a Catholic problem. Protestants have whole industries built on "God loves you as you are, so you don't have to change." Some people will change churches or straight up stop going to church if their pastors start talking about things like repentance. That's not a Christian experience, that's new age self love mixed with a social club.

This might sound silly but I want to start going to Mass, I've only ever been to protestant church services before. I have no idea what to expect or do or wear and I've watched a few YouTube videos but for whatever reason I'm still anxious.

I just have nasty social anxiety and I don't want to stand out as a total newbie who doesn't know what they are doing. Any advice and prayers would be appreciated

I bought this for my husband when he started going to Mass before he converted

It's a little bit difficult to get the hang of off the bat, because there are parts you gave to skip [like for example, 4 different Eucharistic prayers, so you have to skip the 3 that aren't being used. For Sunday Mass it should always be the first one]

But, wear something business to business formal, sit in the back, and just observe. You don't have to participate the first few times you go. My husband wanted to, because he personally felt like it was important, but it isn't mandatory.

You could, if you don't want to spend money, download the ibreviary app instead, however my husband said he didn't like being on his phone during Mass, and felt like it was a little clunky. There are other people who don't feel this way, that's just what my husband said.

If you're concerned about the quality of the Mass, you can look on reverentcatholicmass.com to find Masses in any language that are more conservative/reverant. From there, you can check a parish [church building] Mass times to see what time works best for you :)

Pretty much no one will be paying attention to you, except maybe the ushers in the back, but tbh they don't usually say anything. The more reverent the church, the less they are likely to notice you.

My husband also found it a lot more helpful to read a couple different 'A Minute In The Church' books, specifically the one about the Mass and the one about the Eucharist, so he could more understand why we do things and the flow of Mass. It can be a little overwhelming the first time, just because everyone will know what to do, but it shouldn't take too many times of going to start getting the hang of it. I think it took my husband a month? So going 4 times. And 1 of those times he had traveled to a different state in order to visit his family, and he still went to Mass. He wasn't familiar with any kind of service, except for more of those rock-concert type protestant services, that he had been to occasionally growing up with friends.

Also, if you're able to go to my wordpress/FAQ on my desktop blog, I link to all these things and more :)

@the-magic-school-bus

In 1944 a kitten named George (short for General Electric) was saved from drowning by a U.S. Navy crew member. George was then photographed and given a liberty card and detailed health record. Source.

cc: @petermorwood

For some reason “Respiratory system: He does alright” is sending me.

Saint Nicholas  270 - 343 Feast Day: December 6 Patronage: Children, sailors, fishermen, merchants, broadcasters, the falsely accused, prostitutes, repentant thieves

Known for his secret generosity, Nicholas would do things such as leaving coins in the shoe people left outside. He would thus serve as the prototype for the character Santa Claus. Nicholas was said to have helped a desperately poor father planning on selling his daughters into prostitution. He gave the family three bags of gold, symbolized by three large golden balls, which he is ofter portrayed. {website}

Happy Saint Nick Day 😊

I am so, so, so, SO TIRED of the repulsive, melodramatic, borderline-heretical vitriol being thrown at Pope Francis right now by american conservatives.

if I here one of these morons say "Pope Francis is going to destroy the Church" one more time, I'm gonna explode.

"And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." -Matthew 16:18

The Church cannot, WILL NOT EVER be destroyed until human civilization itself is snuffed. The Son of God Himself decreed thus, and so it will be. To claim otherwise is heresy.

And to claim that Pope Francis is actively trying to destroy the Church? down that path lies nothing more than madness.

criticize Pope Francis's competence all you want (I will join you in criticizing if you bring up the Amazonian Synod in particular, since that was an absolute disaster on every level), you can even call him a sinner or a heretic (Pope John XXII was a heretic as well), but recognize that the Papacy is not the Presidency. Whoever ends up in Saint Peter's chair is there by the will of God. He may not be as politically savvy as Pius XII, as clear and precise in his meaning as Pope Pius XI, or are decisive a leader as Pope John Paul II, but he is there for a reason.

I think of it like this: If Pope Alexander VI (Rodrigo Borgia) was not able to destroy the Church, there is no way that Pope Francis can.

*If you want to vote "other denomination not shown here" make sure that your denomination is not a sub-group of one of the ones already listed here (e.g. Presbyterians are Reformed/Calvinist)