I have been Baptist for 22 years. I woke up one morning and thought about how I love the music and art of Catholics.. my whole life I have been told Baptist=Good. Catholic =Bad. I went to mass a week ago(twice) Why am I so drawn? Catholics literally by Jesus made the church we know today… I do not feel like we are worshipping in my baptist church.
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Wonderful! Where are you from? In the United States, there has been a lot of anti-Catholic propaganda in public school history classes, mostly about the “selling” of indulgences (which never happened), the Spanish Inquisition, and the Crusades. I would examine why you’ve always been taught that Catholicism is bad and do your own research about the veracity of those claims.
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Gage, That is awesome!
Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. The fact that you were raised to know and love Jesus is a wonderful gift!
Though many Baptists are ignorant about what Catholic Christians believe, Baptists are not bad people. There are many Catholics who are ignorant of what Catholics believe as well.
I want to recommend five Podcasts to you:
- “The Bible in a Year” (with Fr. Mike Schmitz)
- “Catholic Answers Live” (various guests)
- “Catholic in a Small Town” (Mac & Katherine)
- “Eternal Christendom” (with Joshua Charles)
- “The Counsel of Trent” (with Trent Horn)
And here are five books I would recommend:
- “Acts of the Apostles” (the second volume of St. Luke’s two-volume work in The New Testament of The Bible)
- “The Didache” (written around the late first century or early second century)
- “A Father Who Keeps His Promises” (by Dr. Scott Hahn)
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church (put together by John Paul II to help people know and understand what Catholic Christians believe with footnotes).
- Read the deuterocanonical books (7 Old Testament Books omitted in Protestant Bibles) and the Septuagint version of Esther (which includes the Prayers of Mordecai & Esther, which I find quite beautiful).
I’m curious which music you are referring to. Gregorian Chant of the TLM Mass? The Folksy music of the 1970’s and 80’s (booooooo : ), or the contemporary Hymns composed by the talented Sarah Hart and Christian Recording Artist Matt Maher, among others?
We worship differently. The Sacred Liturgy is centered around Christ in two specific ways. The first half is the Liturgy of The Word (The Bible). And Jesus is the Word made Flesh. The Second part of the Sacred Liturgy (or Mass) is the re-presentation of Christ’s once-and-for-all Sacrifice (true food and true drink, as Jesus says in John 6:55). We are not crucifying Jesus over and over again (as I’m sure some Baptists claim). Rather, Christ, our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16), makes an offering (of Himself, The Sacrificial Lamb described in John 1:29, 1 Peter 1:18-19, Isaiah 53:7, 1 Corinthians 5:7, and elsewhere) to The Father.
The Catholic Christian Faith is a very present Faith. We believe that Christ not only lived and died and then went up to Heaven, but is very much alive here and now, revealing Himself to us in the Sacred Scriptures, in the Sacraments, and in the church (the mystical body of Christ—you and me).
Amazing! Do you have any questions about what you experienced at the Sacred Mass? Everything we do had a deeper reason for why we do it. As far as why you are so drawn to the Sacred Liturgy is because it represents the good, the true, and the beautiful. Jesus is present there. It is where Heaven and Earth meet. In my journal, a letter to my children when my time on Earth is over, that the closest they will ever be to me after I’m gone is in The Mass. We believe that saved Christians, when they die, are more alive in Christ than we are!
The further you get form the ancient Christian Church (The Catholic and Orthodox Christian Churches), the less one believe as Jesus, the Apostles, and their successors taught. We view Baptist Baptisms as valid, because most have retained the proper understanding of the Holy Trinity and the Baptismal form. Most Baptists do not Baptize infants, because they don’t see it in Scripture. The Early Church Fathers (those who lived closest to the time of Christ and were successors of the Apostles) did Baptize infants and even argued in favor of it. St. Augustine argued in favor of Baptizing infants in a commentary on Genesis in year 401-415 A.D. The Bishop of Carthage, Cyprian, talked talked about the importance of Baptizing infants in a letter to Fidus in year 253 A.D. Origen preached about infant Baptism in his Homilies (Sermons) on Leviticus and St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans in 245 A.D.
Dedication of children and Altar Calls (which Baptists do) are not directly mentioned in the Bible, but it does not mean that these things are inherently bad. Confirmation is described in the Bible (Acts 8:14-17), but this is another thing that Baptist Christians do not do, but the Early Church did and still does (Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, among others do what is called Confirmations). The Early Church Fathers also talked about Confirmation. Theophilus of Antioch mentioned it in 181 A.D. and Tertullian mentions it in 203 A.D.
Do not look back on your Baptist upbringing with bitterness nor distain. They planted the seeds that the Holy Spirit is growing in you as your faith matures. Thank God for your Baptist upbringing. And that Christ is leading you closer to Him in the Church that He began at Pentecost and continued in the Apostles and their successors. And in His Holy Word, proclaimed at every Sacred Liturgy and in reading the Bible in our homes, Jesus reveals to us the Love of The Father (John 3:16).
But what about Mary? I’m sure your family and friends will ask this question when they discover that you are on your way to becoming Catholic. Mary points us to her Son, Jesus. At the foot of the Cross, one of the last things Jesus does is give Mary to His beloved Apostle. And to His beloved Apostle, His Mother (John 19:26-27). In a sense, Jesus is giving you and me the Blessed Mother, who points us to her Son. Mary is a human being who said yes to God, where Eve disobeyed God. She brought Jesus into this World, our World, to restore life and make right the wrongs of Adam and all those who disobey God after the fall of Adam. When we call her “co-redemptrix” this is what we mean. We are saved by the merits of Christ on the Holy Cross and by the graces which flows from it. Some Protestants, when they hear the term co-redemprix, they think it means equal to or that what Christ did for us was somehow lacking. This is not what Catholic Christians mean by this fancy word. We mean that just as Eve played a part in Adams sin, Mary played a part in God’s plan for Salvation. Does this make sense?
I’m getting a little long-winded here, but I am filled with joy at this journey you are embarking on! Trust in the Lord, and if you have any questions, feel free to either ask it here on this forum or message me privately. I am happy to explain anything that you have questions about.