Monday, April 28, 2014

Unfortunately there are no questions about chapels


Blessed Duns Scotus, pray for us

In 2010, Pew Forum tested Americans' knowledge of religion.  Atheists got the highest grades, Catholics got the lowest.   Most Catholics even got the basic Catholic questions wrong.   You can take the Pew Forum test here.

A religion professor recently published a book on American religious illiteracy, and naturally, the professor has a quiz too, which you can take here.

Of course, you don't need to pass a multiple choice test to become a saint.  On the other hand, there's never been a saint so ignorant of the Faith that they couldn't name the seven sacraments, and didn't know what takes place at Mass.  Knowing those kinds of things has generally been considered the easy part about being Catholic.

If you are not a religious know it all but would like to become one, a good way to achieve this goal is by meandering through the Catholic Lifetime Reading Plan of the Servant of God, Fr. John Hardon, SJ.   A list of the works included in Fr. Hardon's Reading Plan is here.   There are a lot of books in the plan; Fr. Hardon allowed for unusually long lifespans. 

On her deathbed, St. Teresa of Avila, the great mystic and doctor of the Church, joyfully exclaimed again and again "I am a child of Holy Church, a child of Holy Church!"  It is indeed a great gift from God to be a child of Holy Church.  As St. Alphonsus Liguori notes, "He hath not done in like manner to every nation." (Ps. 147:20)  The reason for St. Teresa's joy can certainly be found in the books included in Fr. Hardon's reading plan.  Heck, St. Teresa wrote three of them herself.



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