A Simple Strategy for Staying Catholic in These Dark Times

I could start this blog with a long introduction explaining what’s going on in the Catholic Church, the dangers that present themselves right now, and why we can rest assured that if we just stick with the historic and traditional Catholic Faith, we’re going to be okay, and the Church will prevail eventually. I’ll spare you of all that, and just say it’s all true. It’s going to be okay, and Jesus Christ, working through the Holy Spirit and the Saints of our time, will eventually correct his Church. It’s guaranteed. So don’t worry too much about that.

What matters now is “right now,” obviously, what do we do right now? And for that I just want to skip the long blogging and break it down to four basic things. If you do these four things, you’re gonna make it. Here we go…

First, you need a good Bible…

There are a lot of Bibles out there, and while on the one hand that can be good, on the other hand it can make things even more confusing. The Catholic Church approves a handful of them, but to really simplify things (because I think things need to be simplified in times like these), I’m just going to break it down to two types of English Bibles that the Church approves. Either one of these is ideal and this is what we should be reading right now…

1. Douay-Rheims Bible (DRB): Originally published in 1582-1610, this is the oldest English Catholic Bible in print and it remains approved for all Catholics everywhere. It can be a little cumbersome to those not familiar with Sacral English, but for those who are familiar with Sacral English, it remains the most powerful and accurate English translation on the market. You can read the DRB Online here, or purchase it through any bookstore outlet. It is widely available.
2. Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition (RSV-CE): There are three versions of this modern translation that are very easy to read, and all three are approved for Catholics as the most accurate translation in Modern English. Each one is approved for liturgical use in various Catholic jurisdictions, and the English version of the 1992 Catechism uses quotations from the RSV-CE. The three approved versions are as follows: Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition (published in 1965-1966), the New Revised Standard Version – Catholic Edition (published in 1989-1995), and the Revised Standard Version – 2nd Catholic Edition (published in 2006). Any one of these is suitable for personal use by any English-speaking Catholic. The reason for this is that like the DRB, these are “formal equivalent” translations, which means they are as close to the original Greek, Hebrew and Latin that an English translation can get, and still make sense. Almost no liberties are taken with the text, unlike other translations called “dynamic equivalent” or “optimal equivalent” which take more liberties with the text, in an attempt to make it flow easier in English, with the risk of imposing translator bias or narrowing down possible interpretations too much. So if you’re looking for an English translation of the Bible, that is the most accurate, you’re going to want a “formal equivalent” translation, and as of today, only two are approved for use by Catholics: the DRB and the threefold RSV-CE family: RSV-CE, NRSV-CE & RSV-2CE.

Of these options, I personally tend to gravitate toward both the DRB and RSV-2CE. I personally think these two are the best. I tend to use the RSV-2CE as my main choice, both for casual reading and casual study. Then I’ll pull out the DRB for more intense study of particular passages, comparing them side-by-side with the RSV-2CE. I am particularly fond of the RSV-2CE published by Ascension Press, called “The Great Adventure Catholic Bible.” They have many variations of this: regular print, large print, leatherback, paperback, and apparently they have a digital version of it too. Though admittedly, you can get a digital version of any RSV-CE from multiple sources. I tend to prefer reading the Bible as an actual book, and so I have the leatherback version. Below is an example of what I use from Ascension Press. You can choose your own here.

Second, you need a good Catechism…

When we’re talking about catechisms, I must acknowledge that the quality of post-conciliar catechisms has vastly improved after 1992, when the universal Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) was published by Rome with the approval of Pope St. John Paul II. Prior to that, post-conciliar catechisms could be risky business. (When I say “post-conciliar” I mean catechisms published after Vatican II.) The CCC helped to stabilize things quite a bit. That said, while anyone is free to read the CCC, and Rome has never discouraged anyone from doing so, the CCC was primarily written for Catholic bishops. It was meant to serve as a supplemental to the Roman Catechism, or the Catechism of the Council of Trent, and the two catechisms (Trent and CCC) were intended to be used in a scholarly way to complement each other. While these two catechisms can be powerful tools in the hands of a good bishop, they’re also very wordy, highly nuanced, and extremely cumbersome for the average lay Catholic.

For this reason, as far back as the late 1800s, bishops have endeavored to use these larger catechisms to write smaller catechisms for the laity, and indeed, Pope St. John Paul II stated this was his intention for the new CCC as well. Two great efforts were made by two great popes toward this end, both before and after Vatican II. Pope St. Pius X wrote his own catechism, called the Catechism of Pius X, and it was used by Catholic laity alongside the Baltimore Catechism Series. Both are still in use today. Likewise, Pope Benedict XVI published his own abbreviated catechism called the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, based on the post-conciliar CCC.

The problem with all of these lay catechisms is they generally don’t tackle some of the larger problems facing the Church in the early 21st century. All three of them are good, don’t get me wrong. And if you have small children in your home, you’re probably going to want to use the Baltimore Catechism Series as it’s highly suited for families with readers of various ages.

As for adult catechisms, a new publication is proving to be the best post-conciliar catechism written for adults, so far, in that it specifically addresses some of the more sticky problems facing the Church today, pulling clear and concise teachings from both the post-conciliar and pre-conciliar period, before and after Vatican II. This catechism was written by Bishop Athanasius Schneider, who is serving as the Auxiliary Bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan. It’s called CREDO, meaning “I Believe…” and it not only has an imprimatur (stamp of approval) from an American diocese, but it’s also endorsed by Cardinal Robert Sarah, the former Vatican Prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. This adult catechism for the laity is the one I prefer the most, and it should probably be in every Catholic home.

CREDO, combined with one of the RSV-CE Bibles (or DRB), will make a powerful combination in any Catholic home. So as a Catholic catechist and apologist, these are my recommendations. Get CREDO, and combine it together with one of the RSV-CE Bibles (or DRB), and you’re set. You’ll have everything you need to keep you well catechized and Biblically literate in these dark times. If you happen to have small children in your home, get the whole Baltimore Catechism Series as well. This will be primarily for them, and No. 4 of that series will help parents with instruction.

Third, Pray the Rosary…

I can’t stress this enough. Regular devotion to Our Lady in these dark times will help you (and your family) immensely. Do whatever it takes to get your family involved, if you can, without making it burdensome on them. So sometimes that might mean just doing one decade with the family, but finishing the rest of the Rosary on your own. Do whatever works.

Fourth, Find a good Catholic parish…

A “good Catholic parish” doesn’t mean the people are nice. Nor does it mean the priest is hip or cool. No. It means the parish shows proper respect for the liturgy, as well as the Eucharist, and the priest is not afraid to teach Catholic truth in the face of a culture that is increasingly immoral and anti-Catholic. That’s what “a good Catholic parish” means.

Because good Catholic parishes are getting increasingly harder to come by, many devout Catholics have just given up on the typical mass that one finds in the average diocesan parish. This mass is often called the Novus Ordo meaning “New Order” which came about after Vatican II. Its official name is the 1970 Missal of Pope Paul VI, or just 1970 Missal for short. Those who have given up on the 1970 Missal have turned primarily to either the Traditional Latin Mass (1962 Missal) or the Traditional English Mass (Divine Worship Missal). The Divine Worship Missal is a traditional English liturgy found exclusively in North America under the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. The following is a map of my own creation, which charts the locations and contact links for both the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and the Traditional English Mass (TEM). View this map here…

There is also a great map offered by Reverent Catholic Mass (RCM) which attempts to chart all parishes (including those offering the Novus Ordo liturgy) that are reverent in their approach. View this map here. It should be pointed out, however, that because of the nature of the Novus Ordo liturgy, and the fact that priests are often reassigned from one parish to another, what was once a reverent Novus Ordo Mass can easily change with a changing of the guard at the parish. So the developer of this map highly relies on its users to give him feedback as things change. He can be contacted here.

I cannot stress enough the importance of finding a good Catholic parish. Do whatever you can to plug yourself into one, especially if you have a family with children. This may mean driving a little longer to get to mass on Sunday mornings, and in some extreme cases, it could require a relocation if you’re able to do so.

Shane Schaetzel is an author of Catholic books and an Evangelical convert to the Catholic Church through Anglicanism. His articles have been featured on LifeSiteNews, The Remnant Newspaper, Forward in Christ, and Catholic Online. You can read Shane’s books at ShaneSchaetzel.Com