Catholicism - Now I Get It!

by Claire Furia Smith

Book Overview

Written in a warm, friend-to-friend style by a fellow "lost generation" author, this book is a refreshing guide for rediscovering the doctrine, truths, and deep satisfaction in your faith that may have never quite "clicked." Recalling childhood memories of her own religious education, the author relates to readers with wit, humor, and loads of encouragement. Topics include: the Sacraments, the historical origins, beliefs and traditions of the Catholic...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1517347580
• ISBN13: 9781517347581
• Release Date: September 2015
• Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.72 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

catholicism: now i get it! book review

one of the most informative teachings on Catholic belief. just like the title say's NOW I GET IT!! very much worth reading..

Claire Gets It, Now You Can Too!

I love Claire's story because it mirrors not only my own, but just about every cradle Catholic I've ever known. We learn the faith as children but really don't "get it" until the it gets challenged--then we either get it or bale. Sadly many bale, without unpacking what we learned and putting it into practice. Thankfully Claire does the work for us. The Ivy League grad gives a great overview of the basics of the Faith in a manner that makes this not only enjoyable to read but lifechanging.

A Big Thumb's Up!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is affordable (retailing for $12.95) and relatively brief (252 pages). The author gets right to the meat of her subject, which is a hardy defense of the Catholic Church, her teachings and dogmas, without apologies while laying down her apologetic approach. Ms. Smith stumbles a bit out of the gate, before hitting her stride, about 1/3 of the way into the book. I found three glaring errors early on in this book. On pages 41-42, she writes, "After the Resurrection, Paul (whose name was Saul before he was renamed by Jesus)..." To be more precise, St. Paul was born a Roman citizen, and therefore Paul (Paulus) was already his name at birth. It was his Roman name. Saul was his Jewish name. Jesus didn't have to rename Saul to Paul, since he already was known by both names. St. Paul, as apostle to the Gentiles, found it more fitting that he would go by his Roman name in his ministry. On page 44 the author writes, "The Roman authorities later paid the guards to say the body (of Christ) was stolen." This is a glaring error. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 12-16, makes it clear that the Chief Priests in Jerusalem bribed the guards of Jesus' tomb, not the Roman authorities. Page 46 has this error, "Over at Lourdes, France---where Mary had appeared to St. Bernadette in 1958..." The author surely meant 1858, a century earlier. Other than the 3 above mentioned mistakes, the rest of the book is quite sound, and I would recommend it highly for those that are looking for a nonscholarly & brief introduction to basic Catholicism. John Paul

Now I really do get it!

I was born and raised Catholic, but received the typical post-VII Catholic education. As an adult, I found myself with virtually no knowledge of just what it meant to be a Catholic. This book caught my eye while I was perusing the shelves at a Catholic bookstore, and I decided to give it a try. I found it to be an excellent summary and defense of the basic tenets of Catholic teaching. It gave me many "A-HA!" moments in which some action, prayer, or tradition I'd always practiced without knowing why, suddenly made sense. Most importantly, I came to understand precisely why the Catholic church is the true church founded by Christ, which instilled in me a desire both to study the faith more in depth, and to spread the good news to all the world. This book marked the beginning of a period of intense spiritual growth for me, and now I encourage all my fellow post-VII "fuzzy Catholics" to give it a try.

An Impressive Defense of the Faith

Claire Furia Smith is a cradle Catholic who grew up going to Mass and Catholic schools. It would therefore appear that she was as well educated in the Faith as any lay Catholic could be. As an adult however she realized that she was seriously lacking in knowledge concerning some of the Church's primary teachings and she took commendable action to correct this problem. Realizing that there were probably many others like herself Mrs. Smith has written a book just for the long time Catholic that may need to bone up on the teachings of Mother Church and she has done so in a clear and easy to understand manner. This book deals with several major positions taken by the Church including Infallibility, Confession, Purgatory, the Saints and the Virgin Mary. In each chapter the author clearly explains the Biblical and historical basis for Church teachings and tells of her own experiences concerning each subject. Included in the chapter about Confession is the heartwarming and funny story of her own first Confession. It seems that she decided to make a list of her sins to take along with her so that she wouldn't forget anything but then someone suggested that it might be dark in the Confessional. To solve that problem she took along a flashlight that she kept hidden inside the pockets of the baggy outfit that she chose to wear that day. She thought that all was well until a year later when a Nun told the newest group of first timers not to bring a flashlight. Each chapter is presented in a like manner, which makes for a highly interesting and enjoyable read. Unfortunately the author is a little strident at times, which might turn off those thinking of conversion and looking for answers. Mrs. Smith is a proud Catholic after all and she makes no excuses or apologies for her opinions. For long time Catholics however this book will prove to be a very useful resource, explaining things that we might not quite understand and also providing answers to the questions we are most often hit with by those hostile to Catholicism. A friend of mine at Church recently told me about a conversation she had been involved in which forced her to think back to her Catholic education to try and answer some tough questions. This book would be perfect for this friend and I think that I may well buy her a copy. I could give her mine but I intend to keep this precious little book in my own library so that I can consult it with regularity.