Prayer

Is there a proper way to pray? Who do you pray to?


There is this girl, who I admittedly dislike a great amount, who practically sneered when discussing the topic of praying. She said that Catholics don't know how to pray correctly - they're too repetitive, saints don't exist, Mary shouldn't be worshiped (since when has that happened?), you shouldn't pray to dead people, etc etc. In fact, she didn't like anything about Catholics, from how they don't site passage or verse numbers to animosity towards the Pope, but that's an entirely different discussion.

Church Attire

What, exactly, is proper attire for attending church?

My neighbors back home, every sunday for Mass, dress to the nines. I mean it. Hats, gloves, heels, humble dresses, no jewelry or makeup in sight; men in suits shining their shoes while they waited outside. I love it. That is how I have always envisioned you had to dress for going to church. To me, it conveys respect - not only for God, but for the church, your community, and yourself.

Denominations

It wasn't until I began attending college in the Midwest that I realized, Catholicism is not the most prominent branch of Christianity in the United States. In fact, earlier while I was showering I realized that there area I grew up in had a very high number of Catholics, and it probably wasn't indicative of the rest of the country - the statistics that Protestant was the most common religion popped into my head.

I have wondered why not many people I have met identified as Catholic. A quick look at some statistics gives me my answer. Turns out, Protestantism - particularly Baptist - is the most common religion where I am attending school (approx 25% are Baptist, with about 15% Catholic compared to 8% Baptist and 40% Catholic where I grew up). Protestant, of course, is a group of denominations - Lutheran, Baptist, and Pentecostal being the major ones.

How to Read the Bible

My second major question, after where to begin reading (answer: the beginning), was "How do you read the Bible?" Well, there are two parts to this seemingly innocuous question. I bet if you asked even the most dutiful Christian it would throw them off.

Where to Begin

After I purchased my books I would like to say that I worked on my art history essay, however I stared at my computer screen and wondered "Where does one actually being reading the Bible?"

(I won't lie to you - I looked for quotes to put on my Facebook profile for about two hours before these questions popped into my brain.)

Is there a proper place to start? Is there a technique to it? Do I start at the beginning and then just read all the way through, or do I have to skip around?

Bible Versions

And so, my research has begun.

Last night I Googled for what seemed like hours looking for the most perfect version of the Bible. Finally I sighed, coming to the realization that there is no "one version" of the Bible that has EVERY SINGLE BOOK. I figure this is mostly because nobody can agree which books should and should not be included.