I Am Proud to Be a Catholic!: What Is Unique About Being a Catholic?

By Duane Crosland

In I Am Proud to be a Catholic: What Is Unique About Being a Catholic? Duane Crosland explores the highlights of what is unique about being a Catholic and why a person should be proud to be a Catholic. In asking the average person why they are a Catholic the standard responses are “I was born a Catholic” or “I was raised a Catholic”. These responses indicate a need for a deeper understanding of the Catholic faith and a fuller appreciation for the gift that Jesus Christ gave to all of us. The book hopes to attract the “wavering”, the “fringe”, the “fallen away”, the “coasting” but “committed” and “committed” Catholics - giving them simple reasons as to why a person should be proud to be a Catholic; the book may also attract a person that is not Catholic but is interested in the details of the Catholic faith. A person will gain an enhanced understanding of what it means to be a Catholic with a focus on what is unique about being a Catholic written in easy layman’s terms often supported by biblical quotes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728360317

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Duane Crosland. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse   05/07/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6033-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6032-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6031-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020907922

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church for use in the United States of America Copyright © 1994, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Used with Permission.

Scripture quotations are from The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Website address – www.nrsvbibles.org.

Nihil Obstat

Rev. George Welzbacher

Censor librorum

Imprimatur

Most Reverend Bernard A. Hebda

Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

November 18, 2019

The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declaration that these books are free of doctrinal or moral error. No implications contained therein that those who have granted Nihil Obstat or Imprimatur agree with the content, opinion or statements expressed.

Dedication

To my parents

Sherman Joseph Crosland

Aurelia Marie Scanlan Crosland

They gave me the gift of Catholicism in baptism

**************

To my wife

Kathleen

Kay is my lifelong Catholic partner

**************

To my sons and my daughters-in-law

Mark, John, Paul, Amber, Heidi, Lucinda

They challenged me to ask why

I Am Proud to be a Catholic

Acknowledgements

Writing this book has been a ten-year dream in process. In the book’s first edition, I acknowledged all those that contributed to my book in general and many that simply encouraged my efforts. Many of my supporters are parishioners of St Vincent de Paul (SVDP) Catholic Church, Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

Below are four individuals that I need to acknowledge that contributed significantly to the overall content of my book.

• Gloria Krynski – Gloria was a SVDP parishioner and friend; her suggestions contributed significantly to the content of the book which I am very appreciative of.

• Kelly Wahlquist – Kelly is the Director of the Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute, founder of Women in the New Evangelization (WINE), Catholic author and speaker. Kelly provided professional input to the content of the book. I highly appreciate Kelly’s contributions to my efforts.

• Robert Peick – Robert (Rob) is my cousin, English professor and a lead person for many social justice initiatives locally and internationally. He became my ruthless editor of my original material.

• Father George Welzbacher – When I decided to pursue an Imprimatur* and a Nihil Obstat* from the Archdioceses of Saint Paul and Minneapolis for my book I was introduced to Father Welzbacher shortly after his 90th birthday and 67 years as a priest. I quickly discovered that I would be working with a person with a brilliant mind. Father quickly pointed out that the three kings from the East did not visit Jesus in the stable as we have all been commercially led to believe. The three wisemen visited Jesus in a house in Bethlehem! So began my journey with Father Welzbacher.

Father completed his graduate studies in Medieval and Ancient History at the University of Chicago; taught German and Latin at St Thomas Academy and Ancient History at the College of St Thomas, now a University; he served as pastor at St Nicholas in New Market, St Agnes in St Paul and St John of St Paul all located in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul / Minneapolis.

My time with Father Welzbacher was a fun learning experience – he corrected my grammatical errors; he enhanced, enriched and sometimes expanded my subject matter; and he professionally pointed out my doctrinal and moral writings that needed correcting. Father Welzbacher’s contributions gave me a publication that I can be very proud of.

* Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of Catholic doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and the Imprimatur agree with the content, opinions or statements expressed.

Contents

Introduction

Opening Comments

I was born and baptized a Catholic

I was raised a Catholic

I lived a life of a Catholic

Being a Catholic in the 21st Century

The Book

I am Proud to be a Catholic

Introduction to Jesus Christ

Catholic Church

The Pope / The Keys

The Catholic Mass

The Eucharist

The Consecration

Altar of a Catholic Church

Seven Sacraments

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Sign of the Cross

Catechism of the Catholic Church

God’s Covenants with Man

Precepts of the Church

Perpetual Adoration

Catholic Social Teaching

Stations of the Cross

Mary, the Mother of God

The Rosary

Catholic Priests

The Communion of Saints

The Church Triumphant

The Beatitudes

Faith – A Belief in God

Scandals of the Catholic Church

Catholic Church in the World Today

Closing Comments

On a Personal Note

Appendix

Index of Religions & Date of Origination

Fifteen Promises of Mary

Local and National Catholic Resources

Common Catholic Prayers

Introduction

Opening Comments

If you bought this book looking for controversy or for evidence of a major religious re-birth by the author, you bought the wrong book. Ask for your money back.

I wrote this book for a number of reasons –

• For 60 years I was an active practicing Catholic but when a member of the family asked me why I was a Catholic I had no good answer for her. I gave her the dumb face; it was the end of the conversation; very sad. It was a missed opportunity!

• Then I discovered that the Catholics sitting next to me in church every Sunday had a similar problem. I started to ask the question of friends and fellow parishioners as to why they are Catholic. I came to the conclusion that most Catholics do not know why they are Catholic. An exception – converts to Catholicism generally can give you some good reasons why they are a Catholic.

• I witnessed Bishop Cozzens from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul / Minneapolis ask two young men why they are Catholic. They too had no good response. More detail to follow on this story.

• I asked the students in my religion education classes as to why they were Catholic. It was dead silence. My students did not know why they are Catholic!

Therefore –

• Personally, I needed to research for myself and then to document the reasons why I am a Catholic and proud to be Catholic. This became a personal quest.

• Next, I wanted to document for my fellow Catholics the many reasons why they should be proud to be Catholic in words that are easy to understand and are easy to share with family members and friends.

• Finally, I wanted to document my Catholic heritage and beliefs for my family and in particular for my grandchildren.

If you are a practicing Catholic, you have heard most of the detail that is presented in this book but it may not have been in a concise format that you could share with your loved ones. I have purposely kept this book simple so that it can be enjoyed by all, including children and young adults.

Now for some background to my quest –

I was born and baptized a Catholic

I was born Duane Sherman Crosland to Sherman Joseph Crosland and Aurelia Marie Scanlan Crosland. My mother and dad were devout practicing Catholics.

My grandparents on both my mother’s and