Six Things Catholics Can Learn From Protestants

A marriage between a Protestant and a cradle Catholic can be quite interesting and aggravating. A good chunk of our courtship and marriage was spent debating, questioning and downright yelling about differences of faith. Some of the differences I noticed immediately while others took a while. Ten years a Catholic, I am still noticing and questioning.

Looking back on my years of searching, I wonder if I would’ve joined the Church sooner had certain things been different. While I love my faith, I can’t help but notice areas in need of improvement, especially at the local level. I am not referring to doctrinal changes, obviously, but changes in communication, education and evangelization that could be implemented. Our Protestant brethren have us beat in many ways, and we could learn from them. Here is my list of “Six Things Catholics Can Learn from Protestants.”

1. You, meaning Catholics, have the fullness of truth. Why all the sour faces? One of the first things I noticed when I started attending Mass was the severe lack of smiles and warmth in church. Protestants may not have all that we have, but they sure are happy about what they got. I have attended a lot of churches – Catholic and Protestant – and hands down, I find the happy people at the Protestant churches! Smile and say hello, particularly to someone you don’t know. Who wants to enter a place where it looks like everyone has a hangover?
2. Are you going to church or the beach? For the longest time, I could not wrap my mind around the fact that so many people were not dressed up. In my old church, you’d better be dressed up or face the evil eye. That means no jeans, no shorts, no tank tops and NO flip-flops. I’m not suggesting you go into debt to get new clothes nor am I suggesting that we start judging people. I am simply reminding you that you are going to visit God’s house, so please make some effort to show respect and don’t look like you just rolled out of bed.
3. You are blessed with the greatest gift of God himself, and honestly, like I’ve heard it said, you should be crawling on your knees to get to Him in the Eucharist. Yet, I see such a lackadaisical attitude about this. How many times have I seen someone limply outstretch their hand to receive? How many times have I seen very few genuflect or bow before our Lord? How many times have I seen people walk up the communion line with coat and purse in hand and then run out of church as soon as they receive? This irritates me to no end. On the rare occasion we had communion in my former church, it was treated with such reverence and tenderness. In spite of the grape juice served in little plastic cups and the stale crackers, we knew what was happening and acted accordingly. Catholics should never get tired of receiving every week. What a beautiful gift God extends to us! The Eucharist is more than just consuming something. It is about coming into full communion with our Lord. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta is quoted as saying, “(Eucharist) also involves satisfying the hunger of Christ. He says ‘Come to me.’ He is hungry for souls.”
4. Fully participate in the Mass. It’s only for an hour. That means no reading the bulletin, no lip syncing and no unnecessary talking, especially during the consecration. And for goodness sake, turn off the cell phone! Many Protestant services last longer than an hour, with lots of singing, reading and sometimes dancing, and everyone participates. When the heart of the service begins, it gets quiet. All eyes are riveted on the altar and you could hear a pin drop. At mass, I always hear a low hum and it’s not necessarily from squawking babies.
5. Know your Bible. It’s a running joke that Catholics don’t know Scripture, but there’s a kernel of truth in it. When I was a Protestant, I attended Sunday School and much of it was spent memorizing verses to the point we were quizzed on them and had some pretty fierce competitions. I didn’t need Bible tabs. I knew where each book was. We also leafed through our Bibles during services. Imagine my surprise then when my cradle Catholic husband knew nothing about the Bible and often told me, “I don’t know the exact verse, but I know it’s in there somewhere.” This became a common answer I heard from many Catholics. If you ever hope to evangelize and dispel common misconceptions, you need to know the only book of truth there is – the Bible. Protestants use the Bible for a lot of their arguments against the Catholic Church, so you need to use it too.
6. Continue learning. Attending prep classes for Confirmation shouldn’t be the last ones you attend to learn more about your faith. There is such a richness and fullness of the faith unlike any other that it would take a million lifetimes to learn it all. But don’t let that overwhelm you. Attend as many adult education classes as you can because knowing a little of something is better than not knowing anything at all. Wednesday night is a popular night for Protestants to provide instruction for young and old in addition to Sunday mornings. I wish all Catholics would be required to attend RCIA. I went through the process three times – one for myself and then twice more with my parents – and learned something new each time.

I should say that my list of commonalities would be much longer, but it is in the differences like those I’ve mentioned and more that have kept Protestants and Catholics apart for over 500 years. We must dialogue and learn from each other, so perhaps if we could improve in the small ways, that will open the door to bigger changes.