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by Joe Paprocki

A Self-Assessment for Your Fun and Enlightenment

Here is a fun exercise that you can use with your students and their families to review the Catholic faith. Circle the letter next to the word or phrase that correctly completes each statement. Then check your answers with the answer key at the bottom.

1. Which Gospels contain versions of the Beatitudes?
(a) Matthew and Mark; (b) Matthew and Luke; (c) Luke and John; (d) Mark and John

2. Which of the following Old Testament books is not found in the Protestant canon?
(a) Nehemiah; (b) Hosea; (c) Tobit; (d) Haggai

3. Which Eucharistic Prayer begins with the words, “Lord, you are holy indeed, the fountain of all holiness”?
(a) II; (b) I; (c) III; (d) IV

4. A heresy that taught that Christ exists as two persons rather than as two natures is known as
(a) Pantheism; (b) Hypnotism; (c) Arianism; (d) Nestorianism

5. The first African American priest ordained in the United States was
(a) Augustus Tolton; (b) Louis de Montfort; (c) Jean Baptiste de LaSalle; (d) James Augustine Healy

6. During tough economic times, people can ask for the intercession of _________, the patron saint of bankers and money managers.
(a) Zacchaeus; (b) Philip Neri; (c) Matthew; (d) Mary Magdalene

7. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which of the following form a “single sacred deposit of the Word of God”?
(a) Tradition and Scripture; (b) Scripture and Sacraments; (c) Cosmas and Damien; (d) faith, hope, and love

8. Rites celebrated with catechumens on the third, fourth, and fifth Sundays of Lent are called the
(a) Sacraments of Initiation; (b) Exorcisms; (c) Scrutinies; (d) doxologies

9. The Christian family can be referred to as the
(a) domestic church; (b) imported church; (c) communion of saints; (d) temple of the Holy Spirit

10. A journey (trip) that evokes our earthly journey toward heaven is referred to as a
(a) hermitage; (b) pilgrimage; (c) junket; (d) parsonage

11. The prayer traditionally prayed at 6:00 A.M., 12:00 noon, and 6:00 P.M. is the
(a) Regina Coeli; (b) Agnus Dei; (c) E Pluribus; (d) Angelus

12. The three Lenten disciplines are
(a) poverty, chastity, and obedience; (b) prayer, fasting, and almsgiving; (c) giving up candy, smoking, and swearing; (d) feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick

13. A hymn often sung during the Way of the Cross is
(a) Nihil Obstat; (b) Mater Dei; (c) Shabbat Shalom; (d) Stabat Mater

14. During October 2008, the Synod of Bishops met in Rome to focus on
(a) vocations; (b) St. Paul; (c) Scripture; (d) the clergy sex abuse crisis

15. Which of the following liturgical colors will not appear between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday?
(a) red; (b) green; (c) purple; (d) white

16. What four letters are the initials for the Latin title that Pontius Pilate had written over the head of Jesus on the cross?
(a) RCIA; (b) INRI; (c) AMDG; (d) PHLM

17. What word describes religious communities that live enclosed within the walls of a monastery?
(a) cloistered; (b) mendicant; (c) contemplative; (d) enclaved

18. In nomine Patris, et ____________, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
(a) Memoriam; (b) Domine; (c) Benedictus; (d) Filii

19. Abstinence from meat is to be observed by all Catholics ____ years old and older on Ash Wednesday and on all Fridays of Lent.
(a) 7; (b) 14; (c) 21; (d) 18

20. Which of the following is a Corporal Work of Mercy?
(a) carry your cross; (b) comfort the sorrowful; (c) bear wrongs patiently; (d) clothe the naked

Joe Paprocki, D.Min. is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press in Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of many books including A Well-Built Faith, The Catechist’s Toolbox, God’s Library, Living the Mass (Loyola Press) and Bringing Catechesis and Liturgy Together (Twenty-Third Publications). Joe writes from Evergreen Park, Illinois, where he lives with his wife and serves as an eighth-grade catechist.

Answer Key

1. (b) Matthew’s version of the Beatitudes (5:3-12) is more widely known than Luke’s (6:20-26).
2. (c) Tobit, along with Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and First and Second Maccabees (the “deuterocanonical” books) do not appear in the Protestant canon.
3. (a) Eucharistic Prayer II is based in part on the third-century liturgy of St. Hippolytus.
4. (d) The teaching of Nestorius (386-451), Archbishop of Constantinople, was condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431.
5. (a) Augustus Tolton (1854-1897), a former slave, studied and was ordained in Rome and served primarily in Chicago, Illinois.
6. (c) Saint Matthew was a tax collector before becoming one of Jesus’ Apostles.
7. (a) Paragraph 97 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that Tradition and Scripture make up a “single sacred deposit of the Word of God.”
8. (c) The Scrutinies are rites of self-searching and repentance for the catechumens preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation.
9. (a) The domestic church is “the first school of Christian life” (CCC, no. 1657).
10. (b) Some of the most popular pilgrimage sites for Catholics are the Holy Land, Lourdes, Fatima, and Rome.
11. (d) The Angelus derives its name from the opening words in Latin: Angelus Domini nuntiavit Maria (the angel of the Lord said unto Mary).
12. (b) The Lenten disciplines help us to recommit ourselves to our baptismal call.
13. (d) Stabat mater dolorosa is Latin for “stood the mournful mother.”
14. (c) The theme of the October 2008 Synod was “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.”
15. (b) Green is the liturgical color of Ordinary Time; purple appears throughout Lent; red appears on Palm Sunday and Good Friday; white is the liturgical color of Easter.
16. (b) INRI are the Latin initials for “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
17. (a) An example of a cloistered community are the Cistercians also known as Trappist monks.
18. (d) This is the Sign of the Cross. Filii is the Latin word for “Son.”
19. (b) In addition, Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are to observe fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
20. (d) The Corporal Works of Mercy are derived from Matthew 25:35-36.

Source: CATECHIST Magazine, February 2009

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