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What's Your Catholic IQ? March 2010

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by Joe Paprocki

This fun exercise is a great way to review what you know about your Catholic faith.

This fun exercise is a great way to review what you know about your 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 of the page. Share this with your students and their families.

1. Which of the following characters appears only in Luke’s Gospel?
a) Zacchaeus b) Herod c) Peter d) Mary

2. On the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Sundays of Lent, the Church celebrates rites called ____ for the catechumens preparing for Baptism.
a) scrutinies b) mutinies c) scattergories d) exhortations

3. The name of Moses’ father-in-law was
a) Jedediah b) Jeremiah c) Jiminy d) Jethro

4. Which saint was beheaded by King Henry VIII along with St. Thomas More?
a) St. John Cassian b) St. John Fisher c) St. John the Baptist d) St. John Climacus

5. Who was the first Catholic to run for President of the United States as a major party nominee?
a) John Kennedy b) Joseph Smith c) Al Smith d) William Jennings Bryan

6. One year ago, Pope Benedict XVI made a historic visit to this continent.
a) Africa b) Australia c) Antarctica d) Atlantis

7. Jesus Christ is ____ God and ____ man.
a) half, half b) part, part c) literally, figuratively d) true, true

8. Which feast in the liturgical year is considered the “Feast of feasts?”
a) Christmas b) Pentecost c) Easter d) Assumption of Mary

9. Reception of the Sacrament of Penance should be prepared for by an
a) examination of conscience b) epistle c) exorcism d) epiclesis

10. The successful integration of sexuality within the human person (unity of one’s bodily and spiritual being) is known as
a) celibacy b) continence c) chastity d) charity

11. The Feast of the Annunciation commemorates the day that the Angel ____ announced to Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus.
a) Raphael b) Michelangelo c) Gabriel d) Uriel

12. The prayer that many Catholics pray to start their day, giving to God all that they may encounter in the coming day, is known as the
a) Morning Offering b) Angelus c) Te Deum d) Sunrise Special

13. The two martyrs whose feast is celebrated on March 7 are
a) Peter and Paul b) Cosmas and Damien c) Hall and Oates d) Perpetua and Felicity

14. This station of the cross is contained in similar form in the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary.
a) Jesus is nailed to the Cross b) Jesus meets his mother c) Jesus falls the first time d) Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

15. In October 2009, Pope Benedict XVI introduced a concept known as “Personal Ordinariates” to allow entire groups of ____ to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.
a) Anglicans b) Lutherans c) Quakers d) Orthodox Christians

16. The psalm that we sing after the first Scripture reading at Mass is called the
a) Repositorial b) Responsorial c) Antiphonal d) Respiratory

17. Which of the following is not a Marian feast?
a) Assumption b) Visitation c) Annunciation d) Ascension

18. Liturgical catechesis that aims to further initiate the baptized into the Paschal Mystery is known as
a) missiology b) mythology c) mystagogy d) myology

19. A person who has applied to enter a religious community and is awaiting admission is known as a
a) novice b) protestant c) postulant d) applicant

20. The Septuagint refers to the
a) first five books of the Bible b) ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures c) Latin translation of the Bible d) period of the RCIA following Easter

Answer Key

1. a) Zacchaeus (Luke 19) is a great example of the unique characters who appear only in Luke’s Gospel (e.g., Elizabeth and Zechariah, the shepherds, the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son).
2. a) The scrutinies are an opportunity for the catechumens (and all of the faithful) to examine (scrutinize) themselves to identify any obstacles to full discipleship with Jesus.
3. d) Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, is mentioned briefly in Exodus 3:1 shortly before Moses encounters the burning bush.
4. b) St. John Fisher is the only member of the College of Cardinals to have died as a martyr.
5. c) Al Smith was the Democratic nominee for president in 1928, losing the election to Herbert Hoover. He was the first Irish-American to run for the presidency.
6. a) In March 2009, Pope Benedict XVI traveled to Cameroon and Angola in anticipation of the October 2009 Synod of Bishops that focused on the Church in Africa.
7. d) The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “Jesus is inseparably true God and true man” (n. 469). Jesus became truly human without losing his divinity.
8. c) Easter is at the very heart and center of the Church’s liturgical calendar (Catechism, n. 1169).
9. a) An examination of conscience helps the penitent have a clear notion of how he/she needs to repent in order to draw closer to God.
10. c) Chastity is a virtue that all Catholics are called to practice, whether married, single, lay, religious, or ordained.
11. c) The Angel Gabriel visited Mary at Nazareth to announce the birth of Jesus (Luke 1:26). Gabriel also appeared to Zechariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:19).
12. a) A popular form of the Morning Offering is: O my Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you all my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day for your greater honor and glory, the salvation of my soul, for the intentions of our Holy Father, and for the poor souls in purgatory. Amen.
13. d) Perpetua and Felicity were Christian martyrs of the third century. They are often pictured in an embrace because legend has it that, after being wounded by wild beasts, they exchanged the kiss of peace before being put to the sword.
14. a) This station is similar to the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: the crucifixion and death of Jesus.
15. a) “Personal Ordinariates” will allow groups of Anglicans who are disenchanted with the Anglican Church to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church while preserving elements of the Anglican “spiritual patrimony.”
16. b) This title reflects the form in which it is sung/read: The assembly responds with a refrain after a cantor or reader proclaims the verses of the psalm.
17. d) The Feast of the Ascension is traditionally celebrated on the fortieth day after Easter, the sixth Thursday of Easter. In some parts of the U.S. and in some other countries, the feast is moved to the following Sunday: the 7th Sunday of Easter.
18. c) Mystagogy, on one level, refers to the period of catechesis for the neophytes (newly baptized) following Easter. On another level, mystagogy refers to the catechesis in which all of the baptized engage: a liturgical catechesis that aims at drawing us more deeply into the Paschal Mystery.
19. c) The word postulant comes from the Latin postulare meaning “to ask for.” Once a postulant is accepted into a religious community or monastery, he or she enters into a period of formation known as the novitiate.
20. b) The Septuagint served as the Old Testament source for most early Christians. According to legend, 72 Jewish translators, while in a separate chamber, completed the translation into Greek in 72 days. Thus the title Septuagint (septuaginta meaning “seventy” in Latin).

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, The Bible Blueprint, 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 (which he blogs about at catechistsjourney.com).

Source: CATECHIST Magazine, March 2010

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