I actually have a small collection of pre-Vatican II catechisms and apologetics books, and they are all very much into helping the reader understand the faith.

When I read, say, Flannery O'Connor, Frank Sheed, Dorothy DAy, etc...other great 20th century pre-V2 Catholics, I absolutely do not get a "Don't think = just accept" vibe.

I wasn't there, of course. But I'm just sayin.

And there will be math on the exam.

Not sure if you've seen Clerus dot org yet (curse you spamfilter for refusing the link) but among other things, it has the Bible, cross-referenced with some of the Fathers and the Catechism. And you can download it and use it offline. That site alone, which is a mere fragment of the writing the Church has produced, is bigger than the entire written corpus of some religions.

The beauty I see in the Catholic church is its sheer depth. I don't think there is a bottom to it -- at least not one I'll reach in my lifetime.

I have, for the last year, investigated to see what the Church has for morning and evening prayers. I found a few, and then dug deeper. Then I hit upon a small version of the Office. Then I hit upon the whole system of the Liturgy of the Hours. I am overwhelmed by the scope of it and have not even begun to get into the older Breviary system, not to mention all the specific Propers for all the different orders. You dig, expecting to find a few shards of pottery and you then find you've unearthed Troy.

And the digging changes you. You come to the Church and you say "teach me" and by God, it will teach you. It will bring big, ancient volumes off the shelf and teach you.

This is just one aspect of the faith. I have not even begun to get into serious Biblical exegesis, the documents of the church councils, or the broader theological systems. I fear if I crack open Aquinas's Summa I may fall in and never be seen again.

Robert, my experience parallels yours. Upon first meeting with the priest to discuss my taking the swim, he gave me a list of authors to read (Newman, Chesterton & Knox, among others), told me to buy and dive into the Catechism and gave me another list of helpful websites, e.g. the Vatican’s, the Catholic Pages, and, for a little fun, the Shrine of the Holy Whapping (one of my favorites). He recommend (but did not require) the RCIA classes in his parish. I am attending them and they are demanding and stimulating. My priest also made it clear I could not be received into the Holy Catholic Church if only saw her as a lifeboat for the drowning Episcopalian; I had to embrace her fully and freely.

I thus get a chuckle whenever chucklehead Episcopalian innovators tout that church as one where "you don't have to leave your brain at the door." The richness of intellect to be found in Holy Mother Church is nearly overwhelming and swamps the shallowness found in the Episcopal Church. Compare the writings of Ms. Schori's with the Pope’s for a painfully obvious example.