Questions from 2009

Two Creeds, One Faith

• Dan from Akron: Why are the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed so different?

Trinity

• Gerald from Rochester: Are the persons of the Trinity "distinct ways of being"?
• Diane from Rochester: Do the persons of the blessed trinity worship each other?

Scriptural questions

• Amanuel from Rochester: Both the Old Testament and the New Testament accept slavery. Neither Testament condemns the practice nor encourages rebellion against it. Why did God allow the authors of the Bible to endorse an evil practice?

Catholicism and Science

• Why did the Church condemn Galileo? Is the Church opposed to science?

The Last Things

Heaven

• Susanne from Rochester: What will the New Jerusalem will be like?
• Ann from Orchard Park: How can I explain Heaven to my son if it is a state of being and not a place?

Purgatory

• Ben from Buffalo: When in purgatory do you know you will be saved?
• Jim from Buffalo: Is there any way to know if someone for whom I have been praying for a long time has been released from Purgatory?

Hell

• Rick from Grand Island: In Crossing the Threshold of Hope, John Paul II wrote: "There is a destination to eternal damnation as well, which consists in the ultimate rejection of God, the ultimate break of the communion with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit...Eternal damnation is certainly proclaimed in the Gospel. To what degree is it realized in life beyond the grave? This is, ultimately, a great mystery (pg. 72-73)." On Culture Talks: The Pope made a statement that there is a hell, but can't be sure there are people there.
• Sam from Buffalo: Why does the Apostle's Creed say, "He descended into hell"? We got into a discussion about Heaven and Hell being spiritual states, not physical locations.

Suffering

• Phil from Medina: Why do bad things happen to good people?
• Why did Jesus have to suffer?
• If Jesus' suffering is all-sufficient, why do we have to suffer?

Original Sin

• Why does God punish everybody for Adam and Eve's sin? That doesn't seem to be fair at all.
• John B. from Webster: Why do people die?
• Andrew from Facebook: I've been pondering what I want to call the origin of good and evil. I'm curious as to the Catholic Church's position on whether there is simply a universal existence of good and evil, or if good and evil are essentially sent to us by God? To me it seems that is simply an interesting question without any real effect on us, because if we believe in God, we accept that everything He does is for our best interests no matter the abstract question is answered.

Liturgical Year

• Ty from Rochester - why is there not a First Sunday in Ordinary time?

Priests

• Anna from Rochester: When speaking to a priest, should people use the priest's first name or his last name? In other words, should people say "Father Marty" or "Father Moleski"?

Old Testament History

• David from Lackawana: Did the United Kingdom of Israel break up during King Solomon's reign?
• Brendan in Amherst: How was Jewish society run if there wasn't a King after the Babylonian Captivity in 586 BC? Did it become a theocracy?

Abortion

• Josh from South Buffalo: What can we say to someone who claims that the embryo is not a human until there's brain activity?

Growing in Faith, Hope, and Love

• John from Niagara Falls: My faith has been weakening. How can I strengthen it?

Advice for Parents

• How should parents deal with horror movies, fascination with the occult, and the general acceptance of sin in today's entertainment media?
• Paul from Kenmore: I feel overwhelmed as a parent with risks the internet poses for kids. What can I do to keep them safe?

Other rational species?

• Will from North Carolina: What does the Church teach about aliens? If they exist, are they, too, saved by Jesus' death on the Cross?

Miracles

• Kevin from Buffalo: It seems that very few Catholics today investigate and verify miracles (for acceptance or dismissal), leaving it almost entirely up to atheists. Outside of canonization procedures, of course, but those aren't really public."

Catholic Ethics

General principles

• Mary from Clarence: Why does the Church say that 'the end doesn't justify the means'?

Catholic Medical Ethics

• Mike from Webster: What does the Church teach about organ donation and transplants? Is it OK to sign the organ donor form on our driver's license? Is it OK to accept an organ transplant?

Suicide vs. Accepting Death

• Cathy from Buffalo: Her eleven-year-old grandson asks, 'What if you threw yourself in front of a bullet or a car to save someone, but you knew you'd die as a result. Is that alright?

Prophecy

• John from Wilson: What is the difference between psychics and prophets?

Entertainment and Ethics

• John from Webster: Is it possible to watch a horror movie that portrays evil activities just for entertainment? Or does attendance at the movie mean that the viewer is supporting the work of evil spirits?

End of the World

• Andy from Buffalo: My eighth-graders and they have lots of questions about the end of the world and the book of Revelation. What should he tell them?

Angels

• Joseph from Buffalo: Can Angels read minds? What are the consequences if the devil can also read minds?
• Betty: Does God need the angels? Wouldn't the existence and activity of angels take glory away from God?
• Andrew on Facebook: Could there be any connections between the "personal gods" that people and families invoke in ancient cultures? The book, God: A Biography, suggested this might be the case.
• Fr Mark Noonan from Tonwanda: How close are the angels to us?
• Are all angels masculine? Are there any female angels?

Islam

• Why has there been so much war between Muslims and Christians? Why did Christians think that God would be pleased with the Crusades?
• What books would be helpful in learning more about the history of Catholicism and Islam?

Patriotism

• Kathrine from Byron: Is it ever taking the Lord's name in vain to say "God bless America"? Will God always hear our prayer for our country?

Prayer

• Diane from Rochester: When we pray, why don't we say please?
• Mary from Rochester: Why is it that sometimes God answers our prayers and other times He doesn't?

Rosary

• Kathleen from Rochester: We should pray the rosary for success in battle against the radical Muslins, just as the Church did during the Battle of Lepanto.

Evolution of language

• Rick from Grand Island: Why do languages go dead? Why isn't Latin spoken today as it was in the patristic era?

Development of Doctrine and Discipline

• Tom from Webster: Why do Christians today ignore the commandment in Acts chapter 15 which prohibits eating the blood of animals?
• Emile, a Muslim, from Buffalo: "How much power does the Church have to change Biblical law?"

Protestants vs. Catholics

• Why can't Catholics take communion in Protestant services? Aren't we all supposed to love one another?
• Cecil from Buffalo: Why don't Protestants believe in Mary like we do?
• Why do Protestants and Catholics have a different list of the 10 commandments?

Eucharist

• Diane from Rochester: I was given a strange-looking Host at Mass last week. Does the shape of the Host make any difference?
• Michael from facebook: Just as we need women to bring life into the world, we need our priest to bring us the Eucharist!
• Are lay ministers allowed to run Communion services when priests or deacons are not available?
• Acts 27:33-38 describes Paul as taking bread, giving thanks to God, breaking the bread, and eating it. This sounds like the Eucharist. But then it says that "they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea." Did Paul throw away consecrated bread?
• Tom from Williamsville: If, God forbid, a priest is in mortal sin and is celebrating Mass, does that in any way affect or negate the transubstantiation of the host into the Body and Blood of our Lord?
• Jim from Niagara Falls: What is the significance of the crosses made on the forehead, lips, and heart just before the reading of the gospel?
• Jenne from Facebook: Is it OK to have toys in church for small children?
• May a Roman Catholic attend Mass and receive the Eucharist in Orthodox territory?

Confession

• How should we prepare ourselves make a good confession?
• Susan from Buffalo: How do you go to confession? What is the script to follow?
• Michael from Rochester: How should we deal with leftover feelings of guilt from sins that have been confessed already?
• Scott from Rochester: What is the sin of presumption? Doesn't the Catholic sacrament of Confession encourage presumption?

Marriage

• Should a divorced Methodist man get married to a Roman Catholic woman in the Methodist church because "they will accept anyone"? Would that marriage then be accepted by the Catholic Church?
• Nancy from Buffalo: What does the Church say about Catholics marrying non-Catholics? Can it be done? If so, under what conditions?
• When should Catholics refuse to attend a non-Catholic wedding ceremony?
• Why does the Catholic Church not permit divorce when almost all other Christian groups do?
• What is the difference between an annulment and a divorce? Is an "annulment" just a "divorce" under a different name?
• Can divorced Catholics receive Communion?

Forgiving our enemies

• How can we forgive people who have done real evil to us? Does Jesus require us to "forgive and forget"?

Exclusion from the Sacraments

• Sean from Ontario couldn't be confirmed because his non-Catholic wife is uncertain about baptizing and raising the children as Catholics. Is that the right thing for Sean's priest to do?

Sin

• Is it true that "Love of money is the root of all evils" (1 Tim 6:10)?
• Nancy from Buffalo: Is looking at pornography a sin?
• Where is the boundary line between being conscious of having a sexual appetite and commiting the sin of lust?
• Are there different kinds of sin? Are all mortal sins equally evil?

Indulgences

Amy from Facebook: Must you receive communion on the same day you seek a plenary indulgence or can it be from communion you received days prior?

Addiction and Recovery

• Kathy from Rochester: What does the Church think of the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous?
• Nancy from Buffalo: what do recovering alcoholic priests do when they have to drink the wine/Precious Blood?

Teaching Authority

• Why does the Church call those who disagree with her teaching "heretics"? Didn't Jesus say not to pass judgment on others?

Precepts of the Church

• What are the precepts of the Church? What right does the Church have to boss people around?
• Are Catholics really required to attend Mass on Sunday?

Saints

• Barbara from Kenmore: At a Jesuit parish, the priests gave a blessing with the relics of a saint after Mass was over. Is it appropriate to do that? It seems as though doing so would detract from the greatest possible graces just give in Holy Communion.

Mary

• Marsha from West Seneca would like help on how to explain Mary as the Mother of God to a non-Catholic. Is it in Scripture?
• Kathryn: How did Mary come to be referred to as the "Star of the Sea"? Etymology of "Mary."

Theology

• Gloria from Rochester: "What does the word 'dogmatic' mean?"

Cooperation with Antagonists of the Church

• John in Tonawanda asked whether it would be improper for Catholics to attend a festival promoted by a Hellenic Orthodox Church.
• Leo from Rochester: should we boycott corporations who promote Planned Parenthood and/or same-sex marriage?