Feel free to submit a new question or concern in the comment box below. Various topics and questions are archived here for easy retrieval. Please be courteous. Comments are moderated so please be patient in waiting for them to appear and for any responses. God bless you!
NEW MESSAGES/HOMILIES CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS DEFENDING THE FAITH
Hello Father,
My question is quick but I am assuming not simple. In Genesis they mention a lot of people who were born after Adam. Some of these people love 600 plus years. My question is, was time measured differently back then? I am trying to rationalize how those numbers came to be.
Thank you for your time!
Touchy topic alert: Abortion.
In cases of rape, we’re told that it’s wrong, unfair, and immoral to punish the child for the sin/s of the parent/s. But yet here we are, being punished for what Adam and Eve did! Why is this?
We had no part in Adam and Eve’s actions, not to mention we weren’t even born yet! But nevertheless here we are, filthy and wretched sinners who must depend on Jesus to enter Heaven because no matter what we’ll never be good enough on our own…because of what Adam and Eve did, which we had absolutely no part in and weren’t even around for! How is this fair, moral, and loving?
Dear Father,
We live in a town with only one Catholic CHurch. As our daughter does not attend Catholic School (but we do teach her the Catholic Faith at home with Seton Homeschool Religion), we have a desire for her to be around other Catholic children to grow in the Faith. Right now she is an only child, and my husband’s entire family is Hindu (in India), and my own family w/ children her age is in other States, or doesn’t follow Catholic teaching anymore, and one cousin (and her family) who has children of a similar age, have become Orthodox. Due to the Covid 19 Pandemic, our Parish is down to only one Religious ed day and that is not a good day or time for her. She is age 7 and has not received First Holy communion yet. We are concerned that she will lose her Catholic Faith (or connection w/ any kind of Sacramental life) with this scenario. Another Catholic Church we attend a half an hour away is having a worse issue- cancelling all classes except Grade 2.. As she does have friends who are of the Orthodox Faith, and is actually interested in attending their Sunday School, is this ok to do? We would go to Mass on Saturday evenings. She tends to be very influenced by her peers and I feel that she will abandon all types of Sacramental thought without being able to connect with peers. Perhaps I could talk to the people in charge of the Orthodox Sunday school to make sure that nothing is being taught that is contrary to the Catholic Faith..(We have gone to their Vespers services, which I have asked my Pastor and he tells me this is ok., just can’t receive Sacraments from them…)
But then this all leaves me to question what will happen next yr when she would be in second grade and ready to receive First Holy Communion in the Catholic Church…Our area is mostly Mormon and we also have a fair amount of Evangelicals and other Protestants…She is already telling me she wants to be “LDS” like her friends in our neighborhood, and that she is “not Catholic”-despite her Baptism and my Catholic influence-and this breaks my heart. THank you in advance for your reply.
Hey Father,
Recently I came across the argument that “Just because something is natural, does not mean that it is moral,” and I think that for the most part this makes sense. The argument was in specific reference to paedophilia, and the guy used it to draw contrast to homosexuality.
Personally, I have some friends who are gay (not Christian), but who are good people at heart and I think for them it should be perfectly okay and moral for them to love somebody regardless of sex – however, I do not think paedophilia is okay.
The problem arises that when asserting that just because something is natural doesn’t mean it’s moral, it points to the existence of an objective morality – in this case, God. And when the objective morality comes from God who says homosexuality is a sin and not moral, I come to a crossroads in my belief system.
The closest I have come to an answer is that God said the greatest commandment of them all was to “love all”, and who am I to judge?
I suppose I would just like to hear your opinion and thoughts on this.
Thank you and have a blessed 2021,
Benjamin.
I grew up in a small strict Protestant church. I was taught that sex was a sin— period; and if you did it you were going to hell— period.
Our Lady told us that most people go to hell for sins of the flesh. So there you have it. The only other sin of the flesh that I can think of is gluttony.
It could be forgiven if you were doing it to have children but you still had to repent. Every time they talked about the unforgivable sin, I knew what they were talking about.
Joanne in Ohio
Monasticism (or priesthood) has been practiced for a long time; Wouldn’t be the end if every single person adopted priesthood (or Monasticism), females to be nuns and males to become priests, aiming to get close to God?
Look forward to your kind answer.
Hi Fr. Joe,
Thank you for your generous gift of time, energy, and patience answering our questions. My question is about the Holy Spirit. Was the Holy Spirit present on earth in the same way before Pentacost as after Pentacost? What changed at Pentacost? I thought that the Ascension of Jesus was necessary so that He could leave behind for us the gift of the Holy Spirit as our intercessor. Does that mean that the world was void of the Holy Spirit before Pentacost? Thank you.
Hi father, is the Charismatic Movement supported by the Catholic Church? I’ve been reading the prophetic words of prophets or intercessors on individual blogs or on sites like Elijah List or Spirit Fuel. The blogs I read usually make statements like “the words I heard in prayer this morning are…”. The blogs of prophets I do read don’t claim to be psychics (if they did I wouldn’t read it or anything related to the Occult. The prophet I am drawn to reading more says she feels call to share these words to help the body of Christ. Are there modern day prophets in the Catholic Church?
I need some St Benedict medals blessed. Can I just pour holy water on them, or does a priest need to bless them? Thank you father
Jeff please do not do it. When we hurt ourselves we also hurt others . we may not realize it but it is very true and (we may not realize it in the midst of our on pain) Please listen to our Lord. Listen to others get help. I’ve been there.
I hope you can find some help. Suicide is not the answer. Went we hurt our selfs we are really hurting others ( we just don’t realize that in the midst of our pain) just like when we hurt others we hurt our selfs. Please wait , get help. God is there listen to him.
Father Joe, what are your thoughts about seeking psychic advice from a Christian pastor, who clearly professes faith in God and tells those who seek her advice that they should pray to God? She claims her gifts are from God.
Seems similar to some of our Catholic saints who were psychics/mystics as well (e.g., Padre Pio)
Hello Father, I am here as in my younger years I would say I was quite religious but not perfect. I lost lot of will to follow god when my grandparents passed away before their time. They were both good people and had never harmed anyone or anything. Other things followed which meant my belief diminished. People told me these things happened as they were a test from God. If they were a test of my faith then I failed my test. Although I no longer attend church or lead a particularly religious life style I find myself talking to God but not through pray but through general conversation. I have found myself asking him for forgiveness now and then if I feel I have done something wrong. I find I ask him questions of why he lets certain things happen but I get no response. Now this might sound crazy but at times I will ask him for help with minor things and they tend to happen and come through for me. We aren’t talking winning the lottery etc. Just minor Asks. I suppose my questions are why does the lord choose to test our faith. What is the reason for him doing so. If he loves us why does he sometimes make life so hard? Also I admit to fully failing my test of faith and not leading a fully Christian lifestyle ( I am still kind to others and help where I can) why does he still listen and answer my smaller prayers with results or are they just coincidence
Hello Father, I have a delicate question. I’m a young man who is interested in other men. Since I was young I’ve been interested in both genders. I’ve always seen myself ending up with a woman and raising a family but at the moment I’m single. My question is would it be so bad if I go on one date with another man? The most I would do with him is a kiss but even that worries me. I’m worried that me going forth with my date will resulted in going to hell. Thank you Father and I understand if you don’t want to answer.
I have been saying rosaries and novenas for my son Gabriel as was diagnosed with a brain tumor which was removed and now it’s a rare lymphoma. Prayed so hard that he would be fine and have prayed all my life to keep them safe. Why is God not hearing me and why are my prayers not being answered?