Ask a Priest

5,442 Responses

paul, on February 25, 2013 at 1:43 pm said:

hi father! don’t you require nor encourage Catholics to read Bibles??? Because some priests here don’t want to see their members to read it. If they are caught, Bibles that they have read are confiscated by those priests….. Hoping for a reply..tnx

FATHER JOE: And where is here? And who are the priests? This is silliness… Catholic priests encourage bible study and give away bibles. I am constantly giving away economy New American Bibles to people who come to the door. What you say just does NOT ring true!
cham, on February 23, 2013 at 10:13 am said:

Can you furnish a copy of our Dogma to all Catholics who are interested to read it???

FATHER JOE: Dogma? The universal catechism is online:

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM
cham, on February 23, 2013 at 10:11 am said:

Good day father, just want to ask, why wouldn’t you require Catholics to bring Bibles every Mass.?

Because what protestants accused us is of our mass is not Bible based.

FATHER JOE: Some Catholic churches have bibles in the pews. In any case, the missals or missalettes contain the Sunday Scriptures of the day. Mass is very biblical but not the same as bible-study. It is worship. Protestants have neither the Eucharist nor the Priesthood. Why do you keep emphasizing the Protestant view of things over the Catholic? Seriously, see your local priest and start taking catechesis for the sacraments.
Hecsan, on February 23, 2013 at 2:08 am said:

Why is the Catholic Church in Germany allowing for “emergency contraception”?

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=17134&amp

If the morning after pill doesn’t prevent pregnancy then why take it? However it does prevent pregnancy.

FATHER JOE: This pill can prevent pregnancy. Actually, the German bishops have given a tentative okay for Catholic hospitals to dispense it under highly restrictive circumstances, notably rape. All the reasons put forward by a hedonistic organization like Planned Parenthood would not fit the bill. It is still forbidden in regard to consensual “unprotected” intercourse. Condomistic intercourse is intrinsically immoral. IUDs are inherently abortifacient. Failure of any other form of contraceptive drug or device would not qualify as an applicable emergency. This decision has precedent in that certain nuns have been permitted to take prophylactics in areas where there was a high probability of sexual assault. The reasoning here is that there was no intent to engage in sexual activity or to mimic the marital act. Much hinges upon the assumption that the morning-after pill discussed here will help prevent conception and not cause an abortion. Acidification of the vagina will kill sperm. However, if the purpose is to prevent implantation of the conceived egg, then it would remain immoral. Here is where the decision of the German bishops worries me. While I can appreciate their reasoning in theory, I fear that it will be exploited wrongly in practice. It seems to me that such a pill could only be prescribed after tests have determined that there has been no ovulation. Once conception has taken place, rape or no rape, the unborn child has an inviolate right to life.
Fredo, on February 22, 2013 at 9:57 pm said:

Hey Cham, seems like you have a lot of questions, go to
http://www.scripturecatholic.com.

It will give you the biblical basis for the teachings of the church; many biblical texts and texts from many early church fathers. Anything from praying to the saints, why Mary was a perpetual virgin, why she is the Queen of Heaven and not a pagan Goddess. It will answer pretty much anything.

FATHER JOE: Just a brief warning, while I also liked John Salza’s “biblical basis” books and website, one must be very careful of some of his recent stances. He is overly sympathetic toward the SSPX and negative against Vatican II. He is wrongly critical of Pope Benedict XVI and John Paul II, the reformed Mass, ecumenism, etc. He has associated himself with the renegade priest, Fr. Nicholas Gruner and The Fatima Crusader. Neither has Church approbation and the priest has no faculties from either his home bishop or from the local one to function as a priest. Salza no longer appears on EWTN because of his stances against the living Church. Be wary of those who prefer dead popes to living ones. Further, while I might like the Latin liturgy, there is nothing magical about it or anything sinister about the vernacular Mass. Both have strengths and weaknesses. But the core mystery of sacrifice and presence is the same.
cham, on February 22, 2013 at 7:10 am said:

Father. Good day. Just asking if I can listen to Christian Music made by Protestants, like (if you are aware of) songs from Hillsong, Chris tomlin, Jaci Velasquez, Micheal Smith or Casting Crowns???

FATHER JOE: Yes, certainly, although please note that sometimes the doctrinal content might differ with Catholicism, particularly regarding the status of the dead and our posture of prayer in their regard: praying for the poor souls in purgatory, praying with the saints of heaven and abiding in the HOPE and not in the absolute ASSURANCE of salvation. References to Mary and the Bible might also differ somewhat from Catholic teaching.
cham, on February 21, 2013 at 2:37 pm said:

Father, I was not into the sacrament of confirmation at 12 y/o because my mother did not let me to do so. But now I’m 21, I accepted the teaching of the Catholic Church since I was 19 and I also accept the Eucharist during masses. Is it Okay???

I’m ashamed of having a confirmation at this age…

Before receiving your first Holy Communion, were you given catechesis? Have you ever been to Confession. The Church requires First Confession before First Communion.

FATHER JOE: Do not be embarassed about the lack of catechesis or missing sacraments. It was not your fault. At Pentecost, thousands of Catholic adults are Confirmed by their bishops at the respective cathedrals. You are not alone. Contact your parish and ask for adult formation for missing sacraments. You will enjoy the instruction and the sacraments will give you additional grace. Peace!
cham, on February 21, 2013 at 1:37 pm said:

what can you say about healing priests here in the philippines?

FATHER JOE: It is a mixed bag. But all priests should obey their bishops and the people of faith should avoid pursuing the sensational. Faith is not a magic show. Ultimately, all priests are “healing priests” in that such is the function of the sacraments.
cham, on February 21, 2013 at 1:37 pm said:

What can you say about what angelica zambrano said that POPE JOHN PAUL II is in HELL along with MICHAEL JACKSON?

FATHER JOE: It is a terrible deception, facilitated either for personal gain or because of mental illness or demonic oppression. Her faith community is anti-Catholic and this fits their fundamentalist agenda. She condemns Catholics as idolaters. That means that her false vision damns ALL CATHOLICS, not just Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II. Unless you accept her brand of religion, you are condemned to hell. This is not from God. At least Dante was literary fiction. This girl and those who use her will have to make an accounting to God for the damage they do with this deceit and attack against Holy Mother Church. Entertainers do not fare well in her vision, including Michael Jackson. We live in the hope of our salvation. Catholics pray for the dead and leave judgment to God. I cannot claim inside knowledge about the final spiritual disposition of souls; but, neither can she. Measured against the true faith, her vision is judged FALSE.
cham, on February 21, 2013 at 1:32 pm said:

do we worship saints???

FATHER JOE: No, as with Mary, we love and remember the heroic members of our family in faith but we do not worship them. They also love us and can pray for us. Again, the direct object of all prayer, even that which asks for saintly intercession or collaboration, is Almighty God. Divine worship given to any person or thing other than God is mortally sinful. The great act of worship for Catholics is the Mass.
cham, on February 21, 2013 at 1:32 pm said:

thank you father… the reason why i attended baptist service is because of my mother who forces me to go with her… I got back to Catholic Church since 2011.. thank you…
convertchronicles, on February 21, 2013 at 11:08 am said:

Father I would like to know if voting for certain politicians is ever a sin?

Also Father is it a sin to vote for a politician who will abolish civil marriages (and let individuals and churches define marriage, ie keeping the state out of it). I don’t care if it is a good idea, I want to know if it is a sin or not.
-Mitch

FATHER JOE: Did you not already ask a variation of this question? The state has an invested interest in marriage. I am not sure if a politician who thinks otherwise is thus sinning, maybe just stupid? Marriage and the family is a basic building block of a healthy moral society. The basic or organic definition of marriage flows from natural law, not civil and not even immediately from Church law.
Andrew, on February 21, 2013 at 8:10 am said:

Thank you

I see a truth in your words that I wasn’t present to before
Andrew, on February 21, 2013 at 7:36 am said:

Hello, my name is Andrew and lately my faith has been in question. I fell in love with a woman but I have no way to approach her. She probably doesn’t even know me. But her image plagues my thoughts. I have reoccurring dreams about her and feel so empty when I think of her. Every night I pray, please Father, let me forget her or find the strength (at least) to approach her about my feelings. But nothing happens. I can’t help but feel that God is not listening. I’m becoming so depressed. I can’t focus on other healthy relationships. What should I do? Is God really listening to me?

FATHER JOE: How old are you, Andrew? If you are an adult then you have to step up and behave like one. You may need healing but it is wrong to expect or to demand that God baby you. Fascination over a girl is NOT love. If she does not know you, then there can be no mutuality in feeling and love. You should stop being afraid. If you are both single then approach her and start a conversation. Ask her out for dinner and a movie. Does she share your faith? If so, you might also ask her to attend church with you. My parents met in church. God is listening and he cares; but no one can live your life for you. Life is full of risks. But if you never take a chance, are you really living? You have to accept the possibility that she will reject you. That is her freedom and her right. There are other nice girls in this world. Be strong… be brave… be a man.
Cham, on February 20, 2013 at 10:27 pm said:

Greetings, Father Joe, I just want to ask these following questions.

I am a Catholic but have attended a Primitive Baptist service for 11 years; I was never baptized by them. I am confused about the REAL role of Virgin Mary.

Is she a goddess?

Why do we need to pray to her to pray for us? If there is only one GOD, the Creator and Savior Jesus Christ, who is Mary really— the most favored?

Do we worship her?

Why do we need to pray to her to help us if we can go directly to Jesus?

Is it required for all Catholics to have Marian Devotion?

Please take note of all the questions that should be answered. Please, Father I am really confused.

FATHER JOE:

First, if you are a Catholic, why have you been attending a Baptist service for over a decade? Do you still go to Mass? Many of your questions could be answered in the context of a Catholic parish, both through the regular preaching and catechetical program. If you are doing “double-duty” to support a non-Catholic spouse, you might listen, sing and privately pray, but are forbidden to take an active part in the Protestant worship service. A precept of the Church obliges (under pain of mortal sin) Catholics to participate at Mass on all Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation. Such attendance at non-Catholic services endangers the Catholic faith. While we might share a common love for Jesus and his holy Word, there are significant errors and falsehoods in their preaching and bible-interpretation.

Second, the very fact that these questions are raised illustrates how you have short-changed your Catholic instruction and religious devotion. Given that you ask if Mary is a goddess makes me think that someone is feeding you anti-Catholic poison.

Mary is not a goddess. She is a blessed creature chosen by God to be the Mother of Jesus, the long-promised Messiah. Jesus Christ is God made man, the Second Person of the Trinity, our Lord and Redeemer. Motherhood is more than just providing a womb or being a physical incubator. Mary will always be the Mother of Jesus. She will always love him with a Mother’s heart; indeed, she likewise loves the spiritually adopted sons and daughters of the Father, as well. We become kin to Christ in faith and baptism. Jesus is our elder brother in the royal household of God. That makes Mary the Queen Mother. At the Cross Jesus gave her to us through our emissary John. The Mother of the Redeemer becomes the Mother of all the Redeemed. We can certainly address our prayers directly to God. But we are also a community or family. We ask others to pray for and with us. Mary has a singular role as the “woman of faith,” “the handmaid of the Lord,” and “the first disciple of her Son.” Jesus kept all the commandments, including the one about honoring his mother Mary and his (foster) father Joseph. All we are doing is imitating Jesus in loving and honoring Mary. The angel at the Annunciation declares Mary to be “full of grace” or the “most favored” daughter. We venerate and respect Mary. We show our love for her. However, all prayer has as its object Almighty God. We direct our divine worship to God. Even churches dedicated under her name preach the Word and celebrate the sacrament of Jesus Christ. He makes possible our approach to the heavenly Father. We are animated or moved by the power of the Holy Spirit. God is not just the object of our prayer; he takes the initiative in gifting us with faith.

Ours is not a privatized faith, but both a personal and corporate one. None of us come to Jesus alone. Someone preached God’s Word to us or translated the Bible for our reading. Someone witnessed the Gospel to us and helped us to know that God loved us and had called us to share his life. We come to the Eucharist and participate with the minister who participates in the one priesthood of Christ. We seek the mercy of God in the sacrament of Reconciliation through the ministers of mercy appointed by God. Catholicism, as the original form of Christianity, is a mediated faith that takes the incarnation seriously. God became a man. Something of God’s face is revealed in the human countenance. Mary is the chief saint in the cloud of witnesses who prays for and with us. The immaculate heart of Mary beats in harmony with the sacred heart of Jesus. We invoke her patronage because such is the posture of a child to his mother and such is integral to divine providence.

The late authority on Mary, Fr. Frederick Jelly claimed that there can be no true devotion to Christ that would utterly subtract Mary. Although, he allowed that such might only be implicit as an element of one’s love for Christ. The Catholic question in response would be: why would anyone want to cripple his faith by neglecting the gifts associated with Mary? We have the rosary which allows us to meditate on the saving mysteries of Christ. Mary is always directing her children back to Jesus. Even her title, MOTHER OF GOD, is not so much about her as it is a defense of Jesus’ identity as a divine person (a truth denied or compromised by Arians and Nestorians). Mary’s part in salvation history is significant: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Presentation, Finding Jesus in the Temple, the Wedding Feast at Cana, and the Sorrowful Mother at the Foot of the Cross. The Catholic dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption are also important. The All Holy One comes into the world through a sinless vessel (due to Christ’s prevenient graces) to rescue us from sin and death. The resurrection was not a one-time event, but along with Mary, we can all hope for life and restoration in Christ.
Jonathan, on February 18, 2013 at 1:13 am said:

Oh failed to answer your question on resurrection, quite important since we are discussing the patron saint system!

“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven” – John 3:13.

This is why the idea of praying to the Saints is so wrong! They cannot hear, for they lie in Sheol until judgment day (but luckily time is relative and our world is a blink of the eye in terms of time outside the world).

FATHER JOE: Look at the larger biblical passage: “If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” It is almost as if the Lord meant this for you, given your difficulty in understanding “heavenly things.” The Church teaches that Jesus is God. He became man (come down from heaven) and is in no way breeched from heaven (gone up to heaven). Indeed, Christ always sees the face of the Father (Beatific Vision). Given that heaven is where God is, Jesus carries something of heaven with him. It is because of Christ’s identity and power that he can allow himself to die for us on the Cross (the Son of Man lifted up) so that believers might have a share in “eternal life.” When Jesus uttered these words, the righteous dead still awaited their Savior in the abode of the dead (also called the limbo of the fathers). Jesus descended to the dead and took the righteous dead with him into paradise. It is essential that you look at the immediate setting and the chronology of events.

If you know Hebrew, the word Sheol appears frequently and it is stated that even the Saints rest in Sheol, not in Heaven, in: Job 7:21, Job 14:12-14, Psalm 49:12-15. EVEN MOSES (Deuteronomy 31:16 he goes to rest with his ancestors in Sheol it appears only Elijah is given an exception).

Psalm 115:17 – “The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence.” (The Hebrew word for silence there is a word often referring to Sheol.)

Isaiah 38:18 – “For Sheol does not thank you; death does not praise you; those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness.”

Daniel 12 – “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

FATHER JOE:

Most of my language studies were in Latin and Greek. But I bet I know more Hebrew than you do. Note here that all these references are in the Old Testament, before the saving dispensation of Christ. Jesus dies and enters the abode of the dead. When he rises from there he takes the righteous dead with him. This truth is made clear in the Apostles’ Creed. Catholicism teaches that there is a particular judgment at the time of death and later a final judgment of all where purgatory will cease to exist and there will only be heaven and hell. We will not be disembodied souls or corpses forever. We believe in the resurrection and the glorification of the body. The apocalyptic language of Daniel makes some allusion to this judgment and final consummation.

This limbo of the fathers or Sheol as you call it no longer exists. The way from this world to paradise is no longer barred by the primordial disobedience. Christ has made atonement. Just as he promised the Good Thief on the Cross, the saints are immediately translated into heaven. They rest in the Lord. But the sleep of the dead is not really sleep. They are with the Lord and are awake or conscious. They share in the Easter Mystery. Note that even prior to Christ’s redemptive death and resurrection, there is some cross-over as we see with the Transfiguration: Christ appears alongside Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:3). God does not deceive. They are not merely phantoms to emphasize the law and the prophets. Ours is the God of the living and not the dead.

If another voice will help you understand, read what Father William Saunders has to say: “…we believe that the sin of Adam and Eve had closed the Gates of Heaven. The holy souls awaited the Redeemer in the land of the dead, or hell. Our Lord offered the perfect sacrifice for all sin by dying on the cross, the redemptive act that touches all people of every time — past, present and future. He was then buried. During that time, He descended among the dead: His soul, separated from His body, joined the holy souls awaiting the Savior in the Land of the Dead. Remember St. Paul wrote, ‘He ascended — what does this mean but that He had first descended into the lower regions of the earth? He who descended is the very one who ascended high above the heavens, that He might fill all men with His gifts’ (Ephesians 4:9-10). His descent among the dead brought to completion the proclamation of the Gospel and liberated those holy souls who had long awaited their Redeemer. The Gates of Heaven were now open, and these holy souls entered everlasting happiness enjoying the beatific vision. Please note Jesus did not deliver those souls damned to eternal punishment in hell nor did He destroy hell as such; they remained in that state and place of damnation begun at the time of their particular judgment.”

So all your ideas of praying to saints are wrong in that they cannot hear, and sinful if you heed my claims about the Roman Patron Saint system being a copy of the Roman Patron God system.

FATHER JOE: Your private interpretation has led you to make serious mistakes. The saints are alive in Christ. They are united to us (the Church Militant or the Pilgrim Church) as the heavenly Church in Glory. You are attacking both the communion of the saints and the profound unity of the Church as Christ’s Mystical Body. Love is not extinguished or put on hold by death. The saints continue to love us and to pray for us.

The Saints rest “in the dust” until judgement day. The Bible is VERY clear on this issue. Crystal clear. Quite a different story from what is claimed in Catholicism.

FATHER JOE: The Bible and the teachings of the Church on this subject are accessible to all, but your confusion shows that such matters are not “crystal clear” to everyone. You jumble matters and make several dire errors. You do so, not because you really want to learn or know, but because you would close your mind to Catholic truths and tear down what the Holy Spirit has accomplished.
Jonathan, on February 18, 2013 at 12:53 am said:

FATHER JOE: You have merely parroted lies and deceptions from anti-Catholics who hate the Church.

JONATHAN: To clarify I do not parrot and came to ALL of these conclusions on my own without ANY input from another human being.

FATHER JOE: I do not believe you. Your agenda was fed to you and you swallowed the poison. More than that, you would poison others, too. We all have the support of others, even if just in providing translations of God’s Word. We also inherit much from our family and friends. The Catholic faith gives us food: particularly the nourishment of God’s Word and the Eucharist.

JONATHAN: I was once a staunch supporter of “the Church,” and used to read the old Papal statements encouraging crusade against Islam with glee.

FATHER JOE: Excuse me? There has not been a crusade since the thirteenth century. Islam threatened a Christian Europe. The Church sought to insure safe passage for pilgrims to the Holy Land. What statements did you read? Why would you take delight, as a believer today, in warring with Islam? What you say just does not add up.

JONATHAN: Then Jesus came to me in a vision and told me how wrong I was. I was shocked because I thought Islam to be the antichrist, so I re-read Revelations and my jaw dropped open because I realized it was my beloved Church which was the antichristian force. The “woman riding a beast” (a church-state, and there is only one country that is also a church on Earth). It does indeed make more sense that it is from within “the Church” that the antichrist exists, rather than an external threat (Islam).

FATHER JOE: I still insist that you had “help” in coming to your stance of bigotry against the Church. You state that you were Catholic. Did you receive all your sacraments, i.e. Baptism, Confession, Eucharist, and Confirmation? Did you receive catechesis in school? What was the source for your information? What did you read or who influenced you during your “vision” and so-called private revelation? It is the role of Church authority to give confirmation to visions and supernatural messages. You are either psychologically deranged or deceived by the devil. Who or what is the anti-Christ? Would it surprise you to know that you are playing that role? The Catholic Church is the Mystical Body of Christ. Attacks upon the Church are attacks upon Christ. This is precisely where you blaspheme against the Holy Spirit. Despite all that the Church does in Christ’s name, you label her as the “anti-Christian force.”

Matthew 12:22-32: Then they brought to him a demoniac who was blind and mute. He cured the mute person so that he could speak and see. All the crowd was astounded, and said, “Could this perhaps be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons.” But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste, and no town or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself; how, then, will his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

JONATHAN: As for your questions:

FATHER JOE: Do you follow the Hebrew Sabbath or the Christian Sunday Observance?

JONATHAN: The Hebrew Sabbath (begins Friday, ends Saturday), and I’d mention that ONLY CATHOLICS changed it to Sunday. Many Protestants still follow it because their Church broke from Catholicism so they didn’t know any better. The Orthodox Church still maintains the Sabbath as Saturday (they call Sunday “the Lord’s day” instead). Unfortunately few Protestant churches do (Seventh Day Adventists do but I take issue with their Ellen White cult).

FATHER JOE:

Actually, the stance of the Eastern churches and Catholicism are essentially the same. We both recognize a distinction between the Hebrew Sabbath and the Christian Sunday Observance. Catholics also call Sunday, “the Lord’s Day,” a reference that can be found in the New Testament. The transition occurred naturally in the early Church given the expulsion of Christians from the synagogues and the massive conversions of Gentiles. The gravity of the resurrection as a new creation took precedence over the old. Most Protestant churches have no problem with the Sunday Observance. Where do you worship if not in a Seventh Day Adventist church? Do you even have a “church” or are you a religion of one. That is assuredly not what Jesus intended. It seems to me that you share a number of beliefs with the so-called cult you denounce.

Do you believe in any institutional and historical church or is all religion privatized? Is there any ministerial structure to your religion or cult?

JONATHAN: I do not doubt that many Catholics are good and their Church may indeed be the rock. Unfortunately the Bible is clear that the threat to Christianity comes from within, that Satan desires to “sit upon the mount of the congregation” (Isaiah 14).

FATHER JOE:

This verse from Isaiah says nothing about the Church. The Church is not Babylon. You cannot attack the Church as “anti-Christ” and then back-pedal with affirmation of her as a bulwark. There is an important distinction that you fail to make: the Church is holy because Christ is holy and yet the Church is composed of sinners who need God’s mercy. Opposition to Christ can be found among our membership and outside the visible boundaries of the Church. As for my question here, you fail to give any real answer. What is your church or cult?

Do you believe in an immortal soul? Do you believe in heaven and hell?

JONATHAN: Yes. Yes.

FATHER JOE:

This at least is Catholic as the SDAs do not believe in a soul and argue that the damned are never awakened, thus denying the existence of hell.

Do you believe in angels and how would you identify Michael?

JONATHAN: Yes. He is the leader of God’s Army and will defeat Satan as in Revelations (though I am open to the idea that aliens, if they exist at all, are in fact the celestial beings mentioned in Revelations and that the battle is in fact a space battle between good and bad “angels,” since the ancients have no way of describing aliens other than as celestial beings). But even if true, I believe in the existence of a non-corporeal class of beings such as Cherubim and Grigori.

FATHER JOE:

Okay, now you have gone beyond bad books to maybe bad television, you know like Discovery Channel, that gives us side-by-side documentaries on Noah’s Ark, the Lost Tomb of Jesus, Big Foot and Aliens. In regard to Michael, here again you give an orthodox answer, as the SDAs view him as the pre-incarnate Christ. Angels are pure spirits and that is a type of alien, minus the flying saucers and antennae. The Church also speaks of ranks of angels although there is no official teaching, that I know of, regarding the Watchers or Grigori of Jewish mythology.

Is Jesus a divine or human person? Does he have a complete human nature or does he pretend to be a man and to suffer and die?

JONATHAN: Jesus is divine, the Son of God.

FATHER JOE:

Yes, and that answers the question WHO Jesus is. As for the question WHAT, Jesus has both a complete human nature and a divine nature.

What does the resurrection say about our destiny? Do you believe in the resurrection of the body? You give no response.

Do you believe in the Trinity? What is the relationship between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit? What is this “three-ness” and how does it relate to ONE God?

JONATHAN: The Trinity is likely the divine family. Just as our family is “ONE,” so could one say such of the Trinity. But Jesus does say things that seem to differentiate between Himself and the Father (“for the Father is greater than I,” etc.). But I claim no pretension of knowing completely and neither should anyone on Earth. I’ve been visited by Jesus and the Father and the feeling was VERY different in each instance. I could see Jesus, but the Father was a blinding light that left me shaking for hours afterwards.

FATHER JOE:

You are starting to scare me again. If you were really receiving messages from heaven, you would be drawn closer to the Church, not set in opposition to her. Remember, even the devil can falsely appear as a messenger of light.

While we might use the analogy of the family, it strains to preserve the unity of God. There is ONE God, not three. That ONE God is THREE divine Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You are right; we are dealing with a profound mystery. My preference is for the analogy of the mind. God the Father KNOWS himself in a perfect and infinite way. That which is perfect and infinite is by definition divine. God in KNOWING himself generates from all eternity THE WORD or LOGOS (the Second Person of the Trinity). We use many words to express our fragmented ideas. The more perfect something is— the simpler it is. God has ONE idea, one Word, and yet that one Word includes all that there is and everything that God is about. The Word becomes flesh. God reveals himself in Jesus Christ, the Son of God— the Incarnate Word. Between the Father and the Son is eternal good will. Again, this LOVE is perfect and infinite; such by definition is God. Thus, the Father and Son in LOVING each other from all eternity generate the Holy Spirit— the Paraclete (the Third Person of the Trinity).

What must a person do or believe to encounter salvation?

JONATHAN: A person should become God’s willing servant. Repent. It is up to God alone to grant salvation, no priest can do this as it is blasphemy for a man to claim to forgive sins (Mark 2:6, 7; Luke 5:21). The Jews thought Jesus was a blasphemer when He claimed such power, because they were ignorant of the fact He is God.

FATHER JOE:

And you seem ignorant of the presence of Christ in his Mystical Body, the Church. First, Jesus did indeed have this power to forgive sins (Matthew 9:5-6). Second, as the source of divine mercy, he had the authority to extend the power to forgive sins to his apostles and then in turn to priests (Matthew 9:8). The commission to baptize the nations is a command to extend the mercy of God (Matthew 28:16-20). Look at John 20:20-23: “When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. [Jesus] said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’”

Who composed and compiled the biblical canon and books? Where did you get your bible and did the translators share your doctrinal beliefs and belong to your church? Can you fluently read Greek and Hebrew?

JONATHAN: I use many different visions to compare and find the differences sometimes revealing but the consistency is amazing for a 2,000 year old document. I have a Greek and Hebrew Bible. I am Jewish on my mother’s side and she went to a Hebrew school growing up.

FATHER JOE:

Versions vary but had the Catholic Church not preserved the New Testament documents, there would be no complete Bible. Again, you did not answer the questions. The Catholic Church preserved and transmitted the Scriptures. She translated them (Old Testament and New) from Greek to Latin. The Catholic Church even decided which books constituted the Bible, a canon that was not challenged until the Reformation and Martin Luther.

Have you read the universal Catholic Catechism from cover to cover or only ignorant and bigoted books about Catholicism?

JONATHAN: Of course not, and I doubt you’ve read the Westminster Confession of Faith, essentially the Protestant rebuttal.

FATHER JOE:

Actually I have, as part of my historical studies. But, given that you are neither Episcopalian nor Presbyterian, I fail to see how such would be normative for your faith. Drawn up in 1646 it is a Calvinistic document that was so anti-Catholic that even mainline Protestants now disown the section where the Pope is condemned as the anti-Christ and the Mass as idolatry. While there are a number of Catholic or Christian elements, it is a man-made document and not an expression of the true magisterium established by Christ. Is this the constitution of faith by which you live?

Do you give any importance to water baptism?

JONATHAN: Yes. I was baptized. But it MUST be done voluntarily. Or if you will do infant baptism, out of superstitious worry that God won’t let them into Heaven if they haven’t had water on their head, they should still baptize again as an adult. And to truly be baptized they need to be bathed in water as the disciples were, out of the convictions of their beliefs, not put a little water on their foreheads. Again Catholicism shows a belief in the power of ritual instead of the baptism being the display of faith in God.

FATHER JOE:

The Jews and early Christians did not always baptize with full-body immersion. Pouring, sprinkling (rare) and immersion are all practice legitimately by the Catholic Church going back to time immemorial. The first clear reference to pouring or affusion is in the Didache from around 100 AD (the tail end of the apostolic period). Look at the seventh chapter: “But if you have no living (running) water, baptize into other water; and if you cannot do so in cold water, do so in warm. But if you have neither, pour out water three times upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit.” The stories of early martyrs describe how many were baptized in prison where immersion was impossible. Sick or elderly people could also not be submerged. Whole households were baptized, and this no doubt included children. Given the high child mortality, parents wanted to make sure that their children were baptized, not just remitting original sin but accessing grace and making them members of Christ’s Church.

Did you call your instructors in school by the title “teacher” or “master”? Did you call your male parent by the label “father”?

JONATHAN: If your hand has caused you to sin, have you cut it off? If your eye has caused you to sin, have you plucked it out? That is the literal interpretation. I believe Jesus was pointing out that extremism in virtue is no vice. If you must take the extreme, like cutting off your hand, to prevent sin, then do it. I think a more relevant one would be voluntary chemical castration for someone suffering from sexual vices for example. This is for those lacking discipline.

FATHER JOE:

No, Jonathan, you miss the point and refuse to answer the questions posed to you. If you take this admonition literally, then did you use the titles FATHER and TEACHER? As an informed Catholic, I appreciate that this is an instance of Hebraic hyperbole, stressing a point with literary exaggeration. Jesus did not mean for people to avoid one sin by committing another, like self-mutilation (which violates the commandment against killing).

Do you have photographs, a television or any device with images in your home? Is there any statuary? If the Hebraic prohibition is absolute, then how do you rationalize it? What about the images on your computer? How much time do you spend watching TV or working on the computer, more than prayer and religious study? Are you worshipping idols?

JONATHAN: I don’t worship idols. I do not watch television, but I work on a computer. I do agree I need more spiritual outlets. I pray often, but as I live in a city now it’s harder to find places to meditate.

FATHER JOE:

Go to a Catholic Church and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Maybe you will have a real communication from God and the delusion of devils will be set aside?

What is the Bible for you, inspired or a book-religion idol?

JONATHAN: Inspired, however God visited me and explained that He is the God of the Bible but also “much more than that,” when as a child I had forsaken Christianity because I knew many Christian sinners that should go to Hell and many Buddhists I felt deserve salvation. God’s visit was similar to what happened to Paul on the way to Damascus and is what answered my questions and brought me back to faith.

FATHER JOE:

St. Paul had a genuine mystical encounter with Christ. However, he received the meat of his new faith from the Church at Antioch. Indeed, his depiction of the Lord’s Supper which he shared with the Corinthians was given to him by that faith community. This was more than an academic narrative; it signified the liturgical tradition by which he offered the Eucharist. He becomes a minister for Christ and for his Church. He speaks of the Church’s shepherds as ministers of reconciliation. The Catholic Church was proclaiming the Gospel before we had a complete New Testament. The Bible comes from the Church, not the Church from the Bible.

How many poor have you fed and clothed and sheltered? How does it make you feel that the Catholicism you hate seems to love and help people more than you do?

JONATHAN: I’m not rich but I try to give, and do give, even though I’m in debt.

FATHER JOE: Jonathan, if you would put aside your anti-Catholicism, you and Catholics could rightly share a mutual love for Jesus. We might disagree on certain doctrinal points, but discussion does not mandate nastiness or repudiation. However, as long as you attack the faith, ministers like myself are obliged to mount a strong response.

JONATHAN: I think your attitude is very sad. You’re trying to say you’re better human beings because you help people. The charity of a nun does not benefit you. It is the people MAKING those efforts, not the Church. Not every member of the Church hierarchy is equally charitable.

FATHER JOE: No, I am not saying that at all. What I am trying to get across to you is that Catholics love God and that love spills over in a love of neighbor. It does so in a wondrous and incredible way. Charity covers a multitude of sins. The Church expresses love as both an institution and through her members. We work together, knowing that there is so much more we can do as a community than simply as individuals. Second only to the U.S. government in given international aid, Catholic Charities is the largest church-charity in the world. We see the face of Jesus in the hurting and the poor. We hope that others might see something of Christ’s love and mercy in us. We are poor instruments of the Most High God. Even the Pope regards himself as the “Servant of the Servants of God.” Were you a Catholic? If not, I would suggest attending instruction classes in the fall. No one will make you convert against your will. Listen with an open mind. You are free to walk away but hear the truth about who we are. The Catholic Church has proclaimed the Good News for two thousand years. Earthly kingdoms have come and gone. Old religions have disappeared and new ones have emerged. But Catholic Christianity remains, still inviting sinners to her doors and still faithful to the mission given her by Jesus. God’s grace can transform the worst sinner and remold him as a saint. Yes, we have a cloud of witnesses with the saints and the faith community. We are not alone. But our great treasure is Jesus. Jesus is Savior. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is God made man.

JONATHAN: It’s like the US government, which gives vastly more charity than the Catholic Church numerically speaking. But it is still a wicked institution that waged wars, and claims to be morally superior (guess that applies to the Church as well, which waged many crusades against Christians like the Waldensians, Hussites, Cathars, etc).

FATHER JOE:

Here is where those bad books come in that I mentioned. It is true that believers have not always been gentle with dissent. Even today it can result in internet rants if not in physical persecutions. Of course, religious states of old viewed harmony of faith as a cement to hold society together. The Church is often blamed for what states manipulated and fueled.

Alas, even people of the Church are men and women of their times. Good or bad, sometimes the measures taken might not be as virtuous as we would like in hindsight. The “mea culpas” of Pope John Paul II are a testimony in the modern world that the Church, for her part, wants to move on. Some treat the sins of centuries or a millennium ago as if they happened just last week. The Waldensians started as a reform movement and was eventually absorbed by Protestantism. Hus attacked the authority of the Church and urged the state to strip her of her resources. The Cathars or Albigensians were not genuine Bible-Christians at all. They were dualists or gnostics who equated matter as evil. Back in the 13th century, Pope Innocent III attempted to find a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the tensions. However, they murdered the papal representative. They were viewed as seditionist against civilization, itself. They practiced a single sacrament, called the Consolamentum. It was a ceremony to cast off sin and the material; they would literally be starved to death so as to find perfection. The use of a pillow for suffocation in this ritual suicide was also chronicled. The material world and flesh was judged as evil. Marriage was discouraged. Their view of Christ and the Trinity was also heretical, tainted by the error of Adoptionism. You really do not want to associate yourself with them, no matter how much you hate or distrust the Catholic Church.
Father Joe, on February 17, 2013 at 4:03 pm said:

Dear Grace,

Here is the pertinent text that brought about your question (see Revelation 2:1-5): “I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate the wicked; you have tested those who call themselves Apostles but are not, and discovered that they are impostors. Moreover, you have endurance and have suffered for my name, and you have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: you have lost the love you had at first. Realize how far you have fallen. Repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

The short response I gave was this: “False teachers have come into the midst of the community. They have been exposed but unfortunately the harmony and friendship between them has been compromised. John is telling them to reconcile, to restore the cohesive loving environment and return to their earlier good works.”

The text refers to a particular situation, and while we can learn from it, the incident may not line up exactly with our own lived experiences. Your reflection seeks a personal message and connection. While I can speak of generalities, as priests do while preaching, it is not for me to say how God might be speaking to your heart. The impression you give me is that people used your faith against you in a manipulative manner for their own benefit. The exhortation in Scripture was designated not toward any one person but to a community. When people use a person, the relationship is parasitical. The priest was right to tell you to separate yourself from such “users.” The admonition here in the Bible is for a loving mutuality. They are all to love and care for one another. As for loving and praying for people who have hurt or wronged you, this is an element of the Gospel message. However, this loving is less a movement of emotion as it is of the will. We try our best to love those who try to make themselves unlovable. We pray for friends and enemies, but particularly for those who are hurtful. It is the posture of mercy witnessed from the Cross.

I would counsel letting the anger go. The past cannot be remade or undone. It may be that in God’s providence your prayers for souls will be the measure that will tip the scales for some. We are molded by our experiences, good and bad. Nothing is wasted. Find wisdom and strength from the past, not anger and guilt.

God bless and keep you.
Grace, on February 17, 2013 at 3:59 pm said:

Dear Father,

Please forgive me. I posted this question in November of 2012: “I am also troubled by the reading for Monday, 19 Nov. with the admonition to the people who have suffered long and greatly, done everything for Jesus, yet have lost their love. Father, what does this mean? Thank you so much.”

I’m not that bright and am having trouble understanding your answer. I guess my confusion also stems from the fact that in my personal life, I have given so much to others but now decades later, I’ve come to see that many people have just used the Name of God and the Commandments to get me to do their bidding. On the point of suicide and such, years ago I finally sought a priest’s counsel and was advised to continue to love these people thru prayer but to cut off from them. It took me more than a year to work through my guilt of doing such a thing but I finally did. After cutting loose, I feel that for the first time, I am truly alive. I am finally able to pray without guilt— finally free from fear.

With that freedom, I am slowly not praying much for these people who brought me so much pain. Of and on, a prompt comes to pray for them and I comply but the intensity has lessened. Also, I seem to ‘see things’ more and more clearly and realize I was being used so much by them. For months, an anger burned in my heart for all the time wasted. However, now, the anger has gone and I’ve come to accept that I needed to take that path to get to where I am now.

My concern is my heart seems to be ‘hardening’ towards them in that I do not wish to ever see them again.

Whenever I imagine God bringing them back into my life, I pray, O God please keep them away; then, I add timidly and hypocritically, but if it is Your will, please give me the grace to cope with them. However, I’m able to pray for them, not out of guilt or fear of God’s punishment for neglecting them.

But that Reading in November had me wondering if it’s referring to me, praying for them but being unable to love.

What a mess, Father, but do I make sense to you? I will patiently wait for your reply.
matt, on February 14, 2013 at 7:50 am said:

You should have become a Rabbi instead of a priest since you have such a love for the Jewish people over the Christian.

FATHER JOE: I am a Catholic priest, but when it comes to justice and human dignity, I do not take sides. Jews are people, too. The genuine Christian approach is to try and love everyone. There is nothing of love for Jews in the manner or content of your comments. Instead, you would condemn a people for their supposed wrongs of the past, dismissive of how supposed Christians, Moslems and others may have forced them into defensive postures. Jesus was a Jew. Mary was a Jew. Joseph was a Jew. Paul was a Jew. Peter was a Jew. As you can see my best friends are Jews and I love them. Who are your friends?

The magazines were not propaganda they were Jewish magazines written by Jews to other Jews. Go to google search and search for magazines like “The Menorah” “The Open court” and you will see what I am talking about.

FATHER JOE: The literature is not foreign to me. But while defensive on behalf of a threatened Jewish culture and desirous of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, I do not find any vast conspiracy against the Christian world. Christians are their own worst enemies, especially when they fail to live out their Christianity. Anti-Semitic magazines, articles and books could also be cited. None of this exonerates you and me from the obligation of seeking forgiveness and healing. However, you prefer scapegoating and echoing bygone charges. Indeed, anyone who opposes you is essentially condemned or accused as a Jew-lover. Well, along with the Pope, I am guilty as charged. But of what are you guilty?

I am very surprised at how much you would support the Jewish people after the 1500 years of them being thrown out of multiple countries because of their practice of usury.

FATHER JOE: There is a saying, “it takes two to tango.” Christians were often the ones who needed loans from money-lenders. Modern banks have changed the situation today. Now Christians can lend money expecting interest. While many Jews were poor and struggled, there were pockets of wealthy and well-educated Jews. When people became resentful of Jewish wealth, they would charge Jews with being thieves. Once expelled, Christians and others did not have to make good on their debts. You would apparently argue that sins against Jews were their own fault.

All the writings of Popes and former church fathers you are throwing away just because of the last 50 years of modernization in the VAT2 council.

FATHER JOE: There is no uniform legacy of anti-Semitism in the Church. Doctrines can be transmitted without couching them in inflammatory commentary. Until he formally abdicates, Pope Benedict XVI is Peter. We follow living Popes, not dead ones. The social attitude toward Jews and other religious factions has changed because society has changed. Cooperation and dialogue have replaced the segregated ghettos and polarized rhetoric. Our doctrines are not assailed. But we have decided to change the face we show the world.

Also the clergy killed in Russia when not communist so your reasoning sickens me since these men died for their faith in Christ.

FATHER JOE:

Are you delusional? You go so far as to condemn contemporary Jews for the biblical persecution of the Church. Here you condemn them for what warring factions did in Eastern Europe before the world wars and later under Stalinism. It would be better for you to recall a priest like Fr. Maximilian Kolbe who died so that another might live. This saintly priest sheltered fleeing Jews during the war. When asked if Christians should share their bread with starving Jews, he answered, “Yes, it is necessary to do this because all men are our brothers.”

I sicken you? You were sick long before you came to my blog and disagreed with my remarks. The context you readily implied was that of Communist Jews. I will not allow hate-speech a hearing without a strong response. If this bothers you then you neither have to read my posts nor comment upon them. Make your own blog where you can pine for the trappings of a Church from yesterday and post to your heart’s delight about “pernicious” Jews and conspiracies on every side.
matt, on February 13, 2013 at 11:46 pm said:

Do you deny the 60 plus million Christians killed during the Russian Revolution?

FATHER JOE: Millions died but they were not all Christian. Slavs, Gypsies, homosexuals, etc. were singled out too.

Do you deny the 200,000 clergy killed?

FATHER JOE: Priests are still martyred, but the Communists or Nazis are not the same as the Jewish people.

I never said I denied the Holocaust but what makes the Jewish suffering more important then the Christian?

FATHER JOE: People are people, but you have an unhealthy animus against Jews. Failing to appreciate the importance that the Holocaust has for the Jewish community is a type of denial.

You need to study old Jewish magazines to see how they were honored in Russia for their service unlike the peasants and clergy who held Christ name on their lips.

FATHER JOE: Propaganda is propaganda… to divide populations… to breed enmity.

Why are we never told of all the suffering of mass murder by the Russians but are constantly reminded about the Holocaust?

FATHER JOE: Actually the purges and mass murders of Stalin are well documented. The Jews feel that the Holocaust is a defining moment in their cultural history. They were singled out for no other reason than that they were Jewish.

My uncle is a priest and Pope Pius XII is a distant uncle and he got nothing but scorn by the Jews even though it was well known that he saved the Jews during that time.

FATHER JOE: The quotes I gave show that notable Jews loved him and appreciated his efforts. What others thought is inconsequential to this discussion. Christians are called to love and forgive, even if such is not returned. You could learn a lot from the mea culpas of Pope John Paul II.
matt, on February 13, 2013 at 6:31 pm said:

Never mind I see it again. You just haven’t gotten to posting or answering it. I am sorry.
matt, on February 13, 2013 at 6:29 pm said:

So my last comment was censored but another person who writes filthy things is allowed to get posted. I guess the Truth needs to be suppressed.
matt, on February 13, 2013 at 2:39 am said:

I appreciate your answer and respect you as a holy member of God’s family. I do not hate anybody and accept and love everyone but I am also aware of the Bible teachings on those who call themselves Jews but are of the synagogue of satan. The apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit when they wrote the words condemning the Jews along with the Gospels where Jesus condemned them for killing the Prophets.

FATHER JOE: Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 is not a condemnation of the Jews in general, only those who were persecuting the Church. The stoning of Stephen was an early instance, in which Saul (later St. Paul) was involved. A particular Jewish community was attacking the Christians of Smyrna. There is more evidence of this persecution in Acts 14 and 19. Christians are exhorted to remain faithful even if they should face torture and martyrdom. Because of such confusion, it is usually translated not as synagogue but as “assembly.” We read: “Behold, I will make those of the assembly of Satan WHO CLAIM TO BE JEWS AND ARE NOT, BUT ARE LYING, behold I will make them come and fall prostrate at your feet, and they will realize that I love you” (Revelation 3:9). Revelation 2:9 also emphasizes how these particular Jews do not represent Judaism: “I know the slander of those WHO CLAIM TO BE JEWS AND ARE NOT, but rather are members of the assembly of Satan.”

The ancient teachings in the Talmud are the same which Jesus referred to when he called them out for preaching man-made laws to God’s people.

FATHER JOE: The Talmud is a rich treasury of rabbinic teaching. We would not agree with some of it, especially a certain emphasis upon the law, but it also includes much in the way of biblical commentary and insightful reflections upon the nature of God and our relationship with him. Would you condemn all Jews who do not accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah?

The Pharisees are the forefathers of the current Jewish religion and you can find this info in their own teachings.

FATHER JOE: Not all the Pharisees were bad. It has come to be a pejorative word, and that is unfortunate. They were the teachers of God’s people. At one point Christ even said, do as they say but do not follow their example. Even Jesus recognized the role that God have given them over the Jewish people.

So by being politically correct and believing they don’t is being dishonest in my opinion.

FATHER JOE: It is not a matter of being politically correct. It is about Christian charity and conformity to the living magisterium of the Church. Anything else makes you a new Pharisee or another magisterium. The posture of the Church today is to reach out to the first “covenant” people called by God. However, in doing so, nothing of the unique or salvific significance of Christ is surrendered.

The church is in eclipse and is losing members due to their openness to all religions who do not consider belief in Jesus as the only way to God.

FATHER JOE: No, the problem is dissent, including yours. It seems you have bought into the Protestant notion of private interpretation. You are supposed to put on the mind of Christ and to think with the Church. This Church is protected by the Holy Spirit in regards to faith and morals. Pope Benedict XVI has taught, even amid some controversy, that if ANYONE finds him- or herself in heaven, it will be on account of Jesus who is the pontifex or bridge from this world to the promised shore. It is true that some Jewish critics thought he was reversing the teachings of the previous Pope, but he insisted rightly, that he was only clarifying what remained the immutable faith of the Church. I suspect that you are buying into the biased critique of certain breakaway traditionalists against the magisterium. You would do better to look at the sources directly and not rebuke a legitimate council of Holy Mother Church. Along with the late Cardinal Avery Dulles, Pope Benedict XVI directed the USCCB to correct or to clarify this point in their document on the status of the Jews. There is only one covenant. Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant first given to the Jews. There are NOT two covenants. While the Pope teaches that the Sinai covenant of the Jews has been superseded, he adds the focus upon the final consummation. We pray that they will come to the truth about Christ and his saving power. God keeps his promises. Israel retains its mission. God will not forget his first people.

The Bolshevik revolution which started Communism and led to the killing of 60 million Christians was done by atheistic Jews with red being their color which the Edomites were known as. They killed over 200,000 clergy members and hung them like Christ and massacred them in the streets which flowed with blood. The Jews were protected and anti-Semitism was considered a crime and in Jewish publications during that time you can find how the Jews were given medals of honor for their terror.

FATHER JOE: Be careful of your bedfellows. Adolf Hitler also castigated modern Jews as not true Jews, but “Edomites” (the descendants of Esau). You blame Jews but Stalin studied to be a Russian Orthodox priest and Lenin was also baptized a Christian. The millions murdered under totalitarian regimes were no friends of either practicing Christians or Jews. You wrong the Jewish people and condemn people for purported crimes committed before they were even born. Would you also deny the Jewish Holocaust? This conversation is beginning to sicken me.

The Catholic Church has bent over backwards in apologizing to Jews for the Holocaust even though Pope Pius XII saved over 800,000 Jews.

FATHER JOE: Yes, Pope Pius XII did indeed do much to save the Roman Jews. His was a strategy of silence and working quietly behind the scenes. But we must admit, there was an attitude of anti-Semitism among many Christians and the late Pope John Paul II was right to propose the posture of repentance toward this sin. Hatred and scapegoating the Jews led to mass-murder. Christians are spiritual Jews and should live in peace with their Hebrew brothers and sisters. The Pope took the initiative just as would our Lord. We have many friends in the Jewish community. “More than anyone else, we have had the opportunity to appreciate the great kindness, filled with compassion and magnanimity, that the Pope (Pius XII) displayed during the terrible years of persecution and terror” (Elio Toaff, Chief Rabbi of Rome). The chief rabbi of Rome during the war (Zolli) called him a hero and converted to the faith, taking the Pope’s name. Golda Meir planted a tree in Israel for him, listing the Pope among the righteous Gentiles: “We share the grief of the world over the death of His Holiness Pius XII. . . . During the ten years of Nazi terror, when our people passed through the horrors of martyrdom, the Pope raised his voice to condemn the persecutors and to commiserate with their victims.” During the war Pope Pius XII sought to save the Jews and their patrimony.

Oh and I enjoyed your essay on the Blessed Mother and her special role in bringing us closer to God.

FATHER JOE: Thank you, I am glad you liked the post about this wonderful JEWISH maiden.
matt, on February 12, 2013 at 9:33 am said:

What are your thoughts on the Jewish role in persecuting Christians throughout the ages?

The popes in the past burned the Talmud because it blasphemes the Blessed Mother and Jesus and now the Church allows Rabbis to speak about their Talmud after Vatican II. I just do not understand why?

If you look at the world and who runs it you will find that the two percent of Jews have infiltrated all high positions in government and media. Television has programs that are anti-Christian and incorporate language and story lines which go against Jesus and the Catholic Church. I honestly find it hard to believe it is a coincidence that such satanic movies and music are constantly being shown to a world once under Christ’s “Christian” thinking. I am not anti-Semitic but I know the Jewish leaders are the ones who teach hatred towards Christians to Jewish children as they grow up. The Church now calls the Jews our ancient fathers even though the Bible makes it clear who the enemy of Christ is.

I am just curious about your feelings on this.

FATHER JOE:

Actually, Christians gave as well as they took when it came to prejudice. You may not view yourself as bigoted, but I would bet that most who read your comment here would indeed insist that are anti-Semitic. The Talmud is a collection of early rabbinic teachings. Particularly in regard to events after the coming of Christ, one would naturally not expect agreement. It is a Jewish work and has important historical value, but Catholics could no more agree with it in totality than could Jews embrace the writings of the ancient Church fathers.

Unlike the antagonism of the past, we seek tolerance and dialogue in our pluralistic society. Instead of emphasizing differences, which are not dismissed, we concentrate on the themes about which we find agreement: i.e., the fatherhood of God, the importance of salvation history, the commandments which show us how to live, and how God has called us into a covenant relationship with him. Salvation comes from the Jews. The Jewish Messiah is the Christ and Savior of the world. It is true that the Jews as a group have been very successful in our society, but Catholics have also had a large influence, often in the same areas of politics and media.

Just as we lament Catholics who fail to live out their faith, I have a Jewish friend who is saddened that many of his co-religionists have embraced secular modernity. We believe in the same one God and the world is a better place when we are faithful to our Judeo-Christian inheritance. Of all the Jews I have known, I have never seen evidence of any animus against Christians. Indeed, when I was ordained a priest, a Jewish woman who had been my teacher in fifth and sixth grade, was in attendance in the cathedral to lend her support and congratulations. She was proud to have a past student who became a priest.

The answer in all this is love, not hatred or bitterness.