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. God bless you!
NEW MESSAGES/HOMILIES CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS DEFENDING THE FAITH
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. God bless you!
NEW MESSAGES/HOMILIES CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS DEFENDING THE FAITH
Hi, are you supposed to do anything when passing a Catholic Church? Can you bow your head instead of making the Sign of the Cross? Thanks.
Dear Father Joe, I am trying to learn more about confession. My question concerns confession, absolution, and restitution. Basically, my question is about should we question what a priest tells us in the confessional about how to make up for our sins.
As an example, suppose a man is low on cash and has trouble feeding himself and perhaps his children. So he steals a loaf of bread from the corner store.
Later he goes to a priest and confesses and tells the priest he feels he should go and confess to the store owner and pay him when he is able. The priest tells him not to do that, because he could get into trouble with the law. Instead he should donate the amount to Catholic Charities instead. The priest explains that the Church is not the police; the Church’s job is to forgive.
The man receives absolution for his sin and does what the priest tells him to do. He donates an amount equivalent to the loaf of bread, with even some added if he can afford it. But he can’t forget that the store owner is out the price of a loaf of bread so he wonders if God totally forgives him, despite what the priest says.
I could think of many other examples, but I hope this one makes the point of the question clear. If not, I will try to come up with other examples.
Thank you for all the answers you give. You are amazing. Dear Father Joe, this is actually a follow-up to my previous question about confession. In general, here is what I am asking.
In one situation, we may confess, and a priest may give us absolution with what we think is a very light penance, with no conditions about repairing any harm we have done.
In the other situation, just the opposite happens. We go to a different priest, and he demands heavy penance with some very harsh conditions for a similar sin.
Yet in both cases the Church says the priest is acting for God. Therefore, how can it be true that we should accept what the priest tells us as if God is speaking to us?
I can say both good and bad aspects of this. I think the good thing is that we don’t need to go on wondering about how to make up for some sin, since the priest has given us his decision. It seems to me the Protestants are in a more difficult situation, since the whole burden is on the individual to make up his mind in a situation like this.
Hello Father,
I was baptized and received Holy Communion when I was 13 years old.
However, I have not yet to be confirmed. I plan on being confirmed when I finish my studies.
So, can I go to confession even though I have not been confirmed?
Thanks and God bless!
I am currently pregnant (20 years old) and live with my boyfriend. We both believe in God and are expecting are child next month. My question is can we baptize our child although we are not married? Also, can we do our confirmation quickly? (I hope to be baptized in March). What exactly is needed to baptize your child?
Hello,
Is it a serious sin to break a promise made to God, if you didn’t promise something very serious? For example, what if you promised to pray for someone every day. Also, what if you forgot what you promised.
My husband says that God is sick and twisted for purposefully sending his son to suffer and die on the cross. He says that an all-loving, all-powerful God should not allow something so disgusting especially his own son. He says that he could never allow that to happen to his children. I don’t know how to respond. Any help would be appreciated.
Father Joe, I am battling a problem that I have had for months. I left a job where I was bullied and mocked by my bosses. It got to the point where I was getting physically sick. I suffer from PTSD-like symptoms and I want my bosses to be treated the same way that they treated me. But I know that Christ would want us to pray for and forgive them. I have prayed to God to help me deal with Satan’s influences and move forward with my life, but they keep returning. Am I sinning when such thoughts enter my mind? And what can I do stop them (other than praying)?
Father Joe: I am a single Catholic and lead a decent, clean life. But I hate to admit that when I sleep, I sometimes dream of having sex. When I am awake, I can stop such thoughts, but when I am sleeping, I have no control. Would such uncontrolled thoughts be considered to be mortal sins?
What does it feel like to be intimate with God or Jesus?
Father,
My daughter and her husband have experienced fertility issues and are now considering IVF. The fertility clinic wants my husband and myself to submit saliva for genetic testing and won’t move forward without our samples.
Are we participating in the destruction of embryos if we submit our samples?
Thank you.
Father,
I was raised Catholic, but have revitalized my faith in the past few months. Therefore, I am learning many things that I didn’t know before, like how non-Catholics can’t receive Eucharist at mass. My dad is catholic, but my mom is baptized Lutheran and not confirmed, and has received communion throughout their marriage (almost 30 years). My dad has always been devoted to his faith, so I am not sure how to approach this. Am I obligated to correct them?
are priests exempt from apology or admitting they were wrong when they have assumed an individual is behind a negative incident against them? then proven wrong in their assumptions……..only response is their being overly friendly and ignoring the incident.
Is it Wrong being a Catholic to buy shares of marijuana stock?
Father,
Will you please explain when to bow and when to genuflect? I thought we genuflect to the tabernacle when the candle is lit (because Christ is present). But, why do we bow to the altar? Why do some people genuflect to the priest during the procession after Mass?
Also, isn’t it liturgically incorrect to hold hands during Our Father and to lift our hands as the priests do during “and with your spirit?”
Thank you.
What is the meaning of making the cross on your forehead, lips and heart just before the priest reads the gospel? And what is the meaning of placing the chalice with the bread in the tabernacle after communion? I believe that where they place the chalice is called the tabernacle? Thanks Jessie
Hi Father,
Let’s say there’s a guy and you keep glancing at him in private areas not because you want to, it just kind of happens and you look away without feeling any arousal or anything. Or you’re a straight woman but you look at women’s bodies, not because you are thinking sexual thoughts, your eyes just kind of go there. It may just be a comparison thing or curiosity I honestly don’t even know why it happens. Sometimes certain clothing causes attention, making it harder to not notice. Would this be sinful and to what degree? It kind of worries me because sometimes my eyes just go there without me trying to look. Thanks!
Is plastic surgery a sin?
Hello again, Father. I’m not sure if you remember, but a while back I asked a question about my daughter, and possession?
She is still behaving strangely and I am very concerned!
I have prayed for her recovery but she is not herself.
I haven’t seen any supernatural manifestations, and she did not use any objects like Ouija boards or Tarot cards.
She has been very antisocial and doesn’t talk much. She snaps easily at me.
She hasn’t been sleeping well and has to take Tylenol PM in order to doze off. She says she’s been having bad dreams, but she won’t talk to me about them. She looks very tired and has lost some weight! She isn’t eating much.
Yesterday, when she was in her room working on her school assignments, I asked her what she wanted for dinner. She slammed the book on the table and screamed, “Get away from me!” In that moment there was something in her eyes that terrified me. It was a look of pure rage like I’ve never seen before. I’m very concerned Father! Can you help me?
Is putting yourself in an occasion of sin a sin in itself? If it is, what if you didn’t know that putting yourself in an occasion of sin was a sin?
Hello. A little less than a year ago, I was snow tubing with friends. At the end of the night, I broke the rule and went down the same slope as my friend and didn’t wait until she was out of the way at the bottom. It was all in good fun, and obviously I wasn’t trying to hurt her. But we bumped heads and a little later my friend found out she got a concussion. Is it my obligation to pay for those hospital bills? Honestly, I don’t have money to do that, but idk I just wanna know if I have to do that? I am worried- and this was kind of a while ago.
.
(I am a female). I know that homosexuality is a sin and I have been able to abstain from kissing a girl for two years, but it has gotten to the point where I cannot picture my life without ever kissing my first love (also a girl) again. I am currently dating a man, but all I can think about is her, so I feel dishonest towards him. I do not feel attracted to him at all, even though he’s a great guy and I think he would make a great husband and father. Will I become attracted to him once we are married? Is it selfish of me to want to be attracted to the person I marry and share intimacy with? What do I do?
Father,
My wife’s best friend since childhood announced several years ago she was gay. Now, this friend is getting married to another female and will be inviting us to go to the wedding. I have had a conversation with my wife in the past about how I believe homosexuality is disordered. This led to our biggest fight as a married couple; my wife was very offended because she felt it was an insult to her best friend. My wife is a practicing Catholic, and doesn’t believe in gay marriage, but is set on being there for her friend at the wedding, and expects myself to be there too. I don’t want to go, but from my conversations with my wife I know it will cause a serious problem in our marriage if I don’t. I don’t know what to do. Thank you
Hello, I’ve been battling with years of porn & masturbation addiction for years and was 3 weeks sober before I confessed my sins. However, after a week post-confession (4 weeks), I used a non-nude, suggestive video to satisfy my urge without going to the full porn territory to prevent myself from having a relapse. While fortunately I did not do any physical stimulation, I was “turned on” in one instance.
Am I in a state of mortal sin? Do I need to confess again before I receive communion? Or should I withhold communion altogether until I’m “mature”? My main question is that addiction progression a state of mortal sin?
I thought I was “free” but then it came back again and I’m actively trying to push off against it. Now I know to avoid these images altogether but I can’t help but I’m always in a state of mortal sin if my penance can be broken in a matter less than a week. At the state I’m currently in, I’m only occasionally looking at suggestive pictures w/o nudity or physical stimulation to desensitize my urges so the full “mortal sin” territory hasn’t come back at all. It was only in this recent instance (via video) that I was “turned on”. Thank you for addressing my inquiry.
I was Baptized Catholic as a newborn, but my mom didn’t raise me Catholic. I was re-baptized non-denominational around 12. Do I need to be re-baptized because of this?
Hello,
I recently received a new scapular and put it on and tied a knot so it doesn’t fall off, after I have already tied a knot I remembered I need to go get it blessed, will a priest bless my scapular even if I am unable to take it off?