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NEW MESSAGES/HOMILIES CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS DEFENDING THE FAITH
How to cope with the abuse scandals by the clergy?
Hello Father,
I am familiar with the Scripture (1 John 3:10) that calls those who reject the Gospel and live in sin “Children of the Devil.”
If our Pope writes an infallible encyclical, announcing all of mankind as “Children of God,” how do we reconcile that with apostolic and church teachings for the past 2,000 years?
I understand we are all made in the image of God, and Jesus loves us all and died for us all.
But isn’t calling unbelievers Children of God contradicting the Apostolic Teachings passed down?
How do we as Catholics handle this?
Thank you,
Luke Stanton Smith
Father Joe,
I have a question about mediums/spiritists. My mother-in-law claims to be a medium. She has many times “spoken with the dead” on behalf of others. We lovingly engaged her on this, providing numerous scriptural references explaining that it is forbidden.
As we are Protestant (my wife and I), she just dismissed our references and stated that her Roman Catholic upbringing made clear that these activities were acceptable.
While I am aware that there are seven books in the Bible of Catholicism that are not in the Protestant version, I have a hard time believing (and yes, I speak out of ignorance) that those seven books contradict the other condemnations of this activity.
To make things more muddled, she claims that a local Catholic priest condones her behavior. Although, we suspect that this “priest” is a figure she has made up to bolster her view.
Could you please clarify the Catholic doctrine concerning mediums/spiritists?
Thank you for your time.
Father Joe,
I have tried to get an answer to a question on Catholic Doctrine. It seems that the current wording in the Catechism on abortion is not resonating well enough with many Catholics. So, to offer a blunt alternative I will ask:
Does Catholic Doctrine explicitly state or strongly imply the killing of a child inside the womb is the same a the killing of a child outside the womb?
So, far the USCCB, several Catholic news agencies, and even a retiring archbishop have not been willing to answer and publish.
Hi Father, In an argument online I had (I don’t remember what about), I called someone a dumbass who had a bad take. Would this be a mortal sin?
Father, I have been having a running conversation with a Catholic member of my family. [I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] The discussion has been on whether or not Catholics can or do support Freedom of Religion. I understand objections to abortion. My Faith and I decry elective abortions. However, as you may know, my Religion makes allowances for abortion under some rare and extreme situations. My Catholic brother has told me that it is the obligation of Catholics not only to end all abortions regardless of reason, but also to elect those who would work towards amending the 1st Amendment. This would restrict or ban certain Religious Teachings. When I have referred to the US 1st Amendment my brother said that it was, essentially, mistaken. Essentially his attitude is that his Oath to uphold the US Constitution (he served in the Air Force) did not include parts that were contrary to Catholicism.
I don’t want to always be at loggerheads with him about this, so I thought I’d ask a 3rd party. Thank you for reading this. Pat
Can a Catholic married couple use sex toys if the intent is to only stimulate prior to intercourse? What about self-masturbation only to stimulate prior to intercourse?
xMy name is Kelly the question I have is very simple. I grew up as an Orthodox Greek. All my life I have loved animals. I feed the raccoons and squirrels. I cannot even kill a bug. But all I’ve seen over the years is people abusing and torturing animals. Given all the hurt I have witnessed I cannot believe there is a God up there. I lost my dog Olivia. I had her put down because she was sick. I feel very guilty about that. I cannot imagine God allowing these animals to go through hell over and over again. What kind of God would let that happen?
Please explain what kind of God would allow animals to be physically tortured— for no good reason but for the sheer pleasure of it. I don’t know where my Livia is. I don’t know what happened to her. I don’t know if she’s crying and waiting for me in some dark corner. I don’t know anything anymore.
xFather,
My husband and I were civilly married 7 years ago. We have 3 children together. He was previously married in the Catholic Church. We have come back to the Church, and I am working on my confirmation. He has started the annulment process. I am curious if us having intimate relations is considered a sin. If so, how should I word this in confession? Sorry, this is all so new to me. Thank you!
Father I have a question for you. My last confession was back in June I believe. Yet I haven’t been to confession. I believe confession should be every 3 months. Now I am working weekends and sometimes during the week. I have heard that if you don’t go to confession you can still receive communion if you go to Mass and be there on time?
Hello Father, so recently I have made a promise to God to wait to have sex until marriage because I wanted to remain pure for my future husband. But I just wanted to ask, is oral sex allowed when I am waiting for marriage?
May I send you a private e-mail about a situation I have?
When Jesus is to return as a judge, is it possible he will return via the tribe of Dan (judges)? Is this why they are not mentioned in revelation? I’m new to religion and I am trying to make sense of my feelings so I apologize if this seems like a silly question.
At mass we recite the our father and I wonder why the priest always says “we DARE to say…” preceding the our father prayer. Why is the word DARE used?
Hi Fr. Joe,
I’m just checking up on you. Are you ok? You haven’t posted very much lately, so I’m praying that all is well. At least you know you’ve been missed!!
God Bless,
Sarah
What is the process of ex-communication from the Catholic Church? Who is Hashem?
Is it a mortal sin to let yourself die? To refuse medical treatment and just let nature take its course?
Hello father, my husband and I are looking to move to a new area. We have visited the area many times and love everything about it, the only issue is the zip code. The zip code consists of 3 – 6’s in a row…. I was wondering if that is a no-no. It made me uncomfortable for obvious reasons and wanted to get a priests opinion on this.
Hi, I’ve been trying to find an answer to this and none seems to know, what is the Catholic view on asexuality?
Hello Father, I recently saw an Agnus Dei disk for sale. As far as one can tell, it is authentic ( old and worn, proper make and inscriptions, etc.) I know that one can rescue relics by purchasing the reliquary itself, but this disk is bare which would essentially result in the buyer purchasing the disk itself.
I would really like to obtain it for personal devotion, but would this be wrong? Would the blessing be lost? Thank you Father.
Dealing with sinful thoughts that come to me with some frequency is a problem for me. I confess them and them days later I recall them. I can’t go to cession every few days, obviously. My co fess or was understanding when I discussed this with me. As I recall I believe my confessor said that between my regular monthly confessions I could say a sincere act of contrition, receive communion, then confess those thoughts in my next confession. At least that is what I remember. Does that sound correct.
Hi Father, I was reading St. Thomas’s Aquinas Summa Theologica, second part, question 68 where he states that one must report crimes basically. This worries me because I know many people who commit crimes, or I highly suspect. One of these crimes is Use tax, which most people don’t pay because they don’t know/don’t care. I recently found out about it myself. And the I have people I have heard or suspect of tax evasion etc. I’m not legally obligated but it seems Aquinas is saying I am morally obligated too. In that case, how can anyone discern what to report and what not to report? Honestly, if I have to report every suspicion/crime, I will be reporting everyone I know almost. Not to mention it’s exhausting.
When did St Joseph die? And is there any reference to this in the Bible?
I am troubled by frequent sacrilegious thoughts. When they occur it is difficult to divert from them. Though I don’t dwell on them I find them very troubling. I don’t believe that I consciously bring them to mind because I recognize that they are serious. When they come, I pray or say the rosary. I work to keep myself occupied. I confess these idle thoughts then they come back. Then I feel that a return to the confessional is needed. I struggle as to whether I can return to receive Communion.
hello father. The other day I found a rosary for God the father. The rosary is about God the father and is directed toward him. Is it okay if i pray it???