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NEW MESSAGES/HOMILIES CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS DEFENDING THE FAITH
Blogger Priest 
Father,
Can anyone make spiritual communion during Mass in person? This includes non Catholics, excommunicated and people in mortal sin. Are all the people who make spiritual communion supposed to kneel?
Science project.
This is a study on why people cannot grasp the concept to teach common sense on planet earth, And to teach common Sense we need to ground everybody on truth and discredit the lies that people believe in, because it’s not common sense to believe in a lie and it’s not hate or disrespect to bring understanding to make everyone see the truth but it’s more disrespectful to deceive somebody or allow those people to live in deception, even if revealing a hard truth will have a serious effect on their emotions. The first lie we have in this world that science can discredit is the LGBTQ, now keep it simple, because the 1st piece of evidence we have is that humans only reproduce one way, male/female there is no intelligent reason to go against nature and claim that you are correct, and they justify their beliefs with emotions, and emotions cannot bring no intelligence to the table to discredit that is not against nature yet they are “proud” about believing in a lie?? It’s a serious problem when humans believe in a lie on that level because common sense becomes more evasive,and ‘love is love’ does not discredit science and a transgender is a lie that DNA can discredit, but unfortunately people decided to bend the definition of science for the liking of people and named them transgenders. But everybody knows it’s physically impossible for one gender to transform into the other gender and make up and a dress does not define a female. And it is not intelligent to point out the actions of animals and use that as a excuse to abuse sex act like one. We have intelligence for a reason but the LGBTQ likes to hang up rainbow flags to mock intelligence it’s the reason why this continues to be a problem in our world today is because the LGBTQ attacks others for seeing the truth in the lies that they believe in with the homophobic and transphobic label. but this is not fear or hate, how could it be fear or hate for seeing the truth for what it is? And it’s not right to attack people who see the truth, this is about respecting intelligence and defending intelligence because defending a lie only opens the door for it to be discredited. And the results of this science project is going to be intelliphobia. Because people are going to become intelliphobic and hate or fear this truth. And that is not intelligent but many will be infused with their emotions and they will allow their own emotions to do their thinking for them, yet they cannot bring any intelligence to the table and discredit what I said but but instead get mad and hold on to that anger and their emotions and go out of the way trying to justify their beliefs with no intelligence to discredit what I said or to prove what they believe in is true. This is proof how emotions can be a very destructive in the way emotions control how people think.
Note, Alethophobia, uncountable, is the dislike or fear of the truth. Unwillingness to come to the truth or facts.
So this is not Alethophobia, because people are going to HATE and fear this truth. Dislike and hate are two different emotions.
So this is Intelliphobia. ( The official naming of the word pending)
Note, keep it simple and do not let the emotions of a group of people overshadow the bigger picture, it’s knowing how to teach common sense, this is something that has never been known to the world. And that knowing will take humans to another level of intelligence. Example, ‘LITERALLY’. The word ‘LITERALLY’ is born out of bias because in the beginning not all literature was true yet people belittled the ones who didn’t know how to read with illiterate (you illiterate fool, you know nothing!), and then came the word literally being defined as actually but not all literature is true so the definition of the word literally is false and the human language morphs from slang and laziness. So keep it simple, you don’t know everything, And the fact that the word literally is false is proof that this world needs common sense, and this science project will reveal how the intelligent species on this planet will react to the truth. Some will see the truth for what it is others will become intelliphobic. And the Antidote for those who suffer from intelliphobia is TRUTH.( The truth takes longer for some people, depending on their emotional state of mind) Because no matter what you believe or feel it will never discredit this truth so there is no point in wasting time and energy going against something you can never discredit.
The government has a responsibility to the people to stand by this truth and not allow people to be left in deception, if the truth is revealed at a younger age they will not become infused with that belief and end up acting out in a non intelligent way that opens the door for a negative situation to happen, unless they can think above their emotions. Keep it simple. Truth is truth.
It seems the world is flat and the sun orbits around the earth! I understand that spilling a man’s seed is sinful but what if there is no seed and no erection possible after prostatectomy. After 55 years of marriage and 4 children, now any form of sexual pleasure is a mortal sin. Why would a loving God impose this on a couple who miss the pleasure of a physical relationship?
Dear Father, as the Church has stated that we can receive abortion tainted COVID vaccines, do we ignore bishops who say we can’t take them?
Hi Father
How long is the sin of scandal presumed to last?
For example, if you appeared to condone a serious sin such as sex outside of marriage to a friend, you would have the obligation to correct what you said to remedy the scandal.
But if this was done a month ago would you still have to make an effort to speak to your friend to remedy the scandal? How about two months? A year? Is there a cut off point?
Thanks
Hi Father,
I have a question about annulment.
I was married some years ago, civilly. This is because though I was baptised in a Catholic Church, I was not raised a Catholic. I also come from a dysfunctional family where my father has serious mental health issues and committed acts of domestic violence/sexual assault upon my mother throughout my life (up until 5 or so years ago when we put a stop to it). This greatly affected me, as I needed to be home a lot to protect her. My father also had a very controlling personality and restricted me in many ways. E.g. in choosing a university course I wanted to do after school. Due to low self esteem, I ended up doing a tertiary course of his choice . This left me depressed with no motivation for any future career goals, etc.
Around this time, I met a man who I thought was nice. He was very manipulative and charming, and pressurized me to get married quickly, mainly because his visa was expiring. I agreed because I was young and vulnerable, and we were married civilly.
Before my son was born, I was fully initiated into the Catholic Church. The priest suggested I do a marriage blessing ceremony which took place in a Cathedral.
Fast forward to now. The man I married turned out to be a terrible man with no responsibility. He was unwilling to properly financially support the family, he chose to work 2 days a week for over 10 years. He also was negligent- he brought my then 3 yr old son to his friend’s house, where he took a nap and his friend ended up sexually assaulting my son. My now 15 year old son has recently developed a severe mental illness due to the trauma of that event and school bullying around it being disclosed.
I have lived separately from this man for nearly 11 years now, but we are not formally divorced. He is now blaming me for our son’s mental illness, as though I had moved away from him for no reason, breaking up the family. I could no longer stay with him, as he ran away for days on end, when he could not pay for bills and the mortgage,leaving me without proper funds. He fails to identify the lifelong psychological trauma that childhood abuse causes.
He recently has been saying negative things to me about my bringing our two kids to church. For over 7 months of this year, he contributed next to nothing for his kids expenses because he got fired from his job due to misconduct (the pattern of losing a job has been repeated many times by him) .
I would like to divorce him at some point. Is there anything in the above that would be grounds for annulment?
Thank you Fr for reading this.
Ann
Hi Father, long story short is I’m learning a foreign language and using an app where you can talk to natives of whatever language you need.
The problem is that (and I know this is going to sound ridiculous), maybe due to being in company with people with scrupulous tendencies, I’ve got myself to the point where i’m feeling like i’m sinning by talking to any women who message in order to practice their English and help me with my Spanish, because of the concept of occasion of sin, and its affecting my sanity if I’m honest. They are totally innocent conversations too. Could you please advise me on this?
Hi Father, hopefully quick question: I make rosaries and am trying to come up with a new name for my shop. I also sell jewelry made from beads that I have left over. Would it be disrespectful to Our Lady to name my shop something using her name, such as Ave Maria Designs? I’m having difficulty coming up with a name and I like that one, but it feels like using her name to sell things might be questionable at best. On the other hand, it does tell the buyer what kind of store it is. Thoughts?
Hello Father,
For last two years I have experiencing a lot of coincidences. And like they are showing me some kind of meaning. Like last night suddenly I was just going through the things I collected after months. I saw a friendship band was broken. It was given by that friend whose birthday was just a day ago and I forgot about that. I felt like It symbolises how much I am desperate to break all my past relationships and run from them among new people. Every time when I found something most often It falls in 2017 like this year is stuck with me. I remember the first personal diary which I used to treat as friend has the same year 2017 just the difference that I used it in 2018. The no. 7 and other specific numbers and dates appear again and again.
Thank you father. About the pens… did I make proper restitution or do I need to find a way to return this handful of pens?
Hi Father,
Can you clarify a few things for me? I recently retired. Over the years I had ended up with a lot of company owned blue pens. I kept them in my work bag because I prefer them to black pens and didn’t want to lose them. I kept them for use at work, not to bring home and use, though many ended up at home because I would need a pen and take it out of my bag and forget to put it back. Also, I printed stuff at work instead of at home (CE, etc) to save on paper. Before my last day I purchased a large box of blue pens and a ream of computer paper and left them at work. Just before my retirement party I found a group of pens and paper clips in a pocket of my bag and gave them to a colleague to return to work. Today I was emptying out the bag and found another stash of pens. Do I need to find a way to return them? It wasn’t premeditated theft, I just never noticed that pocket before I retired. I work in a hospital and cannot get into the pharmacy anymore. If I just keep these does it mean I have failed restitution or am guilty of theft?
Secondly, during prayer I remembered a few people I wronged during college over 30 yrs ago. Two of them I don’t remember their names for sure, but one I do. I embarrassed him at the dinner table during band camp. His sister was a friend of mine and i have an address for her, but no mobile phone. (There is a land line). I don’t know for sure she still lives there, as I haven’t spoken to her in who knows how long. I might be able to try to get in touch to see if she would connect me to her brother, but she might be reluctant to share his info. I have decided to fast today for reparation to those people and God for the offenses. Is that adequate, or do I need to try and contact this guy to apologize? My husband says “he’s a guy, he probably forgot all about it”. Any insight would be helpful. Thank you.
if you just started learning about a saint and feel really close what does that mean
Hello Father-
I am curious how a Catholic Priest can reconcile supporting pro abortion democrats with the beliefs of the Church. It seems to me to be a bit hypocritical when some desperate parishioner is doomed to excommunication for having had an abortion, and the politicians and lawmakers, who support abortion right up to birth, are not facing the same fate. I have been struggling been struggling to make sense of this.
Father,
About 2 years ago, I got a scapular because I was very afraid of hell. Since this time, I have had little devotion to Our Lady, though I show much respect to her, as she is not any woman, but the sinless Mother of God. Some people feel beloved children of Mary, but I feel like she is only mother of them and of God, and like she is away from me, though I recognize by intellect that she is mother of all faithful, but only by intellect.
Months ago, I made the decision to take off the scapular, as I don’t want to involve in superstition treating it as an amulet which will save me from hell. Should I use it again?
Sincerely,
Hello Father,
I am a long term Catholic that has dedicated my life to working as a public school teacher. I love my job and the children I get to impact. I also love my faith and what we stand for. My question has to do with our local and state union. In Nebraska, most school districts are a part of the Nebraska State Education Union, which is also affiliated and a part of the bigger National Education Association. Typically, I believe that teachers join these unions because they do assist in bargaining for teachers salaries, insurance, safety issues, providing legal support if and when that would be needed, etc.
My question is that as a Catholic, I am a firm believer in the pro-life cause and dislike that the National Education Association supports women’s right to choose. I just don’t understand why they have to get politically involved if their number one concern is students and teachers. I recently changed school districts and will be asked to join my union in a few weeks. My question is, can Catholic teachers morally join these unions? Is it considered remote cooperation since you are joining for the positive reasons I mentioned above? I am just so confused and don’t want to let God down.
Thanks so much Father!
Considering how little the average priest probably earns, this is very impressive:
Hello Fr.Joe,
I have a question. Do you know the reason why a priest can deny the sacrament of confession? I requested an appointment and the priest sent me to the other one in the same parish.
Father, is it a sin to sell something for more than it’s “worth”? I know the idea of worth this is quite subjective and something is generally considered “worth” whatever someone will pay for it. So I’ll give you an example. I’m not working right now, but I’m quite good at selling things that I buy and turning a profit. Whether it’s a garage sale, Craigslist or even brand new items from stores. I spot a good deal, I buy the item. Then I take beautiful photos and create a post and resell it. I don’t lie and say that it’s a brand name that it’s not or anything like that. But I do feel guilty about it sometimes.
Recently I bought some brand new patio furniture and sold it for double what I paid for it. And we bought a boat motor and sold that for double. This has really helped our savings account while I’m not working. But I just wanted to get an opinion on it. It’s my understanding that it would be sinful if I was lying or manipulating someone. Or if I was taking advantage of someone in need of the item I was selling and deliberately raising the price. Or if I was selling bread for double to someone who was poor and starving or something like that. But when it’s a general post on Craigslist or Facebook and people seek me out to buy the item at my advertised price, is this okay, even though I paid less for it?
Father, do the dead have a right to a good reputation? I ask this because a family member of mine died recently. She did A LOT of things during her life that were toxic to other people. She is also suspected of killing her own husband. There are significant reasons for sharing this information with my two children who are at odds with each other. But I don’t want to do something wrong to attain a good. I would appreciate your advice, Father.
Dear Father, I know this is long, but I need your help. I have wondered, is listening to subliminal messages a sin? I have listened to subliminal messages in YouTube videos for a long time. A subliminal message contains hidden repeated messages that you can’t hear. It is claimed that they are able to manipulate the subconscious mind to eventually make the person change according to the repeated messages. It can be anything like changing physical appearance, “attracting” luck, or getting a boyfriend. . .
I listened to these subliminal messages believing they can change my appearance. Sometimes I listen to others so as to get lucky. I felt it was wrong so I quit it and went back to listening to the one that changes physical appearance. That was until I discovered it might related to a weird spiritual practice like believing in the “power of the universe” and “vibration energy.” I did my research. Some people, including Christians, said it was okay to listen. Others said it was a sin. I was confused and not sure if it was a sin or not since it was not specifically mentioned in the Bible. When I asked someone, I was told that it was related to the New Age movement. I decided to stop listening, only to return to it again, convincing myself that I can choose to believe in the scientific side of it and not believe in the “power of the universe.” Since I have a feeling that this is a sin, but there is confused answer over it, I convinced myself that this is not a sin to continue to listen. Sometimes, I thought of going to confession to confess it but did not know how to do so. So I chose to not confess and to continue in convincing myself that this is not a sin. Recently, I was assured that it is really related to the New Age movement and decided to never return to it again. But now I am troubled in my heart. I need to know whether I have committed a mortal sin? Did I deliberately hide this sin in confession by doubting it as a sin but did not know how to confess? Did my confession become invalid? What should I do? This is complicated. Please help me.
My friend TOLD (not asked) me to be Godfather to his newborn .
I have issues w/the friend because he brings my spirits down with disrespect, asking me to smoke marijuana and buy marijuanafrom him, and once in a whle physically threatening.
He laughs at me and my dreams when I talk about them and recently said things like I’m waiting for my parents to pass to collect money. He doesnt respect me enough to listen to me when I say dont call me after 10pm and contacts me after midnight after i say not to and says words and phrases I repeatedly tell him not to. Recently I’ve blocked him on my phone and blocked him from contact and said Id talk to him soon.
I am religious but he has brought down my spirits for years and I dont know what to do. Thanks
Vince
Father
A few weeks ago my teenage daughter said she was sick and didn’t go to mass….I didn’t believe her at first…the next day she still complained of being sick, I took her to the ER and she had Tonsilitus. The next Sunday she still didn’t go to mass because she told me the Dr said to rest up….then we both went to mass the next Sunday. I brought up the situation to our pastor and he said she could receive communion. I now agree that that first Sunday because she had or was succombing to Tonsilitus was cleared…but thr second Sunday was questionable to me…previously I had encouraged her to go to confession just in case but she did not because she said she was sick…I buy that for the first Sunday but the second Sunday not so much…assuming that is what the Dr told her …she is 18 so I don’t know what he said or how she interpretted what she said. I want my daughter to get to heaven…so it worries me. I don’t want her to think she can judge herself without asking the priest…he said it was okay but if he was wrong…would she be in mortal sin or is she truly excused because he is the pastor? Another issue happened this Sunday…she did not attend mass because she said she had diarrhea and then got her period….I asked her if her diwt was affecting her and that a bad period is not always an excuse to miss mass…that she should go to confession. She is mulling this over….she doesn’t like confession but I have told her many times that no one particularly likes confession but without it it is the only way we know for sure at that moment that we are forgiven and God forbid if we were to die get to heaven. At any rate for all these ocassions I asked her to make a good act of contrition and watch mass on the internet…which she said she did. I worry because she will be going to college….she will have to do this on her own….I feel there were a few times that if it wasnt for me taking myself and her to Confession she would be in a bad state. What should I do if she beleives that she doesnt need to go to mass whenever she “feels” sick….I am 45 and in my day you had to be on your deathbed almost…I am exaggerating a little not to go to mass….whether I felt good or not I don’t even remember my parents always took me to mass. I have always taken her as well…but it is getting harder and the so called convenience of Covid 19 watcg mass on TV didn’t help either….thanks
Hello Father,
I have recently come back to my Christian faith and I have been trying to reconstruct my life as much as I can to following the way of God, and I’m struggling with some old habits and trying to determine if some of those habits are sinful. My question for you is it okay to smoke marijuana?
Hello
I have heard it many times that we will die. In the Apostle Creed it says he Will come to judge the living and the dead. If Jesus comes now many Will still be alive. Please explain.
Thanks
God Bless
FATHER JOE: There is both the particular judgment (at death) and the last judgment (at the final consummation). The second coming of Christ will likely find some who have never died. They would be judged and translated to the afterlife without knowing physical death.
I was taught right that sex was the unforgivable sin and anyone doing it for any other reason then to reproduce was on the Royal Road to Hell. As a young teenager I was certain medical science would discover a way people could have babies without committing sin. I thought it out to be outlawed and anyone caught doing the “Big Dirty” should be severely punished. Didn’t really think that through to it’s logical consequences. I remember hearing sounds when I was a kid: Dad begging and Mom saying Please, Honey, Don’t.
Although there have been some married couples elevated to sainthood, virginity and celibacy are the main requirements for sainthood.
I’m afraid my major form of entertainment during the lockdown was watching porn and masterbaiting. However, I didn’t Instant Message this horney truck driver that I know, but I am still ashamed to go to confession or I want to get somewhere far away to do it.
Hoping that soon we can do on-line confessiion via Zoom.
I still love the lord and go to Church regularly.