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NEW MESSAGES/HOMILIES CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS DEFENDING THE FAITH
Blogger Priest 
Where in the Bible does it say “you must be Catholic to have salvation?” Where in the Bible does it say Christ started the Catholic Church?
I can’t find the word Catholic in the Bible.
Dear Father Joe,
Happy new year. My question is regarding a friend/ coworker of over 15 years . Said person has always been generous and treats me like family. He is a much older gentleman than myself. Well into 70s recently he was for a crime I would rather not say and is free but awaiting trial . His name and picture have been in local news media . I believe he is a good soul who may have done something stupid. Should I still support my friend and if so how I’m the eyes of the Lord? This has been really weighing down on my soul. Thank you
My wife and I are divorced. She wanted the divorce. She had a lover.
Am I allowed to look for a partner? My ex-wife has remarried.
I don’t think our Lord wanted us to be alone in life. It has been 22 years since the divorce.
I haven’t had a partner in a long time. Can I find another partner? Would the Lord agree?
I recently heard a Muslim scholar say that in studying to become a Catholic Priest, the Koran is required study. I had never heard of that. Is this true ?
Hiii! I’d like to ask about christianity and music. Lately I happend to really like hard rock and metal music, especially band KISS. They’re having a concert near my city and I want to go there. People surround me keep telling me that they are satanic and not good band, but the members of it denyed it by themselves, so I dont know what’s true to it. In general, is music very important and influencing on christian live? Can music be a sin?
Thank you so much for your respond, appreciate it all heart.
Should jews who convert to Catholicism keep the sabbath, wear tefillin, eat kosher etc… and keep the laws of moses?
I have a question how does somebody who is older with multiple health issues on disability due to these health issues have a monogamous committed relationship and live together but cannot marry because the person will lose their disability benefits how does the church feel about that? Confused on where to go from here. So is the church telling me that I am not allowed to have a relationship unless I marry in the church and unfortunately I cannot do that due to loss of income I think that’s pretty unfair.
Hi again Father.
I think your Ask A Priest feature is a very good component of your website.
This really is not a question. It’s my opinion based on far too many hours on social media.
When it comes to some other websites, I’ve wasted lots of time and no doubt done more harm than good to myself and to others by participating in some of those hugely popular social media sites. These are not Catholic websites, but they may have Catholic groups or individuals who participate. I think the net value of these websites is negative. I’ve decided to delete all my social media accounts, including the new Twitter.
I am attracted to discussions which involve religion, and it seems everyone has their opinions, the people are often anonymous, some are not people but bots, and as the saying goes, it can be a case of the blind leading the blind. Frankly I think it’s often a huge waste of time.
One of the worst things I’ve noticed is that some people who participate in Catholic discussions are advocating so called “traditional” Catholicism as opposed to what they call “novus ordo.” Some even say they are Catholics, but not Bergoglian, referring to Pope Francis.
Some people take statements by Pope Francis out of context or even misquote him in order to deceive people. Some are SSPX promoters. SSPX is a schismatic organization. They say they are not, but the Church says otherwise.
There are some prominent Catholics on TV, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc who criticize Pope Francis on a regular basis. When I look up some remarks they attribute to Pope Francis, I often find these people who present themselves as representatives of the Catholic faith are misrepresenting what he actually said. I don’t know what they hope to achieve by all this.
I see this so-called traditional anti-Vatican II and anti-Francis movement as a very dangerous thing in our Church. I welcome any comments you may have on this issue.
I have a question about the seven deadly sins. I’ve read it’s more accurate to say vices, which if I understand means a habitual sin.
My understanding of confession is that I must confess violations of the 10 Commandments and the Laws of the Church. I am trying to stick to the classic method of listing the type of sin, the number of times, and any relevant circumstances, because otherwise I get confused, then nervous, and I end up rambling on and on which confuses the priest and wastes his time.
Suppose I have one or more of the deadly vices. I’m not sure how to confess a vice. I don’t see how I could confess to these vices by type, number of times and circumstances.
For example, suppose for years I have had the vices of lust and sloth. I would see these as character flaws, but not as individual sins I could confess.
Any advice?
Thank you.
P.S. Have a happy and blessed Christmas and New Year!
I’ve gotten conflicting information on when it’s ok to miss mass. I work 2nd shift so go to evening mass. If I have a prior engagement in the evening and decide to go earlier but I oversleep due to medical issues keeping me up am I excused or am I required to break my plans to attend? And if I am not excused and I chose to keep my plans is skipping mass a venial or mortal sin?
My understanding is you cannot eat an hour before communion, not mass, therefore if travel+mass-up to communion=an hr and you ate prior to leaving you are good. Is that wrong?
Father,
Regarding Archbishop Vigano’s statement on the COVID vaccine, the comments Barbara is referring to can be found here. Listen starting at minute 5 up to minute 6:
https://insidethevatican.com/vigano-tapes/the-vigano-tapes-10/
What is allowed on a Catholic consecrated altar? This includes time outside of Mass and Eucharistic Adoration. Please link the relevant church documents on this issue. Thanks.
Advice about situation with the sin of omission
Sometimes situations will arise when I feel urged to correct someone who is committing sin. For example, my parents eat before mass in the hour which they are supposed to be fasting. I find it difficult and awkward to correct them, and out of fear. Therefore, I end up not doing so. Would this qualify as mortal sin since it involves a grave matter: breaking the one hour fast (sacrilege).
Pope Francis wants to make them saints? As far as the Jewish People are concerned, they are already saints. May they be eternally blessed (and I’m sure they are!)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/poles-executed-hiding-jews-declared-170702842.html
I would like to follow up with a much shorter question about the controversial action of Fr. Boller of St. Francis Xavier in New York. I find his addition of a woke-style pledge about “white privilege” etc, apparently grabbed from a Unitarian source, to be a very unjust and dangerous thing. Your opinion? Are you aware of any such anti-Christian pledges being used in your diocese? Thank you.
Recently I saw a video by a priest who is also an author on the subject of digital downloads, copyright, and sin. He says that downloading some ebook, etc, which is under copyright, and which is hosted on a website without approval of the copyright holder, is definitely a sin. But some would argue that it is not sinful.
Recently a well-known website which hosted many ebooks and articles was seized. Apparently they did not necessarily honor requests by copyright holders to take down their material. It seems a rather large number of people all over the world, including students, have downloaded ebooks, sometimes claiming they could never afford the physical book. This pirate website was charging money for the ability to download many more ebooks per day, so clearly they were benefitting from copyright violations.
Some say this is stealing, because it deprives the author of income. But one reply would be that a person who can’t afford an expensive book would not buy it in any case. Therefore the author, or whoever gets paid by a sale, isn’t losing anything.
Another point is that downloading copyrighted materials from an unauthorized distributor may be illegal in some nations, and that it is always a sin for a Catholic to violate the laws of their nation.
I admit I’ve been uncertain on this issue for some time. I see an aspect of systemically unjust inequality in some cases, such as where poor students are unable to pay to get access to information which more prosperous students may obtain.
But recently I’ve come around more to the viewpoint of the priest-author. Of course it seems impossible that everyone will stop downloading pirated ebooks or viewing unauthorized YouTube videos. But we are not supposed to think that way.
I still think this is not 100% a black or white issue when it comes to sinfulness. But I would like to know if there is some consensus about this among the clergy or authorized theologians of the Church. I’m tending now to think if something is sometimes in a gray area of sinfulness, it’s better to treat it definitely as a sin anyway. But this can lead to scruples.
I hope my question makes sense. I look forward to your reply.
Dear Father Joe,
If the most important reason Jesus walked the earth was to die and pay the penalty for all the sins of man kind, then why didn’t he teach it first and foremost? When Jesus says to the adulterous woman “Go and sin no more.” He says this as if it is enough. He does not say, “Your very nature is sinful, as is everyone else’s, and these recent acts of yours are proof of this sinful nature in you. You must all wait until I suffer the crucifixion at the appointed time, and I am killed as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. I must then be raised from the dead before I can have any power over your sins, and something very important must be required from you before you can be considered for God’s mercy. After I am raised from the dead, you must call on my name and repent of all your sins, and ask for my forgiveness before I can forgive you. Only then will you be considered a child of my Father and saved from living an eternity in hell. And only after all of that will you have the power to stop sinning.”
Jesus never sinned, which would mean He never lied. Wouldn’t it be considered a huge lie by omission to not tell everyone He could, the most important information they would all need to have concerning themselves and their standing with God? Why tell the woman to go and sin no more as if it would not be ultimately futile given her unsaved nature? Unless it wasn’t futile. Unless she wasn’t unsaved. Unless people are wrong about why he died on the cross.
Thank you, I am not any religion. I love Jesus. I have truly encountered God as Jesus, and yet I struggle with how to understand the bible given all the interpretations.
I am not a Catholic. I understand that you believe that Mary was without sin. Respectfully I ask this : was Mary’s parents without sin. Or was this a special grace given to Mary.
I was told by a Catholic priest that the ANOINTING lasts until eternity.. can you comment on this. I posed the qt in asking how long does the ANOINTING last and he said for all eternity.. please explain this
I was recently on vacation with a group of people. It was Saturday and I mentioned to my wife that we needed to go to mass. She said one of her cousins had asked her bishop friend if it was ok to skip mass when traveling. According to my wife the bishop (who as a priest had marriedus) said you were exempt. We didn’t go and we t out to eat. Did I commit a mortal sin since I trusted my wife. Several days later I did my search on the question and realized I should have gone to mass.
Hi father. Had an argument with my wife this morning as I was trying to put eye drops for our daughters conjunctivitis. I was struggling and losing my patience as I tried for like 20 or 30 minutes without success. My wife kept saying to leave it but I kept trying. After last “just stop” I got really angry with my wofe, not physically violent but I swore once and felt hellfire and rage inside! I felt terrible! I then gave up. After few minutes I apologised to bothy daughter and wife as that was totally wrong. I know myself and pushed it losing completely my cool. Not happy, on the way to work, I moved forward slightly on a turning to scare the driver of the oncoming vehicle cause they didn’t slow down to let me pass, again stupidly. would you consider them as a mortal sins that require confession? 🫂Thank you
Fr i am confused about the Mark of the beast being unforgivable and every other sin can be forgiven ,Can you give me the Churches teaching on this ? Thank you
question: Genesis 1:26 ESV / 356 helpful votes
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
my question is, who is us? who is our?
If Heaven is unbridled joy, how do we deal with knowing our family will be missing us, especially at Christmas?