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Q u i c k Q u e s t i o n s
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This Rock
Volume 15, Number 9
 November 2004 
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Real Presence Is Not Dependent on Real Belief
Q: I recently read a book by a Catholic author who said that "the eucharistic presence of Christ reaches its full completion only when it is both offered and accepted in faith. Only then does it become the presence of Christ in the believer’s heart, thus realizing the intimacy that is the purpose of the Eucharist." Is this Catholic teaching?
A: No, it’s heresy. The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is not dependent on the faith of the communicant. Christ is present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist in his body and his blood, with his soul and his divinity, regardless of the communicant’s faith. Even if a person receives the Holy Eucharist in mortal sin, he still receives the body and blood of Christ. But he does not receive his grace, and he commits great sacrilege (cf. Baltimore Catechism 255).
"By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his body and his blood, with his soul and his divinity" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1413).
"It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament" (CCC 1375).
Q: I have read that, although we are not required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays outside of Lent in the United States, the obligation to do penance remains. The difference is that we can choose our own penance on other Fridays. Is this correct? Canons 1250–1253 seem to state as much.
A: Regarding the norms for fast and abstinence, the Code of Canon Law makes this provision for the national bishops’ conferences: "The episcopal conference can determine more particular ways in which fasting and abstinence are to be observed. In place of abstinence or fasting it can substitute, in whole or in part, other forms of penance, especially works of charity and exercises of piety" (CIC 1253, emphasis added).
Accordingly, in 1966, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops decided that "Friday should be in each week something of what Lent is in the entire year. For this reason we urge all to prepare for that weekly Easter that comes with each Sunday by freely making of every Friday a day of self-denial and mortification in prayerful remembrance of the passion of Jesus Christ; among the works of voluntary self-denial and personal penance that we especially commend to our people for the future observance of Friday, even though we hereby terminate the traditional law of abstinence as binding under pain of sin, as the sole prescribed means of observing Friday, we give first place to abstinence from flesh meat. We do so in the hope that the Catholic community will ordinarily continue to abstain from meat by free choice as formerly we did in obedience to Church law" (Complementary Norms on Penance and Abstinence, emphasis in original).
Q: Will God hear and answer prayers only from those who are in a state of grace? What does the Church teach on this matter?
A: If God hears the prayers of only those in the state of grace, then he does not hear the prayers of those in the state of mortal sin. If he does not hear their prayers, then he does not hear their prayers of repentance. If he does not hear their prayers of repentance, then he cannot forgive them. If they cannot be forgiven by God, such sinners never can leave the state of mortal sin. If they never can leave the state of mortal sin, then it is not possible for them to achieve grace. If they cannot achieve grace, they cannot be saved. Thus, it would be impossible for anyone in the state of mortal sin to have a way to be saved. This means that once you fall into mortal sin, you can’t get out. But this is contrary to Church teaching. Therefore, it is not the case that God hears only the prayers of those in the state of grace.
Q: What is the significance of making the sign of the cross before and after private prayer?
A: Jesus told the apostles, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19).
The Catechism tells us that when Catholics are baptized, "the sign of the cross, on the threshold of the celebration, marks with the imprint of Christ the one who is going to belong to him and signifies the grace of the redemption Christ won for us by his cross" (CCC 1235).
Thereafter, each time we make the sign of the cross, it strengthens us as we remember that we belong to Christ. "The Christian begins his day, his prayers, and his activities with the sign of the cross: ‘in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.’ The baptized person dedicates the day to the glory of God and calls on the Savior’s grace, which lets him act in the Spirit as a child of the Father. The sign of the cross strengthens us in temptations and difficulties" (CCC 2157).
Q: Can a priest, as a matter of personal conscience, refuse to marry a Catholic with a non-Catholic?
A: The Catholic Church does give dispensations for Catholics to marry members of other Christian churches or other religions. A priest may refuse to witness a marriage because he judges one or both parties to be too young or lacking in sufficient psychological maturity, etc. Further, the priest may refuse to officiate, but he cannot prevent the couple from going to another priest who might have a different pastoral opinion. All things being equal, Catholics have a right to the sacraments.
Q: We read in many parts of Scripture of events and activities occurring in a period of forty days and forty nights, such as the flood, Jesus in the desert, etc. What is the significance of this number?
A: The number forty indicates a time of purification, preparation, or penance. For example, during the Flood, it rained forty days and forty nights (cf. Gen. 7:17); Moses, Elijah, and Jesus fasted forty days (cf. Ex.24:18; 1 Kgs.19:7–9; Matt. 4:2); and the Israelites wandered forty years in the desert (cf. Num. 32:13).
Q: My daughter was baptized about a year and a half ago. The priest did the baptism by submersion. What I realize now is that he never fully dunked my daughter in the water, so no water ever ran on her head. Has she been validly baptized?
A: According to the Rite of Baptism for Children, baptism may be done by pouring water over the child or by immersion.
Speaking of the celebrant, the rite says:
"He baptizes the child, saying:
N., I baptize you in the name of the Father,
He immerses the child or pours water upon it
and of the Son
He immerses the child or pours water a second time
and of the Holy Spirit.
He immerses the child or pours water upon it a third time" (Rite of Baptism for Children 60).
Since to immerse can mean "to cover up" but also could mean "to dip," and since the Church could have used the word submerge but did not, you can be assured that your daughter was baptized validly.
Q: Can a non-Catholic Christian receive the sacrament of penance?
A: Yes, under certain circumstances and with the permission of the bishop. The Catechism states: "When, in the ordinary’s judgment, a grave necessity arises, Catholic ministers may give the sacraments of Eucharist, penance, and anointing of the sick to other Christians not in full communion with the Catholic Church who ask for them of their own will, provided they give evidence of holding the Catholic faith regarding these sacraments and possess the required dispositions" (CCC 1401).
Q: My children are researching slavery in America in the 1700s. Many of the resources they have found state that most churches at that time, including Christian churches, approved of or at least tolerated the practice. Did Catholic bishops and priests in the Americas at that time speak out against slavery?
A: Papal condemnations of slavery were repeated by Popes Gregory XIV (1591), Urban VIII (1639), Innocent XI (1686), Benedict XIV (1741), and Pius VII (1815). In 1839, Pope Gregory XVI and Pope Leo XIII (1890) both wrote condemning slavery, as did the Second Vatican Council (1965).
Q: What is blasphemy or sin against the Spirit? Can it ever be forgiven?
A: It is the refusal to ask for forgiveness, a refusal to repent. "Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, then, is that sin committed by the person who claims to have a ‘right’ to persist in evil—in any sin at all—and who thus rejects redemption" (Dominum et Vivificantem 46).
It is the Holy Spirit who convinces us of our sins for the purpose of repentance. So if he makes us aware of sin and we refuse to repent, then it becomes an unforgivable sin. Of course, if we do repent, then we can be forgiven.
"There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss" (CCC1864).
Q: Can you tell me how Deus, ego amo te is translated into English?
A: It means "God, I love you."
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