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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 16, Number 1
 January 2005 
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Are You Blushing for the Gospel?
Q: What obligation, if any, do I have to family or friends to educate them on Catholic matters? For instance, if my sister doesn’t know the Church’s teaching on birth control, do I have any obligation to tell her? Or regarding a brother who is living with his girlfriend, do I have to tell him that what he is doing is immoral? If I do say something, is that judging?
A: We make judgments all the time. Should I trust this person with my child? Is this person telling me the truth? Is the person who said he’s sorry sincere? We judge what is right and what is wrong. What we must not judge is the condition of another’s soul or its destination. That is because an act that concerns an objective evil is only one condition of mortal sin. There must also be full knowledge and full consent; otherwise the culpability for the sin may be diminished. Only God knows for sure.
"Indeed love itself impels the disciples of Christ to speak the saving truth to all men. But it is necessary to distinguish between error, which always merits repudiation, and the person in error, who never loses the dignity of being a person even when he is flawed by false or inadequate religious notions. God alone is the judge and searcher of hearts; for that reason he forbids us to make judgments about the internal guilt of anyone" (Gaudium et Spes 28:2).
It is never permissible to leave a someone in a state of ignorance concerning grave matters of faith and morals, for Christ commanded us to preach the gospel to all creatures and to teach them "to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:20). Prudence requires, though, that you choose the appropriate manner, time, and place.
Although it is normal to feel intimidated or uncomfortable when you’re talking about a sensitive moral issue, don’t let a little fear and intimidation stop you from speaking the truth. You have to witness to the truth for the sake of the other. Truth is the most loving gift you can give to anyone. To prepare for such discussions, continue to grow in your understanding of the Church’s teachings so you can witness more effectively—and pray. Pope Paul VI gives this exhortation in Evangelii Nuntiandi: "Every evangelizer is expected to have a reverence for truth. . . . He never betrays or hides truth out of a desire to please men, in order to astonish or to shock, nor for the sake of originality or a desire to make an impression. He does not refuse truth. He does not obscure revealed truth by being too idle to search for it, or for the same of his own comfort, or out of fear" (EN 78).
He then asks every evangelizer "to pray about the following thought: Men can gain salvation also in other ways, by God’s mercy, even though we do not preach the gospel to them; but as for us, can we gain salvation if through negligence or fear or shame—what St. Paul called ‘blushing for the gospel’—or as a result of false ideas we fail to preach it? For that would be to betray the call of God, who wishes the seed to bear fruit through the voice of the ministers of the gospel; and it will depend on us whether this grows into trees and produces its full fruit" (ibid., 80).
Q: Did the Vatican ever publish a document stating that women are not supposed to wear head veils to church anymore?
A: No. Women are free to wear a head covering to church if they so desire. It’s just not required.
The document Inter Insigniores by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (October 15, 1976) stated that the 1917 Code of Canon Law (canon 1262.2) requiring women to wear veils on their heads was a custom of the period and that such ordinances "concern scarcely more than disciplinary practices of minor importance." Thus the obligation "no longer has a normative value." But, as a sign of respect, women still are required to wear a veil when meeting the pope.
Q: I know a Catholic serving in Iraq. He goes to Mass whenever possible in his remote location. There has been no priest available to hear confessions for a couple of weeks. If he has serious sin to confess and wants to confess but can’t due to circumstances beyond his control, what would happen to him if he dies? He prays fervently and constantly asks for God’s forgiveness and guidance, but is that enough?
A: His sins are forgiven when he makes an act of perfect contrition with the resolution to go to confession as soon as possible. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains: "Among the penitent’s acts contrition occupies first place. Contrition is ‘sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed together with the resolution not to sin again.’ When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called ‘perfect’ (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible" (CCC 1451–1452).
Q: Is it lawful for a layperson to officiate at a Communion service? If so, is it lawful for a layperson to give a homily during this Communion service?
A: If it becomes necessary for a celebration to be carried out in the absence of a priest, then no one person should "officiate" or "preside." The recently released instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum states:
"It is necessary to avoid any sort of confusion between this type of gathering and the celebration of the Eucharist. . . . It will be preferable, moreover, when both a priest and a deacon are absent, that the various parts be distributed among several faithful rather than having a single lay member of the faithful direct the whole celebration alone. Nor is it ever appropriate to refer to any member of the lay faithful as ‘presiding’ over the celebration" (RS 165).
Regarding preaching at these celebrations, only the bishop may give permission for a layperson to preach—and only under extraordinary circumstances, such as the absence of sacred ministers.
"The homily on account of its importance and its nature is reserved to the priest or deacon during Mass. As regards other forms of preaching, if necessity demands it in particular circumstances, or if usefulness suggests it in special cases, lay members of Christ’s faithful may be allowed to preach in a church or in an oratory outside Mass in accordance with the norm of law. . . . All must remember besides that the faculty for giving such permission belongs to the local ordinary, and this as regards individual instances; this permission is not the competence of anyone else, even if they are priests or deacons" (RS 161).
Q: It has long been my feeling that, if I become terminally ill, I would prefer to go to a hospice and let nature take its course rather than go through the agony of a few more years of a miserable life. Lately, though, I’ve begun to reconsider my position, as it seems to me that the refusal of medical treatment in this situation could be seen as suicide, albeit in a passive manner. What does the Church say about this? Would I be committing mortal sin if I refuse medical treatment?
A: In the situation you describe, the Church requires that ordinary means of maintaining life (nourishment and hydration, for example) not be denied. But it does allow the cessation of extraordinary means:
"Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of ‘over-zealous’ treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected" (CCC 2278).
Q: As a former Anglican (Reformed Episcopal Church) and now a Catholic, is it okay for me to use the Book of Common Prayer (either the 1928 edition and/or the 1979 American edition) for daily morning and evening prayer?
A: There is now a Catholic edition of the Book of Common Prayer, specifically published for those of the Anglican tradition. It is called the Book of Divine Worship and includes the daily offices and the Mass. Go to this site for more information: http://bookofdivineworship.com. You will see other links that will be helpful, including congregations and parishes of Anglican Use.
Q: Is it unethical to enter an amusement park by a backwoods trail without paying the admission fee? Shouldn’t the park block the path? If they don’t, doesn’t that give you permission to go in that way?
A: To enter an amusement park without paying the admission fee knowingly (and/or stealthily) is a form of theft. To take another’s goods unjustly and against the owner’s will, when he has every reason and right to be unwilling to be deprived of them, is stealing. Such an injustice causes the owner to lose monies that are rightfully his. To take and use another’s property unjustly is contrary to the seventh commandment: You shall not steal (cf. Ex. 20:15; Deut. 5:19; Matt. 19:18; CCC 2454). The fact that the amusement park owners didn’t block access to the path doesn’t give anyone license to enter without paying.
Q: Is it permissible for a priest to offer confession in his office?
A: Yes, but it must be with just cause. Here is what the Code of Canon Law says:
"The proper place to hear sacramental confessions is a church or oratory. The conference of bishops is to establish norms regarding the confessional; it is to take care, however, that there are always confessionals with a fixed grate between the penitent and the confessor in an open place so that the faithful who wish to can use them freely. Confessions are not to be heard outside a confessional without a just cause" (CIC 964).
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