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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 17, Number 1
 January 2006 
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E-Confession?
Q: Can reconciliation be given online?
A: The sacrament of reconciliation cannot be validly received online. It also cannot be received by mail, phone, telegram, e-mail, carrier pigeon, or any other means except personal, one-to-one contact with a priest.
Q: How is the date for Easter determined? Last year it was very early.
A: Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox (March 21). If the first full moon occurs on the equinox, Easter is the following Sunday. Thus, Easter can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25. Last year, Easter was on March 27; this year, it will be on April 16.
Q: Is the tabernacle always supposed to be in the center of the sanctuary? If it’s not in good view from where I sit, in what direction should I genuflect—toward the tabernacle or toward the altar?
A: The tabernacle may be placed anywhere in the church provided certain conditions are met. The Code of Canon Law states: The tabernacle in which the most holy Eucharist is reserved is to be situated in some part of the church or oratory that is distinguished, conspicuous, beautifully decorated, and suitable for prayer (CIC 938). Concerning genuflecting, the General Instruction of the Roman Missal instructs:If . . . the tabernacle with the most Blessed Sacrament is present in the sanctuary, the priest, the deacon, and the other ministers genuflect when they approach the altar and when they depart from it, but not during the celebration of Mass itself. Otherwise all who pass before the most Blessed Sacrament genuflect, unless they are moving in procession (GIRM 74).
Q: I heard somewhere that a layperson cannot deliver a eulogy at a funeral Mass. Are there any circumstances in which it would be acceptable?
A: According to the Order of Christian Funerals, there is never to be a eulogy at a funeral Mass (OCF 27), although the celebrant may express a few words of gratitude about the person’s life in his homily, or he may allow a relative or a friend to say a few words about the deceased during the concluding rite (GIRM 89). The remarks must be brief and under no circumstances can the deceased person be referred to as being in heaven. Only the Church has the authority to canonize.
Contrary to common assumption, the purpose of the funeral Mass is not to celebrate the life of the deceased but to offer worship to God for Christ’s victory over death, to comfort the mourners with prayers, and to pray for the soul of the deceased. Relatives or friends who wish to speak of the deceased’s character and accomplishments can do so at a prayer service to be held in a home or funeral home or at the graveside following the rite of committal.
Q: I have heard some religion teachers refer to the Old Testament as the Hebrew Scriptures. Is this an acceptable practice?
A: Generally speaking, when addressing a mixed audience of Christians and Jews, some consider it polite to call the Old Testament "the Hebrew Scriptures" to avoid the negative connotations of the term Old Testament for non-Christian Jews. Since either term is accurate for Christians, a Christian who does not wish to alienate a Jewish audience might choose to use the term many Jews prefer.
Q: I do not know suitable a godparent for my son’s baptism. May I be his godmother?
A: No. According to the Code of Canon Law: To be admitted to undertake the office of sponsor [for baptism], a person must . . . not be either the father or the mother of the person to be baptized (CIC 874). Speak to your baptismal celebrant about finding a suitable baptismal sponsor. Sometimes priests and deacons know of individuals who have expressed a desire to be a godparent should there be a need for one. You can also ask a priest, deacon, or consecrated religious to be the godparent.
Q: Since all humans have guardian angels, did Jesus have a guardian angel while he was on earth?
A: Since Jesus was a man, there is no reason to doubt that he had a guardian angel. A pious Christian opinion holds that Michael the archangel fulfilled this role. Scripture certainly records angels ministering to Jesus. In his account of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, Luke wrote, "And there appeared to [Jesus] an angel from heaven, strengthening him" (Luke 22:43). Matthew 4:11 and Mark 1:13 also mention angels ministering to Jesus after he was tempted by the devil.
So, did Jesus need the help of angels? The Navarre Bible commentary on the Gospel of Luke answers, "The Creator of all, who is never in need of the help of his creatures, is ready to accept, as man, consolation and help from those who can give it" (240).
Q: Can mortal sins be forgiven without actually going to confession?
A: Sacramental confession is normatively required for the forgiveness of mortal sins; it is not absolutely required. What this means is that, in extraordinary circumstances, mortal sins can be forgiven outside of sacramental confession. If a Catholic is dying and cannot go to sacramental confession, his mortal sins may be forgiven if he repents with true contrition (i.e., sorrow for sin) and has at least the implicit intention to go to sacramental confession if the opportunity is made available.
Q: Can a practicing Catholic officiate at a civil wedding ceremony?
A: Assuming that the couple are either non-Catholics not bound by Catholic marital law, that there are no obvious impediments to their marriage (e.g., previous marriage, close blood relationship), and that the Catholic is authorized by the state to officiate at civil wedding ceremonies (e.g., judge, justice of the peace, other recognized official), yes, a Catholic could preside at a civil wedding ceremony. The only caveat would be that a Catholic could not obtain "ordination" from a mail-order or online "ordination" mill, even if his state recognizes marriages performed by individuals who have obtained such "ordinations."
Q: If I cannot recall if I mentioned a particular sin the last time I went to confession but recall it now, should I mention it in my next confession, or was it absolved already?
A: It was absolved already. If it is a venial sin, you do not need to confess it. If it was a mortal sin, it was absolved, provided you at least implicitly intended to mention it if you had remembered it. What this means is that you confessed all known sins and would have confessed whatever others you committed had you recalled them. So if you now recall a mortal sin, mention it the next time you go to confession.
Q: If Onan was struck down for wasting his seed (cf. Gen. 38:9), why is it okay for a married couple practicing natural family planning to have relations during the wife’s infertile time? Isn’t that wasting the man’s seed?
A: Onan spilled his semen on the ground for the purpose of making the act sterile. His sin was not the waste of semen—semen is often "wasted" in the sense that, during relations, its presence does not always result in pregnancy. Onan’s sin was acting in such a way that intentionally sterilized the act.
This is very different from NFP, which never attempts to render an act sterile—every act remains open to the possibility of procreation. NFP simply seeks to regulate pregnancy by observing abstinence during the woman’s fertile period.
Q: When does Lent end, and can we "rest" from our Lenten penances on the Sundays of Lent, as those Sundays are not part of Lent?
A: Lent ends when the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday begins, because the Mass of the Lord’s Supper ushers in the Holy Triduum, a liturgical season in its own right and the shortest of the liturgical year. As for the Lenten penances, those are voluntary practices that people take up as personal devotions in addition to the penances required by the Church on the Fridays of Lent. As voluntary penances can be voluntarily set aside, taking a break from them on Sundays in honor of the Lord’s Day is perfectly fine. That said, the Sundays of Lent are indeed part of the Lenten season.
Q: I was given an antique "sick box" that my great-grandmother received as a wedding gift in 1911. It is a large wooden wall hanging that contains statues of Mary and Jesus and comes with candles, oil, and holy water. What were these used for, and why do we not use them today?
A: A "sick box" was a container of materials meant to help someone offer spiritual comfort to an ill person. The candles and statues may be arranged to facilitate the prayer of and for the sick person, the holy water may be used for blessings appropriate to laypersons, and the holy water and oil may be given to a visiting priest to use for priestly blessings. There’s no reason such materials cannot continue to be used today, although visiting priests usually bring their own oil for the anointing of the sick.
Q: Why is Mel Gibson’s movie called The Passion of the Christ instead of The Passion of Christ?
A: Gibson likely chose the title for his movie because Christ is not a personal name but a title meaning "the Anointed One." So the title could be translated as The Passion of the (Anointed One) . Had the movie been titled The Passion of Christ, it would have lost the sense that "the Christ" is a title, not a name, and could have been translated The Passion of (Anointed One) , which is grammatically incorrect.
Q: What is the Divine Mercy chaplet?
A: The Divine Mercy chaplet is a prayer devotion said on standard rosary beads that is believed to have been given by Christ to St. Faustina Kowalska (1905–38) as a means of beseeching God’s mercy on sinners. St. Faustina recorded the visions she had of Christ and the Blessed Virgin in a diary entitled Divine Mercy in My Soul.
Q: I’ve recently seen places in the missalette where it lists celebrant and presider. Doesn’t it mean priest or deacon? What do these really mean? Can they be anyone?
A: Presider and celebrant are synonyms for the person who offers the Mass. Thus, only a priest or bishop can be a presider or celebrant. Presider is a newer term that generally indicates that the priest takes the lead in offering the Mass. Celebrant is of older vintage and connotes that the priest is the person who primarily celebrates the Mass. In recent times presider has become preferred by some as a means of indicating that the congregation should take an active role in the liturgy, proper to their status as laity. Either term is correct.
Q: My family and I were visiting a little town in Mexico, and we went to a Catholic church to pray, but then Mass began and instead of a priest it was a woman giving Mass. We left but tried to seek an answer about why a woman offered Mass. The only response was that the priest was on a trip.
A: Without more information, it is impossible to determine whether the woman was offering Mass or leading a Communion service. Given the explanation offered you, it sounds likely that what was offered was a Communion service. If you observed the woman attempting to consecrate the bread and wine, contact the bishop of the church’s diocese and report to him what you witnessed.
Laypeople (including laywomen) are allowed to lead Communion services in the absence of priests. The Eucharist is not consecrated at this service, because that is something only a priest can do. The Eucharist that is distributed to the congregation was consecrated beforehand at another Mass. As an example of the difference between Masses and Communion services, remember what happens on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Because Masses are not offered on Good Friday, the priest consecrates double the usual amount of hosts on Holy Thursday and the extras are reserved for the Communion service on Good Friday.
Q: Aren’t pro-life Catholics who support a particular war being hypocritical?
A: Because there are cases in which war can be morally justified, Catholics are permitted to disagree over whether any particular war is justifiable. There is never any case in which abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, or human cloning is morally justifiable because they all involve the illegitimate killing of innocent human beings. No Catholic can ever support them. Thus, a pro-life Catholic who properly rejects the immoral killing of an innocent human being can at the same time believe that a particular war is justifiable based on the requirements of Catholic just war doctrine.
Q: Should Catholic parents force their children to be confirmed against their will?
A: No, they should not force their children to be confirmed. Although confirmation can be validly received by infants, as is done in Eastern Catholic churches, when the person to receive the sacrament is old enough to make his own decision, he should be allowed to decide for himself whether or not he will receive it.
Canon law states: Apart from the danger of death, to receive confirmation lawfully a person who has the use of reason must be suitably instructed, properly disposed, and able to renew the baptismal promises (CIC 889). If a child is unwilling to receive confirmation, he is not properly disposed and cannot lawfully receive confirmation.
Q: I have Protestant friends who say that Jesus died only for Christians. Is this true?
A: Jesus died for the redemption of all mankind. The apostle Paul says, "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe" (1 Tim. 4:10). God desires the salvation of all men (cf. 1 Tim. 2:3–4), thus he died to redeem mankind and offer salvation to all. His death redeemed mankind collectively, so we can say that even non-Christians are redeemed. Because each person has free will, he can choose to reject the salvation offered him as a gift. So, while all are redeemed, it is possible that not all will be saved. Christ’s death is sufficient for the salvation of all, but it is efficient for the salvation of those who choose to accept that gift.
Q: I think rosaries are beautiful and would like to own one, although I would not use it to pray. I have been told that it would be "wrong" for me to have a rosary, since I see them only as beautiful art. Can I own a rosary if I intend only to display it as art?
A: There is nothing wrong with buying a rosary because you consider it a beautiful art form. Many people collect examples of artifacts of religions of which they are not members. So long as the artifact is treated with dignity, reasonable religious people should be flattered rather than offended that you consider their religious emblems lovely enough to wish to display in your home.
Q: I have heard of Catholics "going to rosaries" for people who have died. Could you tell me what is meant by this?
A: When a Catholic dies, his friends and family often gather together to pray the rosary for the repose of his soul. Saying that one is "going to a rosary" is a shorthand way of saying that someone is gathering with other people in order to pray a rosary together.
Q: Can you explain the purpose of having different religious orders within the Church (e.g., Franciscans, Dominicans)? Do all priests belong to a specific order of their choosing? Are the orders open to deacons and laypeople?
A: Basically, there are different religious orders in the Church because each order has its own purpose. For example, the Franciscans have a special love for and identification with the poor. Dominicans are especially interested in preaching, as is indicated by the fact that the official name of the order is the Order of Preachers. Other groups, such as the Benedictines, are monastic rather than active in the world like the Franciscans and Dominicans.
Not all priests are consecrated religious. Only those priests who belong to a particular order are consecrated religious, although a secular priest can join an order as a tertiary who lives in the world (e.g., Pope John Paul II was a third-order Carmelite). Permanent deacons and laypeople can also belong to the tertiaries of a particular order of their choosing. If a transitional deacon is also a consecrated religious, he belongs to that religious order.
Q: I have just read Catholic Answers’ report on the novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I have to say that the Church seems very flustered about the book. Surely the Church has nothing to fear from a work of fiction, no matter what the view of the author.
A: Actually, the Church as an institution has had no comment, one way or the other, on The Da Vinci Code. The book has not been placed by the Vatican on any "forbidden books" list nor have any "official" sanctions been placed on it. Those who are concerned are faithful Catholics, clerical and lay, who have seen the book confuse Catholics and other Christians about the character of people in the early Church, the relationship of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, and orthodox Christian doctrine.
Although many have claimed that Christians shouldn’t be concerned about the novel because it is fiction, Brown himself has touted the book as the fruit of factual research. He opens the novel with a "Fact Page" that purports to be unvarnished truth. In other words, he wants people to believe that his conclusions in the novel are true.
Even had Brown not advertised his book to reveal hidden "truths" about Christianity, the device of fiction does not grant authors the right to disseminate historical untruths. Analogously, a novel that purported to reveal that the Holocaust never happened and that Adolf Hitler was really a great guy would be (quite properly) discounted by people of good will everywhere as anti-Semitic agitprop. Indeed, in this day and age, such a book would likely never see publication, at least by mainstream publishers. If such a book as that could not be defended with the disclaimer "It’s only a novel!" then other books that spread historical untruths also cannot be defended as "only fiction."
Q: I know that we are not to treat animals cruelly and that we are allowed to kill an animal in self-defense, but is it okay to hunt animals for sport?
A: God gave man stewardship over animals, and that includes using them for just purposes. Examples of just purposes that the Catechism of the Catholic Church points out are food, clothing, medical and scientific experimentation, and the work and leisure of man (CCC 2417–8). But man must not deliberately cause animals to suffer and die needlessly, because to do so would be contrary to man’s own dignity. Animals, properly speaking, do not have "rights" because they are not human. But man does have the human responsibility to treat them with reasonable care.
Does this exclude sport hunting? If a hunter were merely shooting an animal for the purpose of watching it suffer and die, yes. But the vast majority of hunters don’t do that. Some use the meat and skins of the animals. Others are helping to preserve the balance of nature by using carefully regulated licensing procedures to thin out animal overpopulation. Some hunt for sport, but the sport is in the tracking, gun skills, and trophy hunting, not in causing suffering and death to animals. All responsible hunters take care not to leave a wounded animal injured by a badly aimed shot to suffer; they make sure to track it down and end its suffering.
In short, the Church does not oppose sport hunting.
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