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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 5
 May-June 2006 
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"Eucharistic" or "Extraordinary" Ministers?
Q: Is "Eucharistic Minister" the correct title for a layperson who assists in distributing the Eucharist at Mass?
A: No, the title is not correct. Redemptionis Sacramentum states: This function is to be understood strictly according to the name by which it is known, that is to say, that of extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, and not "special minister of holy Communion" nor "extraordinary minister of the Eucharist" nor "special minister of the Eucharist," by which names the meaning of this function is unnecessarily and improperly broadened. (RS 156) —Jim Blackburn
Q: How did the Church determine that September 8 is the birthday of our Blessed Mother?
A: Usually, the Church assigns dates for particular feasts. The assignments can be based on the date of a saint’s death, a date that has special meaning in the saint’s life, or some other meaningful date. In the case of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, September 8 is the date that follows nine months after December 8, on which date the Church celebrates the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: The Glory Be and some prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours use the phrase "world without end." I presume this refers to the coming of a new heaven and new earth. Is it incorrect therefore to refer to the "end of the world"?
A: "World without end" is an idiom that means "forever" and is not meant to be taken literally. In Latin, the phrase saecula saeculorum means "ages of ages" (i.e., forever). In the current edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, it is translated "and will be for ages unending."
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: Can the pope bind all future popes to a specific liturgical discipline?
A: Absolutely not. Discipline, by its very nature, is a changeable practice that is determined by those with the authority to impose it. Dogma, on the other hand, is a definition of objective supernatural reality and therefore cannot be changed.
The Code of Canon Law says this about the authority of the pope: The office uniquely committed by the Lord to Peter, the first of the apostles, and to be transmitted to his successors, abides in the bishop of the Church of Rome. He is the head of the college of bishops, the vicar of Christ, and the pastor of the universal Church here on earth. Consequently, by virtue of his office, he has supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power in the Church, and he can always freely exercise this power. (CIC 331) "Supreme, full, immediate, and universal ordinary power" includes disciplinary authority. If a preceding pope could hamstring the disciplinary authority of his successors by issuing a disciplinary decree binding upon his successors under pain of mortal sin, then the current pope could not be said to have full disciplinary authority over the Church.
The disciplinary authority of a particular pope ends with his death. Successors may choose to continue to promulgate the disciplinary edicts of their predecessors because such edicts continue to be of importance to the life of the Church, but they are not bound to do so.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: Are Catholics to believe that the cleansing fire of purgatory is real physical fire?
A: There are only a few propositions that the Church has dogmatically defined concerning purgatory: - There is purification after death.
- This purification involves some kind of pain.
- Those being purified can be assisted by prayers, devotions, and Masses.
Other questions concerning purgatory (e.g., its duration, whether it is a place, whether it involves actively inflicted punishments, whether it involves material fire) are speculative.
According to Ludwig Ott:The Latin Fathers, the schoolmen, and many theologians of modern times, in view of 1 Corinthians 3:15, assume a physical fire. However, the biblical foundation for this is inadequate. Out of consideration for the separated Greeks, who reject the notion of a purifying fire, the official declarations of the councils speak only of purifying punishments (poena purgatoriae), not of purifying fire. (Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, TAN, 485) —Peggy Frye
Q: Are Eastern Masses valid? Is it lawful for a Roman Catholic to attend and receive Communion?
A: Let’s make some distinctions first: In the East, the liturgy that Roman Catholics call the Mass is called the divine liturgy. Some churches in the East are in union with the Catholic Church and others are not. Those that are in union with the Catholic Church are called Eastern Catholic; those that are not are ordinarily called Eastern Orthodox.
The Consecration of the Eucharist during the divine liturgy of both the Eastern Catholic churches and the Eastern Orthodox churches is valid. A Catholic of the Roman rite of the Church can attend an Eastern Catholic divine liturgy and receive Communion during that liturgy without problem, and the Eastern Catholic divine liturgy would fulfill the Sunday/holy day obligation. Although Catholics can occasionally attend Eastern Orthodox liturgies as a guest, those liturgies do not fulfill the Sunday/holy day obligation to attend Mass. Catholics ordinarily should not receive Communion at an Eastern Orthodox divine liturgy, though there are circumstances in which this is permitted.
If you have trouble discerning whether a particular Eastern church in your community is an Eastern Catholic or an Eastern Orthodox church, call your local diocese and ask.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: What is the difference between saints and blesseds?
A: There are several steps in the Church’s process of declaring someone a saint. From first to last, the corresponding titles are Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed, and Saint. "Blesseds" are those who have been beatified. Beatification requires one attested miracle and allows the beatified person to be venerated by his local church. Canonization requires two attested miracles and allows veneration of the saint by the universal Church. Canonization is an infallible statement by the Church that the saint is in heaven.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: What is it about a woman that prevents her ordination? In my discussions with proponents of women’s ordination it seems that all facts about history, custom, tradition, and apostolic authority take a backseat to this question.
A: The reason that women are not to be ordained is because they are not men. Sounds politically incorrect, doesn’t it? But the fact is that God created men to be men and women to be women. When God chose to incarnate, he did not just choose to become a human being; he chose to become a man. Just as he chose to incarnate into a specific time, place, people, family, and woman, so he chose to become a specific human being, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). Thus, those human beings who serve as priests in the person of Christ are men and not women.
This shocking particularity of God is not limited to choosing men to become priests. To demonstrate this to proponents of women’s ordination, you might turn the question around and ask them what it is about men that makes them unfit to bear children. Surely a man is just as physically strong as a woman and psychologically and emotionally capable of the demands of giving birth. Surely he is not inferior to a woman. Isn’t it unfair to men that only women can have babies?
This line of logic descends into absurdity, because women having children is a natural fact of life, something easily seen and understood. To shake one’s fist at the heavens and demand equal rights for men to give birth is to rail against the natural order. At that point you can establish that men being priests is a supernatural fact of life, and to object to it is to object to the supernatural order. The fact that the supernatural order cannot be seen and is not as easily understood as the natural order does not mean that the supernatural order does not exist.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: Is it necessary to confess how many times one has sinned?
A: To the best of your ability you should confess how many times you committed each grave sin. The Code of Canon Law is clear on this point: A member of the Christian faithful is obliged to confess in kind and number all grave sins committed after baptism and not yet remitted directly through the keys of the Church nor acknowledged in individual confession, of which the person has knowledge after diligent examination of conscience. (CIC 988) If you don’t know an exact number, you can give a best estimate or provide an approximation (e.g., "several times"). If you forget to do this or later remember additional occurrences of grave sins, your sins are still forgiven, but you should remember to acknowledge those sins at your next confession.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: If God created everything, then didn’t he create hell, too? If he created hell, then is hell good, since everything God created was good?
A: Hell is primarily an eternal state of separation between God and those creatures—angels and humans—who have permanently chosen to reject him. God created free will, which is good, but hell is the result of the abuse of free will. God did not create hell; he only allowed for its possibility. Thus it cannot be said that hell is good.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: Do the Episcopalian and Orthodox churches have the Real Presence in the Eucharist?
A: The Orthodox churches have valid holy orders while the Episcopal church does not; therefore, the Eucharist confected in the Orthodox churches is valid, but this is not the case in Episcopalian churches.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: Are Adam and Eve in heaven?
A: Christian tradition generally recognizes that Adam and Eve are in heaven. Their memorial has been celebrated in the Church on December 24.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: Do Catholics believe in the Rapture?
A: The word Rapture is connected to the Latin word rapiemur, which appears in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible. It means to be raised up or caught up: The dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thess. 4:16–17) Therefore, Catholics believe that those Christians who are still living at the Second Coming of Christ will be gathered together with those who have died in Christ to be forever with the Lord. Catholics do not generally use the term Rapture, nor do they believe in a Rapture that will take place some time before the Second Coming, as do many Evangelicals.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: Was it possible for Jesus to have been romantically attracted to Mary Magdalene?
A: Romantic attraction is a normal human emotion. As Jesus was fully man, it was within the realm of possibility that he experienced it. Scripture tells us that Jesus experienced normal human emotions such as anger (John 2:14–17), love (John 11:5), grief (John 11:32–35), and joy (Luke 10:21). He also experienced normal human desires such as hunger (Matt. 21:18), thirst (John 4:7; 19:28), and the desire for rest (John 4:6). Nevertheless, there are certain things we have to keep in mind.
Rightly ordered emotions draw a person to fulfill a rightly ordered need or desire. Rightly ordered romantic attraction draws a person into marriage. Jesus was not only without sin but also without concupiscence (the inclination toward sin that is a consequence of original sin), so he did not suffer disordered romantic attraction. Jesus’ mission did not include marriage to a human being—his bride is the Church (Eph. 5:25–33)—so there was no apparent purpose for him to feel romantic attraction. Therefore, while we cannot know with certainty, it is unlikely he felt romantic attraction for Mary Magdalene or any other woman.
Scripture does not mention or imply that Jesus was romantically attracted to or involved with anyone. He was focused on his mission of saving mankind.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that if a person makes a "perfect" act of contrition, his mortal sins are forgiven if he has the firm amendment to go to sacramental confession as soon as possible. Does this mean that a person in the pew at Sunday morning Mass, after supposedly making a perfect act of contrition, can receive the Eucharist at that Mass?
A: First, to clarify, the Catechism speaks of "perfect contrition," not a "perfect act of contrition." This is an important distinction because it is not a perfect act (e.g., reciting an act of contrition prayer perfectly) that obtains the forgiveness of grave sins; it is the contrition itself that must be perfect.
Contrition is defined as "sorrow of the soul and detestation for the sin committed, together with the resolution not to sin again" (CCC 1451). Contrition may be imperfect or perfect.
Imperfect contrition, which does not obtain forgiveness of grave sins, "is born of the consideration of sin’s ugliness or the fear of eternal damnation and the other penalties threatening the sinner" (CCC 1453).
Perfect contrition, on the other hand, "arises from a love by which God is loved above all else" (CCC 1452). Only this form of contrition obtains the forgiveness of grave sins before going to confession.
Since perfect contrition obtains the forgiveness of grave sins, one who makes an act of perfect contrition may receive the Eucharist under certain conditions. The Code of Canon Law states: A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible. (CIC 916) Note that there are four conditions that must be fulfilled before going to Communion:- There must be a grave reason to receive Communion (e.g., danger of death).
- It must be physically or morally impossible to go to confession first.
- The person must already be in a state of grace through perfect contrition.
- The person must resolve to go to confession as soon as possible.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: Can commercial-grade wine be used at Mass, or must the Church use specially made liturgical wine?
A: In principle, any wine may be consecrated provided it is pure, unspoiled wine made from grapes. The Code of Canon Law states, "The wine must be natural from the fruit of the vine and not spoiled" (CIC 924).
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal adds: The wine for the eucharistic celebration must be from the fruit of the grapevine (cf. Luke 22:18), natural, and unadulterated—that is, without admixture of extraneous substances. Diligent care should be taken to ensure that the bread and wine intended for the Eucharist are kept in a perfect state of conservation: that is, that the wine does not turn to vinegar nor the bread spoil or become too hard to be broken easily. (GIRM 322–323) Regarding commercially available wine, sacramental theologian Fr. Nicholas Halligan, O.P., explains:The Holy See has been insistent that the sacramental or Mass wine come from sources beyond suspicion, since there are many ways in which wine can be vitiated or adulterated, many methods that are actually used in this country to preserve, age, ameliorate wines. Wine should be purchased regularly only from reputable vendors of Mass wine or only when otherwise guaranteed to be pure and unadulterated. (The Sacraments and Their Celebration, Wipf and Stock, 66–67) —Jim Blackburn
Q: I’m not sure how much I’m supposed to be tithing. Is it 10 percent of my gross income or 10 percent of my net income?
A: The obligation to tithe (i.e., to give 10 percent of one’s gross income) was binding only on the Jews. Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic law (Matt. 5:17), so even Jews are no longer bound by it. But this doesn’t mean we’re not obligated to support the Church—we are—but there is no longer a specific percentage required.
Scripture provides insight on how Christians should give: On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper. (1 Cor. 16:2)
The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Cor. 9:6–7) There is no mandatory requirement to give a specific amount of money or percentage of our income. We should each decide for ourselves how much to give and then do so in the true spirit of giving a gift.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: My parish is instituting adoration and benediction during Lent. The pastor and associate are not willing to participate, and they are giving this responsibility to the deacon. Is the deacon allowed to expose the Blessed Sacrament and lead benediction?
A: Ordinarily a priest or deacon puts the Blessed Sacrament on the altar and returns it to the tabernacle. But if no priest or deacon is available, a layperson may be appointed to do this by the local ordinary (normally, the bishop).
Only a bishop, priest, or deacon can give the benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: What should I do with all the stuff (rosaries, prayer cards, medals) that is sent to me by charities seeking donations? I can’t afford to send them all money, but I don’t like to keep things I haven’t paid for or to throw away sacramentals.
A: If a charity sends you unsolicited materials, you are free to keep the materials or dispose of them and are under no obligation to send the charity money. Charities often mail out such goodies in their direct-mail campaigns as an enticement to respond with donations, but they do this knowing that the percentage of people who will actually donate is quite small.
With religious sacramentals, an object that is blessed should not be thrown away but either burned or broken up and the ashes or fragments buried. Charities should tell you in the promotional literature if the object has been blessed. If there is no mention that the object is blessed, you are free to assume that it has not been blessed. If you are uncomfortable with disposing unblessed sacramentals, you can donate the items to a local Catholic hospital, prison apostolate, parish or diocesan ministry, or other such Catholic group that would appreciate having such materials to distribute to the needy.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: How many plenary or partial indulgences can one receive per day?
A: In most cases only one plenary indulgence may be acquired per day, and in most cases there is no limit on the number partial indulgences (Indulgentiarum Doctrina 6).
—Jim Blackburn
Q: When St. Thomas Aquinas likened his work to straw, was that a retraction of what he wrote?
A: In the Thurston and Attwater revision of Alban Butler’s Lives of the Saints, the episode is described this way: On the feast of St. Nicholas [in 1273, Aquinas] was celebrating Mass when he received a revelation that so affected him that he wrote and dictated no more, leaving his great work the Summa Theologiae unfinished. To Brother Reginald’s (his secretary and friend) expostulations he replied, "The end of my labors has come. All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me." When later asked by Reginald to return to writing, Aquinas said, "I can write no more. I have seen things that make my writings like straw." (www.catholic-forum.com/saintS/stt03002.htm) Aquinas died three months later while on his way to the ecumenical council of Lyons.
Aquinas’s vision may have been a vision of heaven, compared to which everything else, no matter how glorious, seems worthless. We can only speculate on that point. Scholars, hagiographers, and Catholics in general have never understood Aquinas’s comment to be a retraction or refutation of anything he wrote. If it had been, Pope Leo XIII would not have encouraged a renewed interest in Thomistic theology and philosophy, and Aquinas would not have been named a Doctor of the Church.
It is also reported that Aquinas had another mystical experience in which the voice of Christ said to him, "You have written well of me, Thomas" (www2.nd.edu/Departments//Maritain/etext/thomas1.htm).
—Peggy Frye
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