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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 8
 September 2006 
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The Novus Ordo and the Sunday Obligation
Q: I am not happy with the Novus Ordo Mass and no longer wish to attend it. I would like to attend the Tridentine Mass every week, but the bishop will not allow my priest to celebrate it more than twice a month. Would I commit a mortal sin by attending Mass only twice a month?
A: Attending Mass is not all about us and what we like or dislike. It’s about what happened on Golgotha on Good Friday when God the Son shed his blood for us. It’s all about him! At Mass, it is his body and blood that is offered on the altar—regardless of what language is spoken, what rite is used, or what words are sung. Certainly, we all have our own tastes. But the light of his sacrifice must blind us to all else at such a moment.
To miss Sunday Mass through one’s own fault can indeed be a mortal sin. But to rank one’s preferred liturgical style higher than the Mass itself is to deliberately ignore God’s gesture of love as he hung for three hours, preferring our good to his life and all of his preferences.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: Did Judas go to hell?
A: Jesus said, "Woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born" (Matt. 26:24). While this statement implies that Judas’s final destination was hell, it cannot be known whether or not he repented of his sins before his death, and so it cannot be said with certainty that he is in hell.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: My friend will be teaching a high school religious education class at my parish, yet she openly disagrees with several doctrinal issues of the Catholic faith. She understands the Church’s teachings but believes they’re wrong, and she will speak her mind in class. My pastor says to give her a chance. What documents can I show my pastor that will show him she’s not the best candidate to teach?
A: I’m sorry that your friend refuses to hear you. She’s probably a caring and well-intentioned person, but she’s just not qualified to teach. Show your pastor Catechesi Tradendae (available at www.vatican.va), which states: Whatever be the level of his responsibility in the Church, every catechist must constantly endeavor to transmit by his teaching and behavior the teaching and life of Jesus. He will not seek to keep directed toward himself and his personal opinions and attitudes the attention and the consent of the mind and heart of the person he is catechizing. Above all, he will not try to inculcate his personal opinions and options as if they expressed Christ’s teaching and the lessons of his life. Every catechist should be able to apply to himself the mysterious words of Jesus: "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me." For this reason, the General Directory for Catechesis (available at www.vatican.va) says:There cannot be teachers of the faith other than those who are convinced and faithful disciples of Christ and his Church.
—Peggy Frye
Q: Can a soul be delivered from hell through our prayers?
A: Like heaven, hell is an eternal state, so prayers cannot help the souls there. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire." The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs. (CCC 1035) Since souls in heaven also have no need for our prayers, only those in purgatory are helped by prayers for the dead.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: Are Catholics free to interpret Bible verses without the Church’s approval?
A: So far as the interpretations of individual scriptural passages go, keep in mind that the Church does not, as a rule, define how specific verses are to be taken. Instead, it defines doctrine, and that definition may eliminate some interpretations of particular verses. Ludwig Ott’s Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma should answer most of your questions in these areas about the Church’s teaching office.
*
Only seven passages of Scripture have had their senses partially—but not fully—defined by the extraordinary magisterium. These definitions were made by the Council of Trent (see "The Limits of Scriptural Interpretation" in the January 2001 issue of This Rock): - The reference to being "born of water and the Spirit" in John 3:5 includes the idea of baptism.
- In telling the apostles, "Do this [the Eucharist] in memory of me" in Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:24, Jesus appointed the apostles priests.
- In Matthew 18:18 and John 20:22–23, Jesus conferred on the apostles the power to forgive sins; everyone does not share this power.
- Romans 5:12 refers to the reality of original sin.
- The presbyters referred to in James 5:14 are ordained, not merely elder members of the Christian community.
—Peggy Frye
Q: Why did England’s King Henry VIII, who had never been married, need a dispensation from Rome to marry his brother’s widow, Catherine of Aragon? Would the Church prohibit such a marriage today?
A: Henry VIII (reigned 1509–1547) was granted a dispensation from the impediment of affinity. Today, the impediment of affinity arises between a person and his or her spouse’s direct-line relatives. For example, a widower is impeded from marrying his deceased wife’s mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter, etc. (CIC 1092).
In the sixteenth century, though, the impediment of affinity came about merely through intercourse (marriage was not required) and extended further than the direct line of relatives. Since it was presumed that Catherine of Aragon had intercourse with her husband, Henry’s brother, the impediment of affinity had to be dispensed before Catherine and Henry could validly marry.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: My Protestant husband claims that if it is true that I receive Christ in the Eucharist and belong to the one true Church, then I should be a better Christian than he is. Is he right?
A: Your husband is in no place to judge the state of your soul. Nor are you. Neither of you has a way of knowing how holy you would be if you were not receiving the sacraments. Nor do either of you know how much better he would be if he were receiving them. Certainly, there is no way to draw near to Christ and not be affected by him. We have the very words of Jesus on the matter: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:54). Only Christ knows how holy you are. But we can certainly know that you are better off for receiving him than not.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: Is it okay for a youth group to meet on Sunday?
A: There is nothing inappropriate about a youth group meeting on Sunday. The Catechism teaches that the faithful are to rest from "servile labor" and those works and activities that could impede sanctification of the day (CCC 2042).
The Code of Canon Law explains that the faithful "are to abstain from those works and affairs that hinder the worship to be rendered to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s day, or the suitable relaxation of mind and body" (CIC 1247). It seems that a youth group meeting could facilitate rather than hinder the desired worship, joy, and relaxation.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: I’ve heard it said that the woman referred to in Genesis 3:15 is Eve, not Mary. What does the Church teach?
A: Pope Pius IX, in his dogmatic bull Ineffabilis Deus, says the following: These ecclesiastical writers in quoting the words by which at the beginning of the world God announced his merciful remedies prepared for the regeneration of mankind . . . saying, "I will put enmities between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed" taught . . . that his most Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, was prophetically indicated; and, at the same time, the very enmity of both [Mary and her Son] against the evil one was significantly expressed. And Pope John Paul II taught in Mulieris Dignitatem:It is significant that [in Galatians 4:4] St. Paul does not call the Mother of Christ by her own name, "Mary," but calls her "woman": This coincides with the words of the Protoevangelium in the book of Genesis (cf. Gen. 3:15). She is that "woman" who is present in the central salvific event that marks the "fullness of time": This event is realized in her and through her. —Peggy Frye
Q: I heard that a bishop allowed a nun to marry a couple. Does the bishop have the authority to do this?
A: The Code of Canon Law makes provision when certain conditions exist for lay persons, including nuns, to assist at weddings: Where there is a lack of priests and deacons, the diocesan bishop can delegate lay persons to assist at marriages, with the previous favorable vote of the conference of bishops and after he has obtained the permission of the Holy See. (CIC 1112) —Jim Blackburn
Q: If for many years one has had an addiction that is mortally sinful and is trying to work through it progressively in Christ, is he allowed to receive the Eucharist at Mass? I understand that we need to go to confession, but here it is offered only weekly. If one is going to confession weekly and slips back into his addictive sin between confession and Sunday Mass, should this person refrain from receiving Holy Communion?
A: There are those who would say that since the behavior is addictive the degree of culpability is questionable and one may receive Holy Communion so long as one confesses as soon as possible. I do not subscribe to such an opinion so readily. Addictions are not influenza or strep throat. Ordinarily one can control addictive behavior with the combination of personal honesty, God’s grace, proper motivation, and common sense. Certainly, there are severe cases where one’s culpability can be diminished partially or even completely. In such cases the confessor will inform the penitent that a sin has not been committed. Indeed, a regular confessor or spiritual director is a very real necessity in such extreme situations. But for most people addictive behavior is far less a threat to our freedom than our permissive, victim-oriented culture is inclined to have us believe.
Most of us are far freer than we think. The fact that one cannot receive the Eucharist in the state of mortal sin can be a further motivation to avoid the occasions where one is weak. It is also possible to ask a priest to hear one’s confession outside of the prescribed times.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: A Traditionalist friend claims that the current form for the rite of ordaining bishops, promulgated by Pope Paul VI, is invalid and does not provide the grace of the sacrament of episcopal ordination. Is this true?
A: No. For any sacrament to be validly conferred, the proper matter and form must be observed. Since Jesus did not mandate a specific formula to be used for the consecration of bishops, the Church assumes authority over this. Therefore, when the Church officially authorizes a specific formula to be used, we can be certain of its efficacy. Those who argue that other particular words or phrases are absolutely necessary for this apparently do not fully recognize or understand the authority that Jesus conferred on the apostles.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: We are new to our parish, and this past weekend the priest said, "Receive Jesus Christ" instead of "The body of Christ" when handing out the Eucharist. Is this okay?
A: The General Instruction of the Roman Missal states: He raises the eucharistic bread slightly and shows it to each one, saying: "The body of Christ." The communicants reply: "Amen" and holding the communion plate under their chin, receive the sacrament. (GIRM 117) The liturgy is not private property. No one individual (including the priest) has the right or authority to change the words according to taste or whim.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: My husband and I were married in the Catholic Church. My husband was a baptized Catholic, but I had not yet been baptized at the time. I have since been baptized. Is our marriage now sacramental?
A: For marriage to be sacramental both spouses must be baptized. Prior to your baptism your marriage was presumably valid but not sacramental. When you became baptized your marriage automatically became sacramental.
So what does this mean for your marriage? The Catechism explains: "By reason of their state in life and of their order, [Christian spouses] have their own special gifts in the people of God." This grace proper to the sacrament of matrimony is intended to perfect the couple’s love and to strengthen their indissoluble unity. By this grace they "help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in welcoming and educating their children." (CCC 1641; cf. Lumen Gentium 11) —Jim Blackburn
Q: My parish priest teaches RCIA yet refuses to address the issue of contraception. Can I withhold money from my parish tithe for his refusal to teach on such an important topic?
A: I’m sorry to hear that your priest will not take a stronger stand on contraception. But you are well within your rights to withhold money from a priest who is refusing to address a pressing moral problem—indeed, a moral crisis—that is affecting his congregation. One of the precepts of the Church (CCC 2043; CIC 222) is that we are obligated to use our money to support the Church, but this does not mean that we have to support a particular part of the Church that we believe is not doing its job.
Because of the seriousness of this issue, you might consider taking the money you would otherwise have given for teaching in your parish and donating it to a Catholic organization that takes a strong stand against abortion and contraception. You might even inform your pastor that you are doing this.
The Code also states that the Christian faithful "have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters that pertain to the good of the Church" (CIC 212).
—Peggy Frye
Q: Is a Catholic required to go to confession at least once a year if he has not committed a mortal sin?
A: No. Church law requires confession only of grave (mortal) sins at least once a year. If a person has committed no mortal sins, he is not obligated to go to confession. The Code of Canon Law states: After having reached the age of discretion, each member of the faithful is obliged to confess faithfully his or her grave sins at least once a year. (CIC 989) That said, "it is recommended to the Christian faithful that they also confess venial sins" (CIC 988).
—Jim Blackburn
Q: I have a prayer card that offers a prayer for the conditional baptism for the unborn. Is this possible?
A: No. Conditional baptism is conferred only when there are doubts about the validity of a person’s baptism or whether baptism was conferred validly (CIC 869). As for the baptism of desire, this would apply only to "those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will" (CCC 1281). As for children who have died without baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God (CCC 1261). We must always be careful to pray with the mind of the Church; to do otherwise is to go beyond the limits of revealed truth.
But you could pray for their salvation and for their lives to be spared if they are in danger of abortion. A prayer you might consider is Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s prayer for the unborn: Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion. Amen. —Peggy Frye
Q: Does the church frown upon interracial marriages?
A: Marriage is allowed between any eligible man and any eligible woman—race is not an obstacle as all races are equal in the eyes of God. The Catechism states: Created in the image of the one God and equally endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: All therefore enjoy an equal dignity. (CCC 1934)
—Jim Blackburn
Q: Can I receive communion in an Anglican church?
A: No. The Anglican church does not have valid holy orders, therefore, eucharistic intercommunion is not possible.
The Catechism states the following: Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church "have not preserved the proper reality of the eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament of holy orders." It is for this reason that, for the Catholic Church, eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible. For further reading on Anglican Orders, visit www.newadvent.org and search for "Anglican orders."
—Peggy Frye
Q: What is the status or the degree of authority of the Catechism of the Catholic Church? People tend to quote it as if every sentence in it is a de fide proposition.
A: The Catechism of the Catholic Church is a presentation of Church doctrine that has previously been taught with varying degrees of authority. To determine the degree of authority with which any given doctrine has been taught, one must investigate the history of that particular teaching. Look to the Catechism’s footnotes for help in this regard. There you will find references to Church councils, documents, canon law, Scripture, etc., all of varying degrees of authority.
Whatever the underlying degree of authority any given doctrine may carry, Pope John Paul II called the Catechism "a statement of the Church’s faith and of Catholic doctrine, attested to or illumined by Sacred Scripture, the apostolic Tradition, and the Church’s magisterium" (Fidei Depositum 3). He declared it to be "a sure norm for teaching the faith."
—Jim Blackburn
Q: Is St. Christopher still a saint?
A: St. Christopher is still recognized as a saint, though his feast day no longer appears on the Church’s universal liturgical calendar. He was one of the early martyrs about whom not much is known. His name means "Christ-bearer," which reflects the story told of him that he carried the child Jesus across a river. Because so little is known of Christopher, he may have been known only by his story and people gave him a name that reflected the story. Canonizations arose centuries after Christopher’s time. Many of the early saints, including Christopher, were never formally canonized but were acclaimed as saints by Christian communities. In recent decades the Church has removed the feast days of obscure saints from the universal liturgical calendar, but the saints still remain saints, and their feast days may still be observed by parishes bearing their name and by those with a continuing devotion to the saint.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: Protestants point to Matthew 11:11, where Jesus claims that John the Baptist is the greatest born of woman. Yet we consider Mary to be the greatest human creature as Theotokos. How do we reconcile these arguments?
A: Obviously a literal, uninformed reading of this verse can be problematic. Jesus must have had a specific context in mind when he made that statement. The context comes into focus when we consider the preceding verses, where Jesus asked, "Why then did you go out? To see a prophet?" and then answered, "Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet" (Matt. 11:9).
Clearly Jesus was proclaiming John the Baptist to be the greatest of all the prophets, indeed even something greater than a prophet, i.e. the Precursor.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: If two Lutherans are married and they get a divorce in a civil court, can either remarry a Catholic in the Catholic Church?
A: If the prior marriage was a valid, sacramental marriage, then only the death of one of the spouses frees the other to marry again. The Catholic Church is consistent with Jesus’ teaching on this (see Mark 10:9).
Therefore, if one of the spouses wishes to remarry in the Catholic Church while the other spouse is still living, the prior marriage must first be investigated to determine whether it was valid and sacramental. If it was, a new marriage cannot take place. If it was not, the Church will declare this officially with a declaration of nullity and the party should be free to marry a Catholic in the Church if the Catholic receives the appropriate dispensation to marry a non-Catholic.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: I have heard that the Holy See does not allow us to dip the host into a chalice to receive the Eucharist in both forms. But when I watched part of World Youth Day, I saw many clergy, including bishops and cardinals, doing this. What are the rules of the Church on this practice?
A: The dipping of the host into the consecrated wine is called "intinction." The current edition of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal states: "The blood of the Lord may be received either by drinking from the chalice directly or by intinction" (245), so the practice is permitted. What is not permitted is for the lay faithful to self-communicate by dipping the host that they will consume into the precious blood. This can be done only by a minister of the Eucharist.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: Why did Mary go through the purification ceremony? She didn’t need to be freed from sin.
A: Mary went through the post-childbirth purification ceremony for the same reason Jesus went through the post-childbirth circumcision ceremony: out of obedience to the Mosaic law. Both rites—purification (ritual cleansing of the mother) and circumcision (removing the foreskin of the child)—symbolized being freed from sin. Jesus and Mary underwent them not because they needed to be freed from sin but because they were Jews who followed the Mosaic law. That’s why Jesus was baptized: not because he needed it himself but to set the pattern for us to follow.
St. Thomas Aquinas explains Mary’s purification ceremony in this way: As the fullness of grace flowed from Christ on to his Mother, so it was becoming that the Mother should be like her Son in humility: for "God giveth grace to the humble," as is written James 4:6. (Summa Theologiae III:37:4)
—Peggy Frye
Q: How do we know for sure that Jesus had only male apostles? The New Testament was written hundreds of years after Christ died, and some situations could very well have been changed to suit the people in power or the authors.
A: First, the New Testament was not written "hundreds of years after Christ died." Because historians consider "living memory" to be approximately 180 years, even liberal biblical scholars concede that the New Testament was written within living memory of Christ and the apostles. Many scholars believe that the New Testament was completed by the end of the first century, which is within seventy years of the death of Christ. The books of the New Testament were not officially placed into the canon of Scripture by the Church for several hundred years, but they were certainly written well before that time.
The New Testament offers several lists of the names of Christ’s apostles, all of whom were men (Matt. 10:2–3; Luke 6:13–16; Acts 1:13, 26), and records that they were specifically chosen by Christ from among his disciples. It is the responsibility of those who claim that the New Testament is at best incorrect or at worst a falsified document to prove that assertion.
—Michelle Arnold
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