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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 19, Number 1
 January 2008 
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Glorified Bodies Are Transformed Bodies
Q: I’m baffled by the passages in Scripture that say the apostles didn’t recognize Jesus when he rose from the dead (e.g., John 20:14). Should we not take this literally, or did Jesus really look different?
A: When Jesus rose from the dead, it wasn’t as though he was resuscitated (as were others who rose from the dead, like Lazarus); instead, Jesus’ Resurrection was the kind of resurrection that all of the saved will have at the end of time: He received and we will receive our glorified bodies. While we will know each other in heaven, we may look different than we do now. In like manner, Jesus’ glorified body probably was different in some respects from the body he had during his public ministry, but it was close enough to what he had before that his disciples eventually recognized him (see John 21:4-7). Luke 24:16 also notes that in one of Jesus’ encounters with the disciples that "their eyes were kept from recognizing him," suggesting that he may have looked the same, but people were miraculously kept from understanding who he was for the moment.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: How do I deal with legalism when I encounter it? For example, on the last day when the books of life are opened, will God care whether somebody had an ectopic pregnancy aborted or had a tubal ligation with the fetus inside, given that both were undertaken with the intention of saving the mother’s life and with the understanding that the procedure would kill the fetus? Does God draw a distinction between somebody who marries carelessly and then goes through a Church annulment and somebody who gets a civil divorce then remarries? Will somebody who prays the Divine Mercy chaplet on Divine Mercy Sunday gain a greater indulgence than somebody who walks into a darkened church, pours out his tears before the altar, and begs God’s mercy?
A: In an ectopic pregnancy (in which conception takes place outside of the uterus), the fetus cannot survive. The other procedure you speak of results in the removal of a viable fetus. This is not merely splitting hairs or an academic exercise. An innocent human being is deliberately being killed. The end never justifies the means—even if the mother will die. God can take innocent life. He has a right to. We don’t.
Church annulment is the process by which it is determined that a valid marriage has not taken place, leaving the persons free to marry. Unless such proof can be obtained, a marriage is ordinarily presumed to be valid. One cannot be married to two people. A civil divorce has no power to dissolve a valid marriage.
Finally, praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet is not in the least opposed to asking for God’s mercy in other ways and circumstances.
These are not examples of legalism. They are reasonable if one understands them. We all have to be careful of making false dichotomies and simplistic conclusions regarding the Church. It is through the Church we meet Jesus in the only way anyone can meet him: through humble gratitude.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: If I’m a smoker, do I have to confess this every time I go to confession?
A: Smoking in moderation is not a sin at all (CCC 2290). Smoking can be excessive, but culpability may be mitigated by addiction. I recommend talking to your confessor to assess your personal culpability and to get his recommendation for how often you should confess. Even if the sin is only venial because culpability has been mitigated by addiction, the Church urges Catholics to confess their venial sins because the grace received in confession can help heal them and strengthen them against future temptation (CCC 1458).
I also recommend praying for the intercession of Dorothy Day, the American Catholic social activist, whose cause for canonization is under investigation. Day was a heavy smoker for much of her life.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: May two Baptists, baptized in the Trinity, married by a justice of the peace, and now going through RCIA to enter the Catholic Church, have their marriage convalidated immediately?
A: From what you’ve stated, I don’t see any reason that your marriage needs to be convalidated. Marriages between non-Catholics are generally considered valid unless proven otherwise. And since you both were apparently validly baptized (even though outside the Catholic Church), your marriage is also sacramental.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: At my parish, extraordinary ministers go up to the altar before the priest receives Communion. They also stand close to priest and receive Communion before he does. Is this allowed?
A: The General Instruction of the Roman Missal states the following:
The priest may be assisted in the distribution of Communion by other priests who happen to be present. If such priests are not present and there is a very large number of communicants, the priest may call upon extraordinary ministers to assist him, e.g., duly instituted acolytes or even other faithful who have been deputed for this purpose. In case of necessity, the priest may depute suitable faithful for this single occasion. These ministers should not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion, and they are always to receive from the hands of the priest celebrant the vessel containing either species of the Most Holy Eucharist for distribution to the faithful. (GIRM 162)
When the GIRM says "These ministers should not approach the altar before the priest has received Communion" it doesn’t mean they cannot be in the sanctuary. However, it does mean that their role as "extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion must be correctly applied so as to avoid generating confusion." (The 1997 instruction on "Certain Questions Regarding the Collaboration of the Non-Ordained," 8 §1). For example, when extraordinary ministers stand too close to the celebrant at the altar and receive Communion before the priest, it can easily confuse their role as "extraordinary" ministers of the Eucharist with that of the priest, who is the minister of the Eucharist and the "sole dispenser of the mysteries for which they are preparing" ("Certain Questions," 2 §5). The 1997 instruction also states: "To avoid creating confusion, certain practices are to be avoided and eliminated where such have emerged in particular Churches: extraordinary ministers receiving Holy Communion apart from the other faithful as though concelebrants" (8 §2).
—Peggy Frye
Q: Is it a sin to put oneself intentionally into situations where one is more likely to sin, or is it just bad practice?
A: A near occasion of sin isn’t a sin but an occasion where one may be tempted. To put oneself in such a situation is imprudent without a sufficient cause, but not always sinful in itself. However, if one deliberately puts oneself in such a situation in the hope of sinning, one has already sinned by willing to sin. Sin begins with the will to sin.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: At my parish on Ash Wednesday, the blessed ashes are left on the altar after the Mass. Throughout the rest of the day parishioners are invited to come in to give each other ashes. Is this okay?
A: It is true that lay ministers can be deputed to assist a priest or deacon in the distribution of blessed ashes: "This rite [the blessing of ashes] may be celebrated by a priest or deacon who may be assisted by lay ministers in the distribution of the ashes. The blessing of the ashes, however, is reserved to a priest or deacon" (Book of Blessings 1659).
Leaving the ashes unattended on the altar for people to come in and give to each other is not provided for by the rubrics and should not be allowed.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: When is marriage a sacrament?
A: The Code of Canon Law recognizes that, "a valid matrimonial contract cannot exist between the baptized without it being by that fact a sacrament" (CIC 1055 §2). So there are two requirements for a marriage to be a sacramental marriage: (1) the marriage must be valid; and (2) both parties must be baptized.
To be in a valid marriage, Catholics must meet certain requirements of canon law including the obligation to observe the Church’s form of marriage celebration or to be dispensed from that form. This applies to every Catholic, even when marrying a non-Catholic.
All valid marriages between Catholics are sacramental because you can’t be Catholic without being baptized. However, a valid marriage between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic is sacramental, while a valid marriage between a Catholic and a non-baptized person is not.
Non-Catholics are not generally under the authority of canon law concerning marriage, so marriages between non-Catholics are generally recognized to be valid unless proven otherwise. Some of these marriages are sacramental (when both parties are baptized) and some are not (when one or both are not baptized).
—Jim Blackburn
Q: Is there a distinction between acolytes and altar servers? If so, please explain.
A: There is a distinction between the two, and the office of acolyte is reserved to men alone. Canon 230 §1 says: "Lay men whose age and talents meet the requirements prescribed by decree of the bishops’ conference can be given the stable ministry of lector and of acolyte, through the prescribed liturgical rite . . . "
The office of altar server was created around a thousand years ago so there would be a group of people who could stand in for acolytes when none were available. Today that is the case in most parishes, and therefore the position of altar server has come to predominate at most Masses.
However, because the position of altar server was created by the Church, the issue of who can serve as its occupants is determined by the Church. The office is not sacramental and so need not be reserved to males. Currently, the Church allows the use of female altar servers: "Where the needs of the Church require and ministers are not available, lay people, even though they are not lectors or acolytes, can supply certain of their functions, that is, exercise the ministry of the word, preside over liturgical prayers" (CIC 230 §3).
The position of altar server involves much less responsibility than the position of acolyte. Acolytes had many duties that have now been broken up and distributed to different people—for example, carrying the cross during the opening processional used to be performed by the acolyte, but now the crucifer fulfills that role. Today, nearly all that remains for altar servers is to hand the priests the unconsecrated elements and the cruets and to help him wash his hands.
—Peggy Frye
Q: Our parish bulletin said that because All Saints Day falls on a Monday, we are "dispensed from the obligation of attending Mass." Is this so? And if so, why?
A: The Code of Canon Law authorizes each conference of bishops to abrogate or suppress the obligation to attend Mass on particular holy days: "With the prior approval of the Apostolic See . . . the conference of bishops can suppress some of the holy days of obligation or transfer them to a Sunday" (CIC 1246 §2).
In 1991 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops decided that whenever All Saints Day, November 1, falls on a Saturday or a Monday, the obligation to attend Mass is abrogated.
—Jim Blackburn
Q: Should Catholics really kneel before a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary? After all, in Scripture Peter rebuked Cornelius for kneeling before him.
A: The passage in question states: "When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshipped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I too am a man’" (Acts 10:25–26).
The act of kneeling does not always mean that the person kneeling is performing an act of worship. Catholics kneel in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary to show her respect and honor and to pray for her intercession; they are not kneeling to worship her.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: Sometimes my wife and I drop our 13-month-old son off at my mom’s house while we go to Mass. It just occurred to me that since my son is baptized, he has an obligation to attend Sunday Mass. What is my obligation to see that he attends Mass?
A: Children under the age of reason are not obliged to attend Sunday Mass. However, they should be familiar with attending Mass by the time they are seven years of age (the accepted age of reason). They ought to be attending Sunday Mass regularly by the time they start school.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: How do you answer someone who slaps a news photo on your desk, which pictures the papal nuncio lighting candles at a Hindu shrine, and says, "See, your Church is okay with pagan religions"?
A: A photo of someone lighting a candle at a non-Christian shrine says nothing about that person’s beliefs, much less the beliefs of the Catholic Church. All it demonstrates is that the individual is lighting a candle at a non-Christian place of worship. A photo alone cannot give the context to the action, and so we do not know why a papal nuncio was lighting a candle at a Hindu shrine. Until we have that context, it is impossible to comment on the nuncio’s actions. At this point, we can say only that the photo does not demonstrate that the Church has capitulated to paganism.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: My cousin is a lesbian living with an another woman. Am I a bigot for feeling uncomfortable around them?
A: By acting out on their homosexuality, your cousin and her partner are doing something that you know is offensive to God. How can that not make you feel uncomfortable? There is no bigotry in this. It is perfectly OK—even necessary—to judge behavior and to feel uncomfortable around others whose behavior you know to be immoral.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church informs us that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered" (CCC 2357). And while the Church calls us to accept those who suffer from homosexuality with "respect, compassion, and sensitivity," (CCC 2358) it also clearly teaches that, "under no circumstances, can [homosexual acts] be approved" (CCC 2357).
—Jim Blackburn
Q: I was told there are similarities in the function of the pope in the New Testament and the high priest in the Old Testament. How so?
A: The function of the pope in the New Testament is similar to, though not identical with, the function of the high priest in the Old Testament. For example, the high priest offered the greatest sacrifices to God (e.g., on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement) and functioned as the earthly leader of God’s people.
While Christ is our high priest with respect to sacrifices (he offered the great sacrifice of himself; see Hebrews 7-10) and is the ultimate head of all God’s people, he has left Peter here to serve as his visible representative in his absence. The pope, as the successor of Peter, thus has a function similar to that of the high priest as the earthly head of God’s people.
—Peggy Frye
Q: It is my understanding that we should be cleansed of our sins before we receive the Eucharist because God cannot be in the presence of sin. What happens to the presence of Christ in the Eucharist if someone receives but has not repented or has not gone to confession? Does Christ cease to be present? If he remains present, what happens?
A: Who says God cannot be in the presence of sin? One need only read Scripture to find Jesus in the presence of sin. Perhaps you’re confusing this notion with "nothing unclean shall enter [heaven]" (Rev. 21:27).
Receiving Christ in the Eucharist forgives venial sins. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, "As bodily nourishment restores lost strength, so the Eucharist strengthens our charity, which tends to be weakened in daily life; and this living charity wipes away venial sins" (CCC 1394).
However, the reception of the Eucharist does not forgive mortal sins, so a person who is conscious of mortal sin must go to confession before receiving communion. The Code of Canon Law states,
A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to . . . 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)
When a person conscious of mortal sin receives the Eucharist without prior forgiveness he commits another mortal sin and only compounds his desperate situation. Paul tells us, "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:27). The Church calls this sacrilege:
Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating unworthily the sacraments and other liturgical actions, as well as persons, things, or places consecrated to God. Sacrilege is a grave sin especially when committed against the Eucharist, for in this sacrament the true Body of Christ is made substantially present for us. (CCC 2120)
—Jim Blackburn
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