|
|
May 18th, 2008
As Americans we have mixed emotions regarding the word king. The American Revolution was fought to free Americans from the tyranny of a kingly rule. Since then we've had little enthusiasm for hereditary, life-long reigns. ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
As Christians, this may be the most important question we can ask. Certainly St. Paul thought so. He once declared that if Christ did not rise from the dead, then our faith is in vain. ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
I'm happy to assure you that the Catholic Church has never taught that unbaptized babies go to hell. In fact, such a belief was explicitly rejected by Pope Pius VI in 1794, in response to ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
If for example, John Smith were my best friend and a strong believer in reincarnation, would we accept him? I mean, would we accept his belief that he will be incarnated, or will we simply shut down his beliefs and say he is destined to heaven or hell?
Thanks for your question.
First and foremost, the question of what happens to us after death leads us into a place of mystery. We don't have a photograph or a road map. The most basic ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
The earliest Scriptural reference to prayers for the dead comes in the second book of Maccabees. The books of Maccabees were among the latest written books found in the Old Testament. They recount the struggle ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
It's no surprise that you find you can't get a straight answer from anyone on this question, because everything about life after death is basically a mystery. We don't have a blueprint, a map or ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
No, I don't think there was a backdoor agreement between the fishermen and the bishops over the whole fish on Friday thing.
Since about the second century of Christianity, Christians abstained from meat on Friday as ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
From the quality and concern of your question, I would judge that you are a conscientious and compassionate person of faith.I wish that there were an easy and equally straightforward way to answer your question, ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
To answer your question I have to provide a little history.
Up until 1965, Mass was celebrated everywhere in the Catholic church in Latin according to the "rite" (order or ritual or worship) determined at ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
"Lectio" is the Latin word for reading. In Catholic language a lector is a reader and a lectionary is the book of scripture readings. So the Latin "Lectio Divina" translates into English as "Divine", "holy" ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
A good place to begin is with your own diocesan newspaper. Most dioceses publish a weekly or monthly newspaper and these often contain excellent movie reviews or an evaluation of current films with respect to ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
Opus Dei is what is known as a "personal prelature" of the Pope. This means that unlike a diocese or a parish, Opus Dei has their own Bishops and priests that aren't connected with ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
I am very interested in investigating paranormal activity, such as trying to contact spirits or search for "energy" using audio or electrical equipment. I have not done any of this yet because I'm conflicted with this as I do not want to go against the Church. What does the Catholic Church think about this and is it okay for me to do my investigations?
Attempts to contact or communicate with the spirits of the dead are warned against both in Scripture (Deuteronomy 18:10-12, Leviticus 19:31, I Samuel 28:8) and in the teaching of the Catholic Church (Acta Apostolicae Sedis ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
You asked how adoration chapels came about. I found a link that should prove helpful which describes the history of Eucharistic adoration. It is from the old Catholic Encyclopedia:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01152a.htm
It seems that Eucharist adoration ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
Jesus is very clear in the gospels that we can and should ask God to help us with our needs and that we can depend on God to respond. In fact, there are two prayers ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
First of all, I'd like to encourage you in your desire to pray on a daily basis. Daily prayer is an important way of maintaining and fostering a relationship with God. You mentioned that your ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
In the language of the Bible, a prophet is someone who speaks a message from God. Sometimes the message is addressed to the king or some prominent person. At other times it's meant for the ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
I wish I could have sat in on your discussion. I might then be able to respond to your question more clearly. Revelation is not so much a set of propositions or a list of ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
The rosary is not the most important Catholic prayer--that "honor" belongs to the Eucharist--but it has been a popular and widespread devotion among Catholics from the Middle Ages until the present day.
Jesus would not ...
|
|
|
May 18th, 2008
Catholics believe that suicide is a serious evil in and of itself. It's a sin against God, who is the author of all life, against the love of one's own self as a creation of ...
|
