Question: If I’m poor, can I drive to work with an expired registration and risk not getting caught? Or am I morally bound to renew it as a Catholic?
Being poor does not give you an excuse to break the law – imagine what would happen if everyone decided to stop complying with regulations that seem unaffordable. Revenue derived from them is public money, to be used on public projects for public benefit. (How well this happens in every particular case and jurisdiction is outside the scope of the question.) Without this money, services would suffer. While exact formulas vary from state to state, car registration fees generally pay for transportation-related services like road maintenance, which we all need. As…

College Students (and really, anyone) should attend a worshipping community where they can feel welcomed, inspired and challenged. The proximity of this community does not matter (that is, unless it is 100 or more miles away!). So the simple answer to your question is no, you do not have to stay at your local parish when you go off to college, but you can stay at your local parish if it is a community that feeds your spiritual needs and is fairly easy to get to!…

The title of Mary as Queen has been a tradition of the Church since at least the fourth century. (Note that Mary is referred to as queen not just of heaven, but also of peace, of the angels, of all Christians, among many other things.) It’s important to understand that the title of Queen is not meant to indicate power over others, but rather to underscore Mary’s relationship to Christ. In other words, because Mary is the mother of Christ the King, it’s logical that she would be called Queen. (A modern example would be the mother of Queen Elizabeth II of England, who was known as the Queen Mother.)
Pope Pius XII affirmed this in his encyclical Ad Caeli Reginam when he wrote, “according to ancient tradition and the…

You are in very good company indeed in asking this question for the ages. For thousands of years humans have struggled with the question of why bad things happen to good people or why God seems to put humans to the test. If I had the answer to this question, I would surpass even Job in wisdom, for at the end of the book of Job even he admits that God’s wisdom is a mystery beyond human understanding.
In some ways the book is about Job being put to the test to see if he will remain faithful to God amidst his trials. Some people accept this as an adequate reason for their personal trials, even if they don’t blame God for bringing them trials, but rather accept them as a fact of life in a broken world. In this way of thinking, God isn’t…

No matter what your profession, you can’t leave your moral obligations at the door when you report for work. You have to strive to do what is right, whether no one ever sees you or whether you’re dogged by cameras 24/7. And anyone in the public eye has an extra responsibility to avoid causing another person to stumble (that’s the literal meaning of the word “scandal”: a stumbling block.) Catholics must never give the impression that what they are doing is right if in fact it’s not, lest others imitate them and end up sinning by ignorance. So you’ll want to ask yourself carefully what might be required of you as an actor on a reality show. Will you be pressured to be disrespectful or exploit others? How will…

An ecumenical council is when the entire Church, through the bishops, gathers together to address one or more issues vital to the life of the universal Church at a given period of time. The first seven councils of the Church are generally accepted and called the “Ecumenical Councils.” The First Seven Ecumenical Councils, as commonly understood, are:
First Council of Nicaea (325)
First Council of Constantinople (381)
Council of Ephesus (431)
Council of Chalcedon (451)
Second Council of Constantinople (553)
Third Council of Constantinople (680)
Second Council of Nicaea (787)
However, the term has also sometimes been used within the Catholic household of the faith to denote councils of all the Catholic…

With all the talk in Catholic circles these days about the move toward a “direct equivalence” translation of the mass parts, some may not realize that the translation of scripture (the “spoken word”) we hear at mass has not changed. Yes, some of the priest’s words and the congregation’s responses have changed to more directly reflect the words from the Latin mass. However, the first and second readings, the psalm responses, and the gospel readings have not been re-translated from their original Hebrew and Greek. We still hear the New American Bible translation read, and the NAB falls solidly in the middle of the continuum between dynamic and direct equivalence. That said, whenever unfamiliar or…

The image of marriage in popular culture, as presented on “The Bachelorette,” is a serious distortion of the real meaning of marriage, as understood in the Catholic tradition. Both involve two people expressing love for one another and making some kind of promise. But the scripted, syrupy progression of love on reality TV — heavy on romance and sexual attraction, light on sacrifice and profound commitment — can’t hold up to the stresses of real reality.
One of the underlying questions in Catholic morality is, “Who do I want to become, and how can I get there?” Rather than just asking if something is a sin and acting accordingly, asking this question helps you grow into a better person.…

There are two Catholic organizations in the United States which work very closely with each other to further the ecumenical mandate of Christ as expressed in John 17:21ff and embraced by the Second Vatican Council in its document, Unitatis Redintegratio, or the Decree on Ecumenism and later in the Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms of Ecumenism (1995). 
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, (USCCB) through its Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs maintains very active dialogues with almost all Christian denominations or ecclesial communities in the United States.  The Committee has a secretariat in Washington, DC, that staffs the work of the CEIA, as it…

Holy Water is found at every Church entrance-no matter where in the world you may be! It is holy because it has been blessed by a priest. We, as Catholics use it to bless ourselves by dipping our fingers in it and making the sign of the cross as we enter into the Church. This action is a reminder of when we were blessed with the Holy Water at our Baptism. We also use Holy Water in the Sprinkling Rite- which we most often celebrate during the Easter season.…

Though they are a prominent part of Nativity sets and Christmas pageants, the magi only make one appearance in the Gospels, in Matthew 2: 1-12. (Though we commonly call them “kings,” the term magi originally referred to members of the Persian priestly caste and later became used for those possessing great knowledge and wisdom. Matthew presents them as astrologers.)
In Matthew’s account, the magi see a new star (which was believed to indicate that a new ruler had been born) and travel to Jerusalem looking for the new king. King Herod, of course, is troubled to hear of a possible rival to his power, and asks the magi to report back to him when they have found the child.
Matthew shows the magi traveling to Bethlehem…

Although some words to the mass have changed, the stance of scripture scholars to translating the Bible hasn’t. Any serious scholars and translators of the Bible have to make choices in translation. They must either render words or phrases more word-for-word, focusing on literal fidelity sometimes at the expense of the comprehension in English (direct equivalence). For example, the Spanish phrase “Tengo 25 anos” gets directly translated as “I have 25 years.” Or translators may attempt to accurately convey the thoughts of the original text, sometimes at the expense of literalness (dynamic equivalence). The dynamic equivalence of the above is “I am 25 years old.” Of course neither approach…

Did your future brother-in-law do something silly and harmless, or was it inappropriate enough that you have concerns for your sister’s well-being? If his behavior reveals a pattern of disrespect for himself, for your sister, and for the marriage vows he is about to take, there is more at play than one evening’s indiscretion.
A good approach might be to speak with him first. Tell him that you are concerned about what you saw because of what it might mean for the future. Suggest that he talk about it with your sister — if something serious happened, it’s better for her to hear it directly from him. But if he’s defensive about it, then you probably should speak with her. If her fiancé’s behavior at his…

Question: It seems like Catholics and many mainline Protestant denominations are getting farther and farther apart on moral issues like abortion, the definition of marriage, and the ordination of active homosexual clergy. How does this affect ecumenical dialogue?
It is true that just about every mainline Protestant denomination is struggling internally with the very questions you mention. As a Catholic, it is not unlike watching your very good neighbors have a knock-down, drag out, fight right in their front yard. It can be a very uncomfortable feeling. Nevertheless, you don’t quit talking to your neighbors just because they are having internal relationship issues. If anything, you pray for them even…

The amice is a piece of rectangular cloth with two thin-longer strands on either side (to be honest- it kind of looks like an apron!). The amice used to be a mandatory liturgical vestment before the Second Vatican Council. Priests would put the amice on over their shoulders. The alb would then go over the amice. Now, the use of the amice is only required if the alb does not fit properly over the priest’s clothes.…

There’s not a lot of information about this in Scripture. We have the story in Mark 3: 21 where Jesus’ relatives come to seize him, saying, “He is out of his mind,” but it’s not entirely clear from the context of the story what it is that they are concerned about (we also have no idea whether or not Mary was one of these unnamed relatives). Mary is specifically mentioned in the story where some of Jesus’ kin come to find Jesus while he is preaching (see Luke 8:19-21 and Mark 3: 31-35), but we don’t know why they were looking for him or what they wanted to do. Later, in Mark 6:4, while he is teaching in the synagogue of Nazareth, Jesus says, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his…

Your question presupposes the literal historicity of the story of Noah’s ark found in Genesis 6-8. Although the story was assumed to be literal for hundreds of years, since about the 19th century mainline scripture scholars have rejected a literal interpretation of this story. (In fact, hundreds of ancient cultures recorded stories of a great flood, and some of these were written before our biblical account.) Even though some people continue to search present-day Turkey for remnants of the ark, Catholic teaching since Vatican II instructs us that the Bible is not to be read without taking into account particular literary genres. For example, we are not to read mythological stories, such as this one, as historically…

The Masons are a worldwide fraternal organization which originated in 18th century Europe. Membership includes ritual practice, charitable activity and adherence to a moral code; members seek to develop a broader sense of the self in relation to the divine. Masons must declare belief in a supreme being, but more specific views are not required. Hence Masons admit members of any religion, but many tenets of Masonry directly conflict with Church teaching. Masons hold a deistic rather than personal view of God, which precludes the Catholic understanding of God as Father, Son and Spirit. They also take a relativistic view of truth and religion, while Catholics believe that objective truth does exist and can be…

Question: If Jesus prayed that we should all “be one” then ecumenism must be possible, right? Otherwise wouldn’t Jesus be praying an impossible prayer?
You are right. Ecumenism is possible precisely because Jesus prayed for it. In John 17:21ff Jesus prayed,
“I pray not only for these, but for those who will believe because of them…that they may all be one as you and I are one…so that the world may believe.”
The key, as in all things Christian, is to unite our prayer with that of Christ so that we are praying “Thy will be done,” instead of “MY will be done,” which we so often seem to do. The theological principle is that of “convergence.” A good image to illustrate this is a wagon…

A purificator is a small square piece of cloth, with a cross in the center, that is used during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Specifically, Eucharistic Ministers who distribute the Blood of Christ use the purificator to wipe the chalice clean between each use. Purificators are also used at the end of Communion to purify or clean the sacred vessels.…