Q: My husband and I got a divorce because my husband had an affair. Why doesn’t the Church agree with me that it was his fault and grant my annulment? Why is my Church siding with him? A: I’m very sorry you went through such a painful experience. But with respect to your specific question, I…
Q: I’ve noticed that in many flourishing Catholic communities with a lot of young adults (such as some Catholic university communities, or parishes in some big cities with an active young adult ministry), marriage preparation programs often seem to go far beyond what you find in most parishes. I’m thinking of things like retreats, serious catechesis, good mentorship programs…
Q: I used to bring Holy Communion to the sick and wondered: why can’t we bring the Precious Blood to those who are dying and can’t consume solid food? A: The short answer is that, with a few caveats, the Church does in fact allow Holy Communion under the form of wine to be taken…
Q: Is it always wrong in every case to lie? What about the so-called ‘little white lie?’ I’m thinking of situations where you tell a person something you know is false to spare their feelings, when they’re likely never going to know the truth anyway. A: Our Catholic faith teaches us that lying is an offense against the…
Q: How do God’s will and the Holy Spirit play a role in a conclave? A: I think ultimately, events in the life of the Church like conclaves bring us to the mysterious place where God’s providential ordering of history intersects with human free will. On one level, there is nothing miraculous about a conclave.…
Q: How could Jesus’ death ‘cleanse us from our sins’ and ‘assure our entrance into Heaven’? If that is the case, why do we need confession? A: First, since it pertains to some of the deepest mysteries of our faith, I think the exact ‘mechanics’ of how Jesus’ passion and death redeemed the fallen human race…
Q: Recently my cousin got engaged and is in the planning process of her wedding. She is a baptised Catholic and has received both first Communion and confirmation. Over time my cousin slowly fell away from the Faith. The man she is marrying is a great guy – however, he is not Catholic. From the looks of it, the…
Q: Some people have said a spiritual communion is the same as a sacramental Communion when one has a sincere desire and cannot receive otherwise. If this is so, why do we say, “Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.” Would it count in the case of making…
Among the religious authorities of Jerusalem, not only were the Pharisee Nicodemus and the prominent Joseph of Arimathea both secret disciples of Jesus, but there was also long-standing dissension about him, so much so that St John says of these authorities on the very eve of Christ’s Passion, “many believed in him”, though very imperfectly.…
The Paschal mystery of Christ’s cross and Resurrection stands at the centre of the Good News that the apostles, and the Church following them, are to proclaim to the world. The Church remains faithful to the interpretation of “all the Scriptures” that Jesus gave both before and after his Passover. Jesus’ sufferings took their historical, concrete…
Renata Milán Morales