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Why was Eve created from Adam’s rib? Was St. Peter married?

By Fr. William P. Saunders
Q: I have always been troubled by the story of Our Lord and the Canaanite woman who asks Jesus to cure her daughter, and he calls her a “dog.” Can you help me understand this? (Leesburg) A: The passage in question occurs in Matthew 15:21-28. Our Lord is approached by a gentile Canaanite woman (also […]
7/2/13
Reading Time 4 min

Funeral Mass for developmentally disabled daughter

By Fr. Kenneth Doyle
Q: We are the parents of a 51-year-old daughter who has been profoundly handicapped since birth. We are life-long, baptized Catholics, as are our daughter and her brothers. We are currently making end-of-life plans (buying cemetery plots, etc.) and are wondering what funeral arrangements we should make for our daughter. She has not received any […]
6/12/13
Reading Time 3 min

If God is omniscient, why pray about the future?

By Fr. William P. Saunders
Q: If God is omniscient, and so knows everything, why do we pray about problems happening now or about something that may happen in the future? It sort of seems pointless if God already knows everything. (Leesburg) A: There always will be a mystery as to how God, who is infinite and beyond time and […]
6/12/13
Reading Time 4 min

Unilateral forgiveness

By Fr. Paul Scalia
Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven” (cf. Lk 7:36-50). What beautiful words from our Savior to this sinful woman. A wonderful act of forgiveness and mercy, except that … she had not asked for it. In fact, no one in the Gospels asks for His forgiveness – not the paralytic lowered through […]
6/12/13
Reading Time 3 min

The ‘Easter duty’ is still applicable

By Fr. William P. Saunders
Q: I am an elderly person, and I remember having to fulfill the Easter Duty. Does that still apply? My younger relatives look at me like, “What are you talking about?” (Springfield) A: Yes, “the Easter duty” is still applicable, although with slight adjustments. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) had mandated, “Every faithful of either […]
5/15/13
Reading Time 4 min

A patron saint for innocence

By Thomas Craughwell
St. Hallvard Feast day: May 15 In the small army of Scandinavia’s saints, one of the most appealing is St. Hallvard. He was a seafarer who traded furs, walrus ivory and amber along the Baltic Sea ports. One day Hallvard was about to sail across Oslo’s Drammenfjor, when he heard a cry. Looking up he […]
5/13/13
Reading Time 2 min

Flag over casket

By Father Kenneth Doyle
Q. I have noticed that the casket of a veteran is no longer draped with an American flag at the funeral Mass. Why not? The service of these men and women helps provide the freedom of worship that we all enjoy. Why does the church no longer honor that? (Daly City, Calif.) A. The Order […]
4/17/13
Reading Time 3 min

Incense every Sunday? The elderly and Mass attendance

By Father Kenneth Doyle
Q. How often is a priest supposed to use incense at Mass – every Sunday or just at special times? Our priest uses a pungent form of incense at each Sunday Mass. A lot of people are allergic to the incense he uses; we have approached him about it, but he seems to ignore the […]
4/3/13
Reading Time 3 min

A patron saint for motorcyclists

By
St. Columbanus was one of those roving Irish monks who wandered up and down Europe in the sixth and seventh centuries. This love of the open road inspired the Rev. John Oliver, an Anglican bishop and biker, to suggest St. Columbanus as the patron of motorcyclists. Columbanus was not always drawn to the religious life. […]
2/7/13
Reading Time 2 min

A patron saint for birds

By Thomas Craughwell
During the eighth century the royal families of England produced a bumper crop of holy men and women. Within Milburga’s immediate family her mother, Ermenburga, her two sisters, Mildred and Milgitha, and of course Milburga herself all became venerated as saints. Ermenburgha and her daughters devoted themselves to caring for the sick and the poor, […]
2/7/13
Reading Time 2 min

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