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Mixed Marriages 1266. I am interested in your moral theology concerning those who contract marriage. Why does the Catholic Church forbid mixed marriages? For many reasons. Marriage is a Sacrament, and those who desire to receive that Sacrament should be duly and validly baptized Christians. The Church, however, has no certainty that any non-Catholic has ever been validly baptized at all. Again, it is a sacrilege to receive a Sacrament while one is in a state of grave sin. The Catholic party prepares by a good confession, while the non-Catholic more often than not gives no thought whatever to the...

Part Two:  Channels of Grace Marriage Table of Contents     Marriage is not of human origin. It was instituted by God, as described in the opening chapters of the Book of Genesis.But when Christ came into the world He elevated the natural institution to the level of a sacrament. He wished to provide not only individuals with the means they need, as persons, to reach eternal life: He also wanted to give grace to His followers as social beings. Marriage is the foundation of the family, which is the bedrock of human society.In the Church’s own language, the sacrament of Marriage...

Part Two:  Channels of Grace Holy Orders Table of Contents     Among the sacraments, none is more distinctively Catholic than the sacrament of Order. The plural, Orders, is commonly used because there are three levels of this one sacrament, namely the diaconate, priesthood, and episcopate. In the Church’s own language, this sacrament is described in the new Code of Canon Law. By divine institution, some among Christ’s faithful are, through the sacrament of Order, marked with an indelible character, and are thus constituted sacred ministers…. They are thereby consecrated and deputed so that each according to his own grade, they fulfill,...

Part Two:  Channels of Grace Anointing of the Sick Table of Contents     The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick was already implied in Christ’s first mission to the twelve apostles. “So they set off to preach repentance; and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them” (Mark 6:13). Some time during His public ministry, Christ personally instituted anointing “as a true and proper sacrament of the New Testament” (Council of Trent, November 25, 1551). After the Lord’s ascension into heaven, anointing was commended to the faithful and promulgated by the Apostle James, “the...

Part Two:  Channels of Grace Penance Table of Contents     As Catholics, we have no doubt that Christ instituted the sacrament of Penance on Easter Sunday night. St. John describes the event in great detail. In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, “Peace be with you,” and showed them His hands and His side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord and He said to...

Part Two:  Channels of Grace The Eucharist Table of Contents     The Holy Eucharist is unique among the sacraments. Even the variety of names by which it is called emphasizes the central position which it occupies in Catholic Christianity. It is the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord’s Supper, the Holy of Holies, the Table of the Lord, the Body and Blood of Christ, the Sacrifice of the Mass, Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, Viaticum, and the Real Presence – to mention only a few of the titles by which the Church has identified this central Mystery of Faith. Yet among...

Part Two:  Channels of Grace Confirmation Table of Contents     “If there was ever a time when the Sacrament of Confirmation needed to be explained carefully, that time is now. All too many members of the Church neglect it altogether; and those who have received it or who plan to receive it, see it as something minor in their lives. There is need, then, for instruction on the nature, power, and dignity of this sacrament. Far from being neglected or received in a mere perfunctory way, Confirmation must be restored to the reverence and devotion it deserves.” These words introduced The...

Part Two:  Channels of Grace Baptism Table of Contents     Baptism was already prefigured in the Old Testament. Some of the ancient rites or events that anticipated Christian Baptism were circumcision (Colossians 2:11), the march of the Israelites through the Red Sea (I Corinthians 10:2), and across the Jordan (Joshua 3:14). What the church considers a formal prophecy of baptism was the oracle of Ezekiel regarding the New Israel. I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed. I shall cleanse you of all defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart and put...

Part Two:  Channels of Grace The Sacraments Table of Contents     The closing article of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in life everlasting,” is also the opening door to the seven sacraments instituted by Jesus Christ. As we have seen, the eternal life that awaits those who believe in Christ is the supernatural life which He came into the world to restore to a fallen human race. That is why the Savior was so blunt in His explanation to Nicodemus about the need for being “born again”. I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born through water and the...

The Essentials of the Catholic Faith   Introduction As we begin our inquiry into the Catholic religion, it is important to explain briefly what we are about. Our purpose is very simple. We want to learn what the Catholic Church teaches her members should believe, where to obtain the help they need from God to live as faithful Christians, how He wants them to serve Him, and how they are to pray. These four dimensions of the Catholic religion are as old as Christianity. They may be expressed in four words: faith, sacraments, commandments, and prayer. They are, in...

Christ for Us: The Year for Priests September 1st, 2009 by Rachel Watkins The Year of St. Paul has come and gone and now we are just getting started with the Year for Priests. In announcing this year to the bishops, the Holy Father wrote, “Precisely to encourage priests in this striving for spiritual perfection on which, above all, the effectiveness of their ministry depends, I have decided to establish a special "Year for Priests" that will begin on 19 June and last until 19 June 2010. In fact, it is the 150th anniversary of the death of the Holy...

The Sacraments 795. Does not the Catholic Church teach that grace is usually given through the Sacraments? Grace is given directly in answer to prayer, but many very necessary graces are normally to be obtained only through the Sacraments instituted by Christ. 796. What is a Sacrament? A visible rite or ceremony, which signifies and confers grace. Thus Baptism is a visible rite. The pouring of the water on the forehead signifies the cleansing of the soul by the grace, which the action bestows. 797. I trust in Christ and have no need of sacramental rites. It is presumption to...

Protestants don't see why Catholics who come to disagree with essential teachings of the Church don't just leave. The answer is symbolized by the sanctuary lamp. They do not leave the Church because they know that the sacramental fire burns there on the ecclesiastical hearth. Even if they do not see by its light, they want to be warmed by its fire. The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a magnet drawing lost sheep home and keeping would-be strays from the deathly snows outside. The Church's biggest drawing card is not what she teaches, crucial as that is,...

Featured Term (selected at random):   VOW A free, deliberate promise made to God to do something that is good and that is more pelasing to God than its ommission would be. The one vowing must realize that a special sin is committed by violating the promise. A vow binds under pain of sin (grave or slight) according to the intention of the one taking the vow. If one vows with regard to grave matter, one is presumed to intend to bind oneself under pain of serious sin. Vows enhance the moral value of human actions on several counts. They...

Pope: There's an Answer to Empty Confessionals Explains St. John Vianney's "Virtuous Circle" Secret VATICAN CITY, JUNE 18, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is urging priests to not become resigned to empty confessionals, but to help people rediscover the beauty of the sacrament by deepening their understanding of the Eucharist. The Pope stated this in a letter to the priests of the world, on the occasion of the Year for Priests, which begins Friday in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney, the Curé d'Ars. The saint "taught his parishioners primarily by the witness of...

 Catholic Marriage: A Union Sealed by the Sacrament of Matrimony To understand Catholic marriage in the sacrament of Matrimony, it's best to begin... ...in the beginning. God didn't have to make the human race male and female as he did. God didn't have to share his creative power with his own creatures and make the beginning of a new human life depend upon the free cooperation of a man and a woman with himself. There is a limitless number of other ways in which God could have arranged for the multiplication of human beings, had he chosen to do so....

“There is no plan B” I said to my evangelical Protestant friend. “The Lord has not changed His mind. His work continues through His Body, His Church, of which we are all members through our Baptism”. This exchange came at the end of a lengthy conversation initiated by him. He was hungering for a deeper life, in his words, “in the Lord.” A long time participant in the pro-life movement, he was first touched by the writings of Pope John Paul II and is a real fan of his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. He is moved by the Pro-Life witness...

Church’s symbols help explain penance By Father Michael Van Sloun - For The Catholic Spirit    Tuesday, 17 March 2009 The following is the second in a 10-part series on reconciliation. This week’s focus is the meaning behind symbols used in the sacrament of reconciliation. Penance Father Michael Van Sloun • Keys. A single key or a pair of keys, usually crisscrossed in the shape of an “X,” occasionally one on top of the other, is the most common symbol for the sacrament of reconciliation. The symbol ori­g­inates with Jesus’ words to Peter, “I will give you the keys...

Jesus placed great value on forgiveness By Father Michael Van Sloun - For The Catholic Spirit    Tuesday, 10 March 2009 The following is the first in a 10-part series on reconciliation. Penance Father Michael Van Sloun For Jesus, forgiveness is of paramount importance. It is the flip side of the love coin. Jesus wants us to love one another as he has loved us, and he explained that the way that people will know that we are his disciples is by the love that we have for one another (John 15:12,15; 13:35). But our love is im­perfect. We...

Confession Questions From the Pew A Pastor Speaks About Promoting and Understanding the Sacrament By Genevieve Pollock ANOKA, Minnesota, MAY 6, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The sacrament of confession was meant to be a source of grace and joy, but many people do not know what it is all about, says a Minnesota pastor. Father Michael Van Sloun, the pastor of St. Stephen's Church in Anoka, authored a 10-part series on confession currently being published in the newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. In this interview with ZENIT, Father Van Sloun speaks about his pastoral experience, answering questions about...

Compared with previous generations, the youngest of today's adult Catholics are less likely to have celebrated the sacraments that provide the foundation of the faith. A growing minority of self-identified Catholic adults haven't made their first reconciliation, received their First Communion or been confirmed, according to research from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University. The sacraments are at the heart of what it means to be Catholic, said Mark Gray, a CARA researcher. If fewer parents are anchoring their children in Catholicism through the sacraments, the result could be a smaller church. "To the...

Featured Term (selected at random):MATTER, SACRAMENTAL Material elements or sensible perceptible human actions that are necessary for the reception of a sacrament. they receive their significance from the accompanying ritual words. Valid matter must be used and is necessary for a valid sacrament. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

 The Sacrament of Holy Orders: Priests of the New Sacrifice The sacrament of Holy Orders creates a priest. There's a little more to it than that, of course. As the Catechism's section on Holy Orders says: this "is the sacrament through which the mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles continues to be exercised in the Church until the end of time: thus it is the sacrament of apostolic ministry. It includes three degrees"—the orders of bishop, priest, and deacon. (Catechism, 1536) But to keep things simple, let's start with the priest. The priesthood & the sacrifice To know what...

 The Anointing of the Sick: Comfort and Healing The Anointing of the Sick is a remarkable sign of God's great love for us. In his merciful efforts to bring us safely to himself in heaven, God seems to have gone to the very limit. Jesus has given us the sacrament of Baptism, in which original sin and all pre-Baptismal sins are cleansed from the soul. Allowing for mankind's spiritual weakness, Jesus also gave us the sacrament of Penance, by which post-Baptismal sins could be forgiven. As though he were impatient lest a soul be delayed a single instant from its...

 The Sacrament of Reconciliation: Rising Again to New Life Many Catholics treasure the sacrament of Reconciliation. The peace of mind and soul which this sacrament imparts to us is one for which there is no substitute. It is a peace that flows from a certainty, rather than from an unsure hope, that our sins have been forgiven and that we are right with God. Although many converts to the Catholic Church initially fear it, they quickly come to love the sacrament of Reconciliation once they get over their nameless fears—fears which come from a misconception of what the sacrament really...

“It Works” (The Sacrament of Holy Baptism)The Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer. Tonight, in our series on the Catechism, the basics of the Christian faith, we come to the sacraments. We begin, fittingly enough, with the sacrament with which we begin the Christian life, namely, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. I think all that I want to say about Holy Baptism tonight I can include under a heading of just two words: “It Works.” It works! It is effective. It actually does something--quite a lot, really. Holy Baptism works, and it works in your life. Tonight, then, we...

“These Words” (The Sacrament of the Altar)Tonight we conclude our series on “The Six Chief Parts of Lenten Catechesis.” So far we’ve been following the Catechism in looking at the basics of the Christian faith and life: The Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, and Confession. That brings us tonight to the Sacrament of the Altar. Everything we want to say about the Sacrament tonight we can find in the words with which Christ institutes this holy meal. Which words? These words: “Take eat; this is my body, which is given for you. This...

 The Eucharist: In thePresence of the Lord Himself The Holy Eucharist is the greatest of all the sacraments. Baptism of course is the most necessary sacrament; without Baptism we cannot get to heaven. Yet, despite all the wonderful things that Baptism and the other five sacraments accomplish in the soul, they still are but instruments of God for the giving of grace. But the Holy Eucharist is not merely an instrument for the giving of grace—here is the actual Giver of grace Himself, Jesus Christ our Lord truly and personally present. "A giving of thanks" The sacrament of Christ's Body...

 The Sacrament of Confirmation: Grace for Fullness of Faith and Life There is a close relationship between the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. While Confirmation is a distinct and complete sacrament in its own right, its purpose is to perfect in us that which was begun in Baptism. We might say—in a sense—that we are baptized in order to be confirmed. Growing beyond a self-centered spirituality We are born spiritually in the sacrament of Baptism. We become sharers in the divine life of the most Blessed Trinity. We begin to live a supernatural life. As we practice the virtues of...

The Catechism of St. Thomas Aquinas EXPLANATION OF THE SACRAMENTS THE SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH We shall now consider the Sacraments of the Church. We shall treat them under one heading, since they all pertain to the effect of grace. First of all, that must be known which St. Augustine wrote in the tenth book of "The City of God": "a Sacrament is a sacred thing" or "the sign of a sacred thing."[1] Even in the Old Law there were certain sacraments, that is, signs of a sacred thing--for example, the paschal lamb and other legal sacred signs or...

Rome, Jan. 16, 2009 / (CNA) -- The Vatican congregation in charge of overseeing the Sacrament of Reconciliation as well as the granting of indulgences has just finished a conference in Rome. The aim of the meeting was help people recover “the joy of the personal experience of the mercy of God” and to encourage priests to make this a priority. According to the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, the event, which took place January 13 and 14 was, in the words of the head of the Apostolic Penitentary, Cardinal Francis Stafford, an occasion “to offer to the men and women...

A Gift That is Always in Season December 20th, 2008 by Patti Maguire Armstrong People once lined up for “Cabbage Patch” dolls and “Tickle Me Elmos” before Christmas. I haven’t a clue what the gotta-have-it Christmas item is this year but there’s always a line forming somewhere for that special something.That’s exactly what Catholics used to do to go to confession on Saturdays — they got in line. Then, the “sixties” hit. All of a sudden a lot of people did not feel the need to go to confession. I do not think there were less sins being committed at...

I was once 'more severe' than today, Benedict XVI tells priests By JOHN L. ALLEN JR. Pope Benedict XVI told a group of priests yesterday that he was once “more severe” in terms of administering baptism and confirmation to ill-prepared or lukewarm candidates, but today he’s inclined to be generous wherever there is even “a flicker of desire for communion in the faith.” The pope also conceded that, over the centuries, Christianity’s commitment to environmental protection may not always have been sufficiently clear. He argued, however, that belief in God is essential to sound ecology, because ultimately a materialist philosophy...

Protestants don’t see why Catholics who come to disagree with essential teachings of the Church don’t just leave. Adult conversion to Catholicism involves more than adding a few new beliefs. It means a whole new world and life view. No ingredient in that new perspective was more of a shock to my old Protestant sensibilities when I became a Catholic than the idea that the God-man is really present in, and not just symbolized by, what appears to be a wafer of bread and a cup of wine. It seemed scandalous! It has ceased to scandalize me, though it has...

Robert R. Allard  Other Articles by Robert R. AllardPrinter Friendly Version   The Epidemic and the Cure March 17, 2008 Pope John Paul II often reminded us of the loss of a sense of sin and the need for a return to the practice of frequent confessions. The moral relativism that is causing much of this loss of a sense of sin in our world has also been characterized by our current Pope, Benedict XVI as the major evil facing the Catholic Church today.The word "epidemic" is described by Webster's as "affecting or tending to affect a disproportionately large number...

Most Eastern Catholics would not be aware of this -- likewise many Roman Catholics in this area who have not traveled extensively -- but the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is actually two Churches: one East of the Rockies and one West. With a few notable exceptions, a Mass attended in, say, Seatle would be unrecognizable if one's only experience of the Mass of the Roman Rite was in one's home parish in Backwater Creek, Pennsylvania. Ditto for the celebration of other sacraments. I am reminded of a YouTube video of some months ago showing a baptism being...

      Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Archives   Eucharist   The Conversion of America Through the Eucharist by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.Does anyone doubt that America needs to be converted? When the Holy Father spoke to the youth in Denver in 1993, his urgent theme was to pray that America might not lose its soul. The soul of America is Christianity. Christianity is the principle of our national life. As our nation becomes increasingly de-christianized, it loses more and more of its source of vitality. Unless the moral disease is cured, America as the nation we still call the United States, will...

What You Need to Know: Baptism Baptism is one of the seven sacraments and the first of the sacraments of initiation into the life of Christ and His Church. Like all the sacraments, it can be considered from a wide variety of angles: How it was instituted, how it is celebrated and by whom, what it accomplishes, what it demands of us, and so on. Our Lord Himself stressed the importance of baptism, commissioning his disciples to go out to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19). The least...

What You Need to Know: Penance (Reconciliation, Confession) When it comes to understanding the Sacrament of Penance (also called the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or simply Confession), we can move quickly from the barest possible outline to one of the deepest documents the Church has issued in the modern era. The best short summary of the theology behind the sacrament, its history, and its structure and efficacy is found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Given that Confession is both under-appreciated and underutilitzed in our own day, Pope John Paul II issued a brief document, On the Mercy of...

Il Giornale: all sacraments, not just MassCATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 4:35 pm The solid Andrea Tornielli has a meaty piece in Il Giornale about the Motu Proprio. Highlights: 1) The MP will be released probably on 7 July. 2) There will probably be no press conference to present the document. 3) The Pope offers a letter with the document to explain his decison. 4) The older rite was not abolished. 5) It had been decided by a group of cardinals in 1982 that there should be more use of the 1962 Missale. 6) The prayer about the...

The Gnostic Resurgence: Why Matter Matters by David P. Lang The tenor of certain contemporary controversies betrays some cogent evidence that the archaic worldview called "gnosticism" is once again attracting adherents, whether or not they are explicitly aware of its influence on their thinking. A central tenet of gnosticism is that salvation comes through esoteric knowledge, accessible only to the few who are privileged to enter into its secrets. The original gnostics, equating spirit with goodness and light, deemed matter evil and fraught with darkness. Since persons are beings capable of intellectual illumination, it logically follows from this position that...

Mary Kochan  Other Articles by Mary KochanPrinter Friendly Version   The Indispensable Priesthood April 4, 2007 Today, Holy Thursday, we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist and the establishment of the priesthood.  Many people today question the necessity of the Catholic priesthood.  They may deny that it was established by Christ and claim that it is an innovation of the 2nd or 3rd or 4th century.  Or they may recognize its antiquity, but assert that it belongs to a less-enlightened age than ours.But the priesthood is an absolute necessity.  For one thing, the priesthood is necessary to the existence...

Every soul that meets death in a state of mortal sin will be damned for eternity Father Joseph Pfeiffer's sermon recorded on the first Sunday of Advent at St. Michael the Archangel's Roman Catholic Church in Farmingville, NY. LISTEN HERE

SAN ANTONIO, Texas. (National Catholic Reporter) – Lyn Woods, a middle-aged Catholic woman who teaches ceramics at the Southwest School of Art & Craft in San Antonio, said that, although she goes to church, she hasn’t been to confession in many years. She says her childhood experience of the sacrament of reconciliation explains much of her adult attitude toward it today. “When I was 7, 8 or 9 years old,” she said, “I found myself repeating the same sins over and over to the priest. It seemed to me they weren’t really sins but simply human nature. On the other...

The Holy See congregation responsible for sacraments has instructed bishops to adjust the translation of the Latin words of consecration "pro multis" from "for all" to the more literally correct "for many", even though "for all" would correspond better to Jesus' intentions. Catholic News Agency reports that Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Congregation for the Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, has sent a letter to Church prelates worldwide, instructing them to adjust the translation of the phrase in the middle of the Mass's words of consecration. Over the next few years, the Cardinal Arinze's letter says,...

The History of Eucharistic Adoration Development of Doctrine in the Catholic Church INTRODUCTION The phenomenal growth of devotion to the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist has puzzled not a few sincere people. Nocturnal Adoration societies, Perpetual Adoration groups, national associations of the faithful promoting organized visits to the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Hours before the tabernacle, monthly, weekly and even daily exposition of the Eucharist in churches and chapels, in one country after another, have become commonplace. What to make of all of this? Is this another form of pious eccentricity, or is it founded on authentic Catholic...

Palu (AsiaNews) – Indonesian authorities have denied the three Catholic men sentenced to death the right to attend mass one last time before they are executed tonight by a firing squad. The Prosecutor’s Office in Palu has decided that Fabianus Tibo, Marinus Riwu and Dominggus da Silva cannot receive the “spiritual guidance” hitherto provided by Fr Jimmy Tumbelaka in Petobo Prison, this according to Father Tumbelaka himself, who is also parish priest at Poso’s Saint Therese Parish church. The clergyman added that the prosecutor also banned a chapel of rest in Palu St Mary’s Cathedral for the three men as...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (National Catholic Register) – If you get “married” in front of a priest you found on rentapriest.com, you’re likely not getting your money’s worth. So said a canon lawyer in the wake of a priest’s excommunication this summer. Such a marriage would not be a marriage at all, Father Jason Gray explained. St. Augustine Bishop Victor Galeone excommunicated a member of Rent A Priest, an organization of married priests who offer to administer sacraments for donations or fees. There are some 300 members listed on the Rent A Priest Web site. The organization’s founder said there are about...

In an extraordinary and prophetic newspaper column, Rockford's Bishop Thomas Doran tells us what God really thinks of "abortion, buggery, contraception, divorce, euthanasia, feminism of the radical type, and genetic experimentation and mutilation." Read on: Reaping the whirlwind of abortion I want to touch on this matter before we get too close to the November madness. As human beings, as citizens of a “first world country,” as Americans, and as Catholics, most importantly, we have to take count of the circumstances in which we live. We know that the only creatures of God that outlast time are those created having...

by Fr. William Saunders Other Articles by Fr. William Saunders How to Go to Confession 7/21/2006 I admit I have not been to confession in many years and am no longer sure I know how to properly avail myself of the sacrament. Would you please review how one should go to confession? A person should always begin with a good examination of conscience. We need to hold up our lives to the pattern of life God has revealed for us to live. For instance, we take time to reflect on the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the precepts of the Church and...