Notes for the next broadcast

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Our Lady of Guadalupe, Extremadura.
Like Mother, like Son.
The bambino, Rocco, and St. Joseph

Sitz im leben

Christmas Season: Christmas Day to the Baptism of the Lord.

   

January 13

  • Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time for Latin-rite Catholics in the U.S.
    • 1 Sam 8: Samuel argues against appointing "a king over us, as other nations have, to judge us."
    • Mark 2: "the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth."
  • Take and Receive.

Recent questions and comments

  • From a pastor in the Southern Tier of Western New York:
I listen to your radio program on Fridays on EWTN out of Elmira-Corning. First of all I am an Ordained Baptist Minister who serves as a chaplain in Elmira. Since I work with a retired priest and a deacon I have come to learn more about Catholic Doctrine and am quickly finding out we have more in common that we have differences. I enjoy the stories of different saints and how they furthered the cause of Christ in a dark world.
Now since the name of the program is "Calling all Catholics" you will be surprised that it falls on the ears of a Baptist Chaplain.
Continuing to Listen;
Shalom!
  • Anonymous from Cheektowaga
Father, I decided to make a 'tuna casserole' while listening to you program yesterday afternoon... I consider myself a chef and do not follow any recipes for anything; just make it up as I go. I love the combination of tuna and peas so I decided I would add peas to the casserole. Well, apparently I can't listen to the radio and cook at the same time - I forgot to add the tuna and the peas to the casserole...?
Turned out not so good. I consider this your fault - not Chef Carloni's fault - you should make a disclaimer that your program may be distracting for some folks.

January 6

  • Traditional date for the Feast of the Epiphany.
    • A time when some Eastern Christians celebrate the Nativity.
    • A time in some cultures (mostly Eastern, I think) for giving Christmas presents, in memory of the Magi.
  • Today's gospel: "One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

From a Christmas letter received by two friends of mine in Orangeville, NY:

My wife and I very much hope this letter finds you at least as happy and healthy as we are. We both sort of go along almost taking for granted all our many blessings. This year has been different. For some years now we've been concerned about our daughter's health. It seemed like things were getting worse every time she saw another doctor.
She was reduced to four hour days at work. Even at that she couldn’t work every day. She was urged to consider applying for a disabilities pension.
One day in July, our daughter arrived home feeling she had no more strength. As she dragged herself up the front steps she prayed to God, "I truly believe You can heal me. If it be Your will, I'm asking You to heal me in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ." She had just unlocked the door when she finished praying; pushing the door open she stepped inside.
Can you picture one of these little marionette puppets with strings all loose? It kind of flops about all bent over and barely able to function. This was our daughter. As she passed the threshold, the Master picked up the strings. She stood straight. She had no pain. She was strong. She was healed! The change was so fast and powerful, she felt sure He must be physically standing right there, and actually turned right around looking for Him. The brain injury is gone; so is the fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue; the IBS and her hormones are fixed too; the scoliosis in her spine, along with the bulging discs in her neck and back, all gone; and her twisted right leg is straight once again.
So here we are, sharing the house with a living miracle. If God was trying to get our attention, He sure did a good job. It's not possible to have doubts when the proof is standing at the sink, washing dishes and flicking water in her dad’s face.
Hmm, it seems there are a few things he didn’t change. Oh well, I guess a little soapy water won’t hurt me.
Anyway, I think one might say "Our cup runneth over." We’ve been telling just about everyone we talk to; but just in case we missed some we wanted to include this miracle in our letter.
Back to saying nice things: I had expected the doctors to be somewhat skeptical when we told them. They were not skeptical. They just nodded and said "Spiritual healing, I know about that." It seems that miracles happen a lot more often than I ever knew.
  • Billy from Buffalo: Wants to ask about Mary's line that Jesus is destined to rule with an iron rod. (I lost this call. My bad!).
    • Rev 12:5 is from Ps 2:9: "With an iron rod you will shepherd them, like a potter’s vessel you will shatter them.” In the book of Revelation, the phrase is repeated in 19:15: "Out of his mouth came a sharp sword to strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he himself will tread out in the wine press the wine of the fury and wrath of God the almighty."
  • Dennis from Buffalo: In Matthew 2:16 When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the Magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the Magi. How long did the Holy Family stay in Bethlehem? Would they have been in Bethlehem for nearly two years before the Magi visited Jesus? Did that mean the nativity star shined for years?
  • Anonymous: If someone believes that God is calling them to take a particular step regarding their vocation, but circumstances such as lack of financial resources or current location are preventing them from doing so, how would you advise them to try and pursue God's will despite the challenges to them doing so?
  • From Anna listening on an iPhone: Question about placing crosses in her home. A non-Catholic friend objects to having them above her doorway and in her bedroom.
  • Henry, not on the air: Where does the Menorah originate from?
  • Louise from N. Tonawanda: Two question regarding Anima Christi.
  • Marilyn from Buffalo: Has a question regarding a recent reading: John 1:11 'To his own he came. . . Who is the 'they' in the verse?

The Treasury of Extra Questions

We have had many questions that either come too late in the show or that need research to answer. We often say, "Tune in next week and we'll deal with that in more depth"--but we haven't always kept our promise. The purpose of this page is to make a list of those questions for future reference. If we run low on callers or current questions, we can always dip into this reservoir to keep the conversation going.

A Select Few

Preaching Jesus vs. Tolerating Other Faiths

John Z. from Facebook: "If the Church is supposed to "go ... and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19), isn't the ultimate goal to teach the world about Jesus? Doesn't that mean that we must not tolerate other religions and faiths? It seems as though relativism has crept into the Church and is undermining our missionary activity."

"Twelve Baskets, full ..."

Hitler in Hell? Animals in Heaven?

From Walter B., a former student of mine:

1) "I remember a statement you made in class. A student asked, "How long will Hitler be in Hell?" I found your reply, "As long as it takes for all those who were wronged by him to forgive him" to be profound. I still think about it to this day. Can you make any further comments about this?
2) "Is it possible that a 'Christ-like' savior could exist for other species (ants, iguanas, llamas, etc.)?
For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
  • The fathers of the Church interpreted a verse from Isaiah as applying to the Nativity scene: "The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master’s manger" (Is 1:3). That the animals themselves recognize the Lord is part of Catholic spirituality, even though it is not a dogma of the Church.
  • God loves animals more than we do. This may be a variation on the question people frequently ask, "Will my dog be with me in Heaven?"

Angelic Intimacy

From two friends who are studying John Paul II's "Theology of the Body" together. "Are humans able to be more closely united to each other than angels can be united to each other because humans have bodies and angels do not?"

"Blessed Mary, Ever Virgin" in the new translation

Joyce from Buffalo called on November 11 to ask about dropping the phrase 'Ever-Virgin' in 1973. She loves the dogma about Mary's perpetual virginity and felt that the removal of the phrase was unfortunate.

  • "Ever-virgin" is still in the confiteor (once instead of twice).
  • It is still in the first Eucharistic Prayer.
  • The prefaces for Our Lady contain the teaching without using that phrase.
  • It does not appear in the other three Eucharistic Prayers.
  • It is not found in the Libera Nos after the Our Father.

Silent and vocal prayer

Pam from WNY: The nuns in her grade school told her that they had to move their lips when they prayed. Do prayers count if they're mental and not verbal?

The Marriage of Mary and Joseph

Kevin from Buffalo: Since Joseph and Mary never consummated their vows, were they technically and officially married?

Remission of Sins: Right Dispositions

John from e-mail: This is out of the Baltimore Catechism:

Q. 153. Are actual sins ever remitted by Baptism?
A. Actual sins and all the punishment due to them are remitted by Baptism, if the person baptized be guilty of any, and is rightly disposed.

And with your spirit

From Marilyn in Cleveland, Ohio, who listens on an iPad and wrote to us via e-mail:

I heard Fr. Moleski express his preference for the 'And also with you' response instead of the newer 'And with your spirit'. When I first learned of that change, I was delighted. I have 3 children, 25, 22 and 20 years old. All are in college and or grad school (pray for me, i am a single mother). For years, decades actually, I feel that I have been taking on a dragon fighting for my children's salvation. The world they have been raised in has emphasized, ad nauseam, how important they are, to the point now where they expect things (aka entitlement generation). They were given things every where they went, stickers at the doctors office, dentists, awards for ridiculous things at school and so on. The emphasis on hair, dress and all the material likes Is so hyper focused on the me, me, me that I see the 'and with your spirit' supremely refreshing and pointedly contradictory to the cultural persuasion. 'And with your spirit' is very challenging, and to me it points directly to the soul, not the person. Be it priest or pew sitter, it's all about God, not me. We must start focusing on our eternal souls, not on the flesh or ego. I truly believe this will be an unconscious sign post directing us appropriately to Our Lord.
Thank you for saying yes to God, our dear priests, we need you, we pray for you and we love you.

Longer Confession lines, longer Confessions

Dennis from Facebook: Has anybody noticed that the confession lines seem to be getting bigger? And that people are taking longer and longer when they do go to confession? I think this might be a sign of some really good priests.

Planned Parenthood and Cancer Research

Some friends in Amherst via e-mail: Many cancer research organizations donate to Planned Parenthood and/or support the use of tissue from abortions for medical research and therapy. Is there a list of cancer research institutes to which Catholics can donate with a clear conscience?

Taking chastity seriously

From a letter written in the fall of 2011 from some concerned young adult Catholics in the Diocese of Buffalo:

  • We are increasingly disappointed and disheartened by the lack of support from priests and bishops ... regarding the sanctity of life and the value of true marriage.
  • Why are these high-profile, high-impact moral issues avoided during Sunday homilies: abortion, adultery, contraception, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, fornication, homosexuality, impurity with oneself, pornography?
  • Why are Catholic public officials given a pass when they publicly violate Church teachings time after time? Why aren't they denied Holy Communion?
  • It was disappointing that no priests attended the National Organization for Marriage's Rally for Traditional Marriage at Buffalo's City Hall on July 24.
  • Please help us to engage and evangelize the anti-Catholic culture that confronts us everyday.

Christians and Jews in Muslim territory

From a friend in Amherst: Does the Koran call Jews and Christians "People of the Book"? Have Muslims historically been more tolerant of Christians and Jews than Christians have been of Muslims and Jews?

Questions from Ladies of the Lord

New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)

Bible translations.

Theology is necessary for the Church

From Kevin in e-mail: "Many Protestants have a 'Bible only' mentality and distrust Catholic theology as a 'human tradition' that gets in the way of the reading and interpreting the Scriptures. Is it right to oppose the Bible to theology?"

An article on the lack of unity in Catholic theology, written by a former Lutheran theologian. "The unity and coherence of theology can be maintained only if we explicitly conceive of it as an ecclesial intellectual practice of the Church, arising from the Church’s nature and mission. ... And so Catholic theology cannot establish itself as a de facto counter-magisterium, remaining in splendid isolation from the Church. Nor should it seek to win a lasting standing in the secular academy that offers it a career path like that of any other academic profession. Nor, finally, will Catholic theology flourish if it is transmuted into 'religious studies' to market its remnants in a post-Christian society. Whatever one thinks about the best way to give coherent and even sophisticated shape to Catholic theology, we must acknowledge that the Church herself gives us our theological task: to assist the bishops in communicating, explaining, defending, and understanding the faith that comes from the apostles."

Disparity of cult (mixed marriages); Pauline privilege

Anonymous from east of Buffalo: "I have a friend who is a recent convert. She and her husband were married in a Protestant church. She wanted her husband to validate their marriage in the Catholic church, but he refused. How does the church view this marriage? Is their marriage adulterous? She is on the verge of divorce. Her justification for leaving is that their marriage was never valid in the eyes of the Church anyways."

Dealing with a Teenage Daughter's Doubts

Sarajane from Facebook: "I am struggling with my children and their questions about our faith. My thirteen-year-old daughter is stage where she doubts everything I say and is even questioning God's existence. She says, 'Why should I believe what's in the bible when only men wrote it?' I am diving into my faith to learn learn learn so as to become stronger for my own sake and for my children. Do you have any advice to help me?

No Room for Resentments

John Carlin, 1998.
Used by permission.
John from Cheektowaga
John sent me a picture he painted of two of his dogs acting as guardians at the 12th gate of Heaven. That got me thinking about who the real obstacles are to our entry into Heaven: everyone whom we refuse to forgive. The same issue came up in last Sunday's readings about the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Sons.

Catholicism and Science

Evolution
Monogenism

Kevin from Buffalo: "Some scientists think that the Church's teaching that all human beings are descended from one man and one woman is demonstrably false; they say that there is too much genetic variation in the human population today for all of us to have descended from a single human pair. Can the Church change its teaching on Adam and Eve?"

"Catholics and the Evolving Cosmos"
"Subsequent research into genomics, however, has settled this question against Pius. It's not that scientists cannot trace human ancestry back far enough to an Adam and Eve; it's that in principle, the level of genetic variation present in the species today rules out a founding population with fewer than several thousand individuals."

The Rite

Patricia from Fredonia: "I'm wondering if you saw or read 'The Rite,' and if so, what you thought of it."

On Second Thought

I often think of better answers to questions after the show is over. This is called "l'esprit de l'escalier," (French: "the spirit of the staircase") because lawyers so often think of the best arguments to have made while walking down the staircase leading away from the courthouse.

Catholicism and Judaism

What about the prophecies about the Antichrist?

  • John from Cheektowaga: "I wished I had stayed on the phone the other day to do a follow-up (I did not want to hog all the air-time). I wasn’t looking for a speculation of WHEN the end time will be – I know our Lord Jesus said that not even the angels or saints know, but only the Father knows the day and the hour."
    • MXM: The advantage of staying on the phone is that you get to rephrase your question as we go along. If we think you're hogging the air, we'll thank you for your call and hang up on you.  :-O
  • I was just looking for comment on how really interwoven all of history is (past, present & future); all events detailed in prophesy. I thought that the little book “History of Antichrist” was extremely well presented. It listed each important prophet as indicated in Sacred Scripture, what various interpretations can their words possibly mean, which church fathers, saints, doctorens, traditions, commentators through to the med 1800’s (when the book was written), etc., to include conjectures as to meanings of their statements, and, how it relates to the antichrist. The book is not bad news, but it does say, when the antichrist does come it is going to be a terrible 3 ½ years before Jesus comes and put a stop to his deceit. Many will be swayed – think of the Jews who are still looking for the coming of the Messiah (all part of God’s grand mysterious plan).
    • MXM: The Church is completely agnostic about the sequence of events at the end of the world.
The book of Revelation and other apocalyptic passages were written to comfort people who were suffering for the sake of Jesus. The message is, "Hang on. Your sufferings will be rewarded. You will reign with Jesus in glory." That message was valid in the first century and in every age since wherever disciples suffer for Jesus.
In other words, the material is about the present, NOT the future.
  • The world will be tricked unless one's faith is strong.
    • MXM: We don't need "strong" faith. Putting faith in the strength of our faith is a huge mistake. No act of faith is greater than the size of a mustard seed when compared to the glory of the one in whom we place our trust.

Johnny Cash and the End of the World

Kevin in Buffalo: What do you think of the Johnny Cash song, "The Man Comes Around"?

The meaning of fiction

Matt from Colorado asked about (e-mail about The Shack). Second thoughts: interpreting fiction.

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