Gina's notes

April 12

• John C. from e-mail:

1. During last week's show about pro-life issues, I saw that a U.S. Federal Judge lifted the age limit of 17 to girls for the morning after pill. This is really sickening – a 10 year old will now be able to buy the Plan-B pill when she gets some bubble gum. We need new judges!
2. I understand that the Cardinals in their recent conclave to elect a new pope, all spoke Latin in their formal discussions with one another. Is that true? Latin is such a beautiful language – too bad we don’t hear (and understand) more Latin.

• John Z. from Facebook: I read about a Jesuit College that wouldn't allow the Knights of Columbus to form a chapter at the school because it wasn't an all-inclusive group? What are your thoughts?

“The Knights of Columbus, by their very nature, is a men’s organization in which only Catholics may participate via membership,” says a letter obtained by The Cardinal Newman Society written by Sue Weitz, Vice President for Student Life. “These criteria are inconsistent with the policy and practice of student organization recognition at Gonzaga University, as well as the University’s commitment to non-discrimination based on certain characteristics, one of which is religion.”

“To embrace the diversity and yet endorse a group based on faith exclusivity is a challenge that cannot be reconciled at this time,” Weitz wrote in closing. “It is a decision about social justice, equity, and the desire of the University to create and maintain an environment in which none are excluded.”

Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh states that Gonzaga honors and respects the purpose and good works of the Knights of Columbus, with which it has a long tradition and mutual collaboration at both local and state levels. The Knights of Columbus College Council (#12583) is already present within the student body and receives support from the administration. Gonzaga University’s core Catholic and Jesuit identity recognizes, encourages and supports many student organizations that advance faith-related issues (for example, Gonzaga Right to Life, and the Blessed John Paul II Fellowship).

President McCulloh has received a request from the sponsoring student to review the decision regarding the recognition of the organization as a student club, and has decided to undertake this review. The review is expected to take 30-45 days.

• Mike from e-mail: Please pray for my continued healing from surgery.
• Uncle Dan from e-mail: Please pray for Kathy, who has recently been diagnosed with cancer and may need radical surgery.
• Connie asked for prayers for a former student of mine, who experienced a five-year return to the faith but who feels that she has lost it again.
• Letitia suffers from hyper-acute hearing. The sound systems in most churches are painful to her. She is a singer, so I pray to St. Cecilia for the healing of her hearing.
• Andrew: Why did abstaining from on every Friday get reduced to just abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent?
• Phil from Indooroopily, Australia, not too far away from Woolloongaba, via Facebook: We had a Catholic priest in Brisbane many years ago who broke the seal of confession (publicly) and everyone saw that as a reason they don't need to confess to a priest. They say they can confess directly to God.
• Paul from Corning called at the very end of the show on March 26th. We didn't have time to take his call on the air, but I was able to talk with him afterward: He wanted to know how the tradition of celibacy of priests, bishops, and the pope became established in the Catholic Church despite the fact that Peter was married--Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law in Mark chapter 1. Paul also mentions married bishops and priests in his letters to Timothy and Titus.
• Sarah from West Seneca: 'I have heard priests say that God forgives and forgets. I find that thought very comforting. But I've also heard that on Judgment Day, the whole of our life story is told to everybody. I don't want everyone to know all of my sins! Does God forget our sins or doesn't He?'
• From an anxious anonymous listener: Is there an exact list of "grave sins"? I'm worried that I might be committing mortal sin without knowing it.
• Erica from Buffalo, New York: There is a woman I know who is having a horrible, down-spiraling, Catholic-hating time as her second "husband," Bob, left her, because he now believes that they were not married and have been fornicating all these years. Both were previously married in the Catholic Church. Bob's first marriage was annulled; Linda's first marriage was not. I tried to explain to her that without an annulment, one cannot remarry, as she is still married in the eyes of the Church. She replied, "Our priest explained to Bob and to me together that, while getting an annulment is preferred, the Church knows some Catholics do not want one for whatever reason. The priest claimed that Vatican II acknowledged that the Church needed to embrace those people and created a new method of dealing with broken marriages called 'the internal forum solution.'" Is she right about that?
• Anonymous from e-mail: If a priest, at the end of Confession, says "I absolve you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," omitting the words "of your sins," does that constitute a valid absolution?
• Anonymous from e-mail: I was reading the Supplement to the Summa (Question 6, Article 4) in which St. Thomas says that if we are doubtful about whether we confessed all of our mortal sins in past confessions, we should mention the doubt to the priest in our next confession. Is that good advice?
• From Ida: She told me that "God provides for those who believe that God will provide," then donated hundreds of dollars to the Station. Five minutes later, she was given an airplane ticket by her father that she had planned to purchase next week.
• Letitia: Footwashing is for everybody--everybody should do it to everybody. She sent slippers, a towel, and foot cream to her nieces and nephews, and asked them to wash their mother's feet. Jesus said, "Do as I do. Such love and humility. Jesus took the place of the last and the least. Usually done by the Gentile slave, by wives for their husbands, by children for their parents, and by disciples for their teachers.

"Calling All Catholics" is produced by The Station of the Cross Catholic Radio, the station that is brought to you by you. We are on the air today because of the generosity of our listeners; we can only stay on the air through your continuing support. Tax season is upon us, and the spring fund drive is just twelve days away. Please pray with us that God will provide everything that we need to do His will.

Recent questions

St. Malachy and the End of the World

• "How Reliable Is the St. Malachy Prophecy?"

The "prophecy" for this papal election is: "Peter the Roman, who will nourish the sheep in many tribulations; when they are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The end."

"A significant mark against [the manuscript's] authenticity is the fact that it was not published until 1595, though St. Malachy died in 1148. There is no record of the prophecy existing in the intervening 447 years. Allegedly, this was because the prophecy lay, forgotten, in a Roman archive, and it was not rediscovered until 1590."

The "prophecies" are moderately accurate in describing the popes elected up until 1590; they can be made to "fit" the popes elected since then only by the most violent distortions of the meaning of words and the facts offered in evidence.

Seven Pilgrim Churches

• Wikipedia, "The Seven Pilgrim Churches Of Rome."

Why trust the New Testament?

Anonymous from Buffalo: Someone recently asked you how the authenticity of the sayings of Jesus could be verified. Your answer was that they cannot be verified according to modern standards of scholarship. So, if the sayings of Jesus in the New Testament cannot be verified against objective sources, why should anyone trust the gospels? How did the Church identify authentic gospels? On what grounds did it falsify other gospels?

Catholic vs. Christian

• Ryan from e-mail: I had a debate with somebody who thought there was a difference between a Catholic and a Christian. To me, that sounds like saying there is a difference between a Car and a Ford Vehicle. My feeling is that Christianity would have had to come before the Catholic Church since Catholicism is a denomination of Christianity. Am I right or wrong about this?

Catholicism

Protestant rejection of Tradition

• John Z. from Facebook: Why do so many of our protestant brothers and sisters reject tradition? It is as though they center their teaching on fragments from St. Paul's letters. I have listened to a lot of Pastors, and they never seem to preach on the Gospel passages that command us to express our faith in good works. In Matthew 25, for example, Jesus separates the sheep and the goats according to things they did or did not do for the least of His brethren.

Praying for ourselves

• From a Facebook friend:

- Is it "right" to ask for a real miracle for oneself or is it the epitome of selfishness?

- What is the best way to pray and how often? I've been locked in virtually the same words and number of times a day for decades. Will God understand, or forgive me, if I change the wording, or the frequency?

Catholic Children's Bible

• For parents: The Catholic Children's Bible by St. Mary's Press.

Calling the Pope "Father"

• From a friend of a friend via e-mail: "Is calling the Pope 'Holy Father' officially described in doctrine of the Church, or is it something which one could disagree with while remaining Catholic?"

Titles of the Pope.

Soteriology

• Zach from Amherst: How does the death of Jesus make reparation for our sins? Does God just want us to be content in not knowing exactly why He wills what He does, but just know that He wills it?

Atonement

Consolation and Desolation

• Patricia from Facebook: Father my friend would like a definition of what a consolation would be, or an experience of such.

Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ

• Suellen Ann from Facebook: I just saw a beautiful documentary on EWTN about Fr. Walter Ciszek, a Jesuit who was held captive in Siberia for 15 years. Could you talk a little bit about his life and works?

Walter Ciszek, SJ

Jewish roots of Catholic liturgy

• John from Facebook: Is the tradition of having a sequence of annual feasts rooted in the Church's Jewish heritage?

Jewish Liturgical Year

Catholic understanding of marriage

• Nicole from e-mail: I spoke w/a 20-something co-worker regarding male/female complementarity one day when she mentioned that people who don't accept "same-sex marriage" are bigots. She listened to me kindly but did not accept the idea that opposite genders go together because of procreation. Her immediate answer was, "well, the couple can use IVF." I find that many younger people have a utilitarian point of view - the end justifies the means. How can I present the Church's teaching on marriage and the natural law in the most effective fashion?

Ordination of Women and Priestly Celibacy

Amy from e-mail: I recently spoke with some women friends about the ordination of women and allowing priests to marry. They claimed that these two issues are founded on human law rather than divine law, and then argued that because some day there will not be enough priests to serve the people, other options must be discussed. Are these issues open to discussion?

Andrew from e-mail: Sylvia Poggioli did a piece on NPR recently entitled "With New Pope, Catholic Women Hope To Regain Church Leadership Roles." What are we to make of the argument that ancient mosaics and epigrams talk about women priests (presbytera) and bishops (episcopa)?

Year of Faith Website

• David M. from Rochester: Here is the Vatican’s website for the year of faith: www.annusfidei.va.

Common Bible includes "Apocrypha"

John W. from e-mail: I was very surprised this afternoon when you quoted Tobit 4:8 on giving. You said, "The Protestants don’t have Tobit in their Bible." Here in Canada, or at least Toronto, we DO! We also have Judith, Wisdom, Baruch, 1&2 Maccabees, and the other Deuterocanonical Books in the pew Bibles of at least our local Anglican and Presbyterian churches, and probably in the local United Church too. The pew Bibles are the “New Revised Standard Version (with Apocrypha).” These are logical developments based on Vatican II, which began fifty years ago, and the first Anglican-Roman Catholic Common Declaration and the establishment of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission forty-six years ago. Most Protestant churches are also using the Revised Common Lectionary. Is this just a Canadian thing?

- Apocrypha in Common Bible.

Lives of Saints for Young Children

Veronica from Ithaca made some extra suggestions: Good books for God's children.

Psychology and Catholicism

• John from Facebook: At the school I work, they are doing workshops on motivation and learning. They presented a workshop on William Glasser's "choice theory," which seems to me to advocate faith but no God. When the Church provides counsel through Catholic Charities or even through a priest, how does it merge psychology and faith?

The Gospel of Jesus' Wife

What does the Church think about the Coptic fragment that people are calling "The Gospel of Jesus' Wife"?

Godly Gynecology; Pregnancy Support Services

• Melissa from Kenmore, New York: "A friend of a friend of mine was told for decades that she had a thyroid problem that would prevent her from becoming pregnant. The doctors were wrong. When she began to gain weight because of a pregnancy, her doctor just adjusted her medication, thinking that her weight gain was due to thyroid problems, not a pregnancy. This was a devastating situation for her, as she ended up having an abortion. Many women who opt for abortion are not FOR abortion in and of itself. Many just do not have the support of the father or their family, and do not know who would help them cope with an unplanned child at the time of birth. Could you list some resources women in such a situation can turn to?"

Pacifism required?

• Anonymous: Why do some candidates who are pro life still support violence via wars, detainment, and the like? Why can't being pro life mean being more vigilant in ending wars through diplomatic talks rather than continuing what seems an endless fight in another country? Our military wants to come home. Does war ever make any sense?"

- Just War Theory.

Feeling guilty after Confession

• Anonymous: "I have a hard time forgiving myself, even after I confess a sin in confession. Is that also a sin?"

Prayer request

• "Just wanted to say thanks for the prayers. I know that you prayed that I can get back with my wife. It really isn't possible. I don't know what is going on with her. She has started a lot of problems, and she is hanging around with violent people. I don't want to keep her from seeing her daughter. Yet at the same time I fear what she may do. I am fearful for my daughter as well as my own as well as my family's lives. Please pray for me. I am so scared."

Interceding for Sinners

• Anonymous: "What is the consequence if someone who is not Catholic receives the Eucharist in ignorance. Besides educating them, is there a penance one can do for them?"

What should I do when I see others sin?

Forgiveness Prayer.

Spiritual Warfare

• John Z. from Facebook re: spiritual warfare.

• Can people be used by demons to try and fight and create turmoil and strife?
• Are there angels and demons duking it out fighting for our souls?
• Also, I saw on a blog where a guy said to look in the Old Testament as to how many people Satan killed vs God. He claims that Satan only killed ten and God killed thousands. So, in his view, the whole Christian idea of God is false, and Satan got a raw deal.

How to Create Extra Pages

There are two ways to make more pages for yourself. Well, three, I guess. The first two require being logged in.

1. Search for the title of the page you want to create. When the search fails, click on the red link to create the page.

2. Put the name of the new page you want to create in double square brackets on a current page. When you save the page, the name of the page you are about to create will appear in red.

Here is a red link; if you click on it, you may choose to create the page: Gina's test page.

3. Ask me to create the page(s) for you.

After you have created a page, putting the name of the page in double square brackets makes a blue link to the page. So, for example, I have been working on the book of Jonah for a few days.

To create an external link, use just one pair of square brackets:

Year of Faith

This does depend on a space between the URL and the text that is shown to the reader.

You can link to an existing page using double square brackets and a pipe: This is an active link to my old show preparation page. None of the words you see here in blue are the name of the page. The real name of the page is hidden from view.