TCA Question & Answer of the Day

Each weekday, you'll find a new question and answer. Check back for the new question and scroll down to see previous day's entries! Let us know what you think - - or question! -- by emailing us at tcanswer@osv.com.

For the Week of Dec. 27-31, 2010

TCA Question & Answer of the Day

Each weekday, you'll find a new question and answer. Check back for the new question and scroll down to see previous day's entries! Let us know what you think - - or question! -- by emailing us at tcanswer@osv.com.

For the Week of Dec. 27-31, 2010

Question of the Day for Friday, December 31, 2010

Good-luck charms

Q. What is the difference between good-luck charms and talismans that promise all kinds of good things and the Rosary and the miraculous medal and scapular I wear around my neck? I know there is a difference, but can you explain it to me?

A. Here’s a reply from OSV columnist Msgr. M. Francis Mannion:

There are four differences between charms and talismans and genuine religious objects such as you describe.

First, charms and talismans promise all kinds of worldly successes and often respond to people's more base inclinations (greed, lust, need for power), while religious objects only respond to virtuous and positive moral inclinations. You will never become rich and powerful by saying the Rosary or wearing a scapular.

Second, charms and talismans seek to manipulate the world to our needs and desires, while no such manipulation occurs with the use of religious objects. God cannot be manipulated, but responds to our prayers according to his will.

Third, the use of magical objects requires nothing from us, only that we believe in them. Religious objects and prayers require personal conversion and a change of heart on the part of those who use them. In religious devotion and the use of religious objects, it is we who are changed, not God.

Fourth -- and most important of all -- charms and talismans do not work! Sincere prayer to God and the use of religious objects do not always have the effects that we expect, but God always answers our prayers in one way or another, either now or in the future.

Most people use good-luck charms for fun or for simple decoration. However, taking them seriously is both unwise and silly.

Question of the Day for Friday, December 31, 2010

Good-luck charms

Q. What is the difference between good-luck charms and talismans that promise all kinds of good things and the Rosary and the miraculous medal and scapular I wear around my neck? I know there is a difference, but can you explain it to me?

A. Here’s a reply from OSV columnist Msgr. M. Francis Mannion:

There are four differences between charms and talismans and genuine religious objects such as you describe.

First, charms and talismans promise all kinds of worldly successes and often respond to people's more base inclinations (greed, lust, need for power), while religious objects only respond to virtuous and positive moral inclinations. You will never become rich and powerful by saying the Rosary or wearing a scapular.

Second, charms and talismans seek to manipulate the world to our needs and desires, while no such manipulation occurs with the use of religious objects. God cannot be manipulated, but responds to our prayers according to his will.

Third, the use of magical objects requires nothing from us, only that we believe in them. Religious objects and prayers require personal conversion and a change of heart on the part of those who use them. In religious devotion and the use of religious objects, it is we who are changed, not God.

Fourth -- and most important of all -- charms and talismans do not work! Sincere prayer to God and the use of religious objects do not always have the effects that we expect, but God always answers our prayers in one way or another, either now or in the future.

Most people use good-luck charms for fun or for simple decoration. However, taking them seriously is both unwise and silly.

Question of the Day for Thursday, December 30, 2010

The Assumption

Q. When I was young I was taught that Mary was assumed into heaven and her body therefore did not undergo the changes that come with death. Recently, my husband and I visited the Holy Land and we were brought to a Catholic Church where we were told Mary had died. My nephew was on a pilgrimage to Turkey a few years ago and he also visited a church there where he was told Mary had died. Can you explain this especially since the Assumption is one of the mysteries of the Rosary?

A. Here’s a reply from Father Reginald Martin:

Marian devotion dates to the third century, but liturgical veneration of Mary came only two centuries later. The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests one (ironic) reason for this delay is Mary’s assumption, “when the course of her earthly life was finished, [she] was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 966). In the early days of our worship, public devotion to the saints was attached to their tombs. The place of Mary’s death may be a matter of conjecture, but the fact of her Assumption is not. Thus, because no church claimed to possess her tomb, Mary’s public honor developed slowly.

In 431 the Council of Ephesus proclaimed Mary the Mother of God. Three years later Armenian liturgical books indicate special readings for a “Day of Mary” on Aug. 15. Half a century later, the day came to honor Mary’s death (or Dormition: “falling asleep”). When the feast became part of Roman worship, it was known, as today, as the Assumption. The Catechism remarks, “Marian prayer, such as the rosary, [is] an ‘epitome of the whole Gospel’” (No. 971). Recalling the Assumption at the end of the Rosary helps sum up the fullness of our longing for union with God.

Question of the Day for Thursday, December 30, 2010

The Assumption

Q. When I was young I was taught that Mary was assumed into heaven and her body therefore did not undergo the changes that come with death. Recently, my husband and I visited the Holy Land and we were brought to a Catholic Church where we were told Mary had died. My nephew was on a pilgrimage to Turkey a few years ago and he also visited a church there where he was told Mary had died. Can you explain this especially since the Assumption is one of the mysteries of the Rosary?

A. Here’s a reply from Father Reginald Martin:

Marian devotion dates to the third century, but liturgical veneration of Mary came only two centuries later. The Catholic Encyclopedia suggests one (ironic) reason for this delay is Mary’s assumption, “when the course of her earthly life was finished, [she] was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 966). In the early days of our worship, public devotion to the saints was attached to their tombs. The place of Mary’s death may be a matter of conjecture, but the fact of her Assumption is not. Thus, because no church claimed to possess her tomb, Mary’s public honor developed slowly.

In 431 the Council of Ephesus proclaimed Mary the Mother of God. Three years later Armenian liturgical books indicate special readings for a “Day of Mary” on Aug. 15. Half a century later, the day came to honor Mary’s death (or Dormition: “falling asleep”). When the feast became part of Roman worship, it was known, as today, as the Assumption. The Catechism remarks, “Marian prayer, such as the rosary, [is] an ‘epitome of the whole Gospel’” (No. 971). Recalling the Assumption at the end of the Rosary helps sum up the fullness of our longing for union with God.

Question of the Day for Wednesday, December 29, 2010

"Other Sheep"?

Q. Who exactly are the "other sheep" Jesus refers to in John 10:16?

Alice, via e-mail

A. Here’s a reply from TCA columnist Father Ray Ryland, Ph.D., J.D

Keep in mind that Jesus was addressing a Jewish audience. Many Jewish people of that time believed that they were the only ones included in the scope of God's plan of salvation.

Especially through His prophet Isaiah, God had taught them otherwise. "I formed you, and set you as a covenant of the people, a light for the nations" (Is 42:6). Again, "I will make you a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth" (49:6).

But God's people were very slow to learn this truth.

Recall how, on the day of Christ's resurrection, two disciples on their way to Emmaus had not recognized their companion as Jesus. Their mournful comment was this: "But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel" (Lk 24:21).
Redeem Israel. Period.

Even just before our risen Lord ascended to heaven, some of His apostles asked anxiously, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6).

Only after a divine revelation to St. Peter (see Acts 10) was it made plain to the new Church that Jesus Christ came as universal redeemer. The "other sheep" Jesus spoke of are the Gentiles, the rest of the human race.

Question of the Day for Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Blessings by Extraordinary Ministers?

Q. At our parish we are being told by our pastor that "eucharistic ministers" can and will bless our children at Communion. (It's announced in the bulletin.) Is this type of blessing valid and correct?

A. Here is a reply from Father Francis Hoffman, J.C.D.:

First, let's clarify terminology.

According to current Church documents, there is no such thing as a "eucharistic minister." There are ordinary ministers of the holy Eucharist (bishop, priest, deacon) and "extraordinary ministers of holy Communion" (laypeople delegated to supply the role and function of the ordinary minister because of extraordinary circumstances).

Personally, I think it is wonderful if parents bring their children to Mass and bring their toddlers forward with them at Communion time.

Youngsters want to participate and need some affirmation, and parents love it when the priest blesses their children. The kids love it, too. And I don't think there's any problem with that.

But can the extraordinary minister of holy Communion bless children at Communion time? Canon 1168 states:

"Certain sacramentals can also be administered by laypeople who possess the appropriate qualities."

In principle, this canon could allow a layperson to bless a child, even at Communion time, unless the local bishop prohibits such a practice.

Canon 1168 needs to be understood in the context of the guidelines in the "General Introduction to the Book of Blessings," which affirms that laypeople, in virtue of the universal priesthood -- a dignity they possess because of their baptism and confirmation -- may celebrate certain blessings. But whenever a priest or a deacon is present, he should be the one to do it (see No. 18).

So, it seems preferable at Communion time that parents with young children should approach the priest if they wish to have their child blessed.

Question of the Day for Monday, December 27, 2010

12 Days of Christmas

Q. Does the 12 Days of Christmas have any basis in the Church calendar?

A. Here’s a reply from Father Reginald Martin:

The most important feast in the Church year is Easter, the day of Jesus’ resurrection. Other feasts (Pentecost and the Ascension) are calculated from the date of Easter.

Christmas, which honors Christ as the “Light of the World,” falls on Dec. 25. This is three days after the winter solstice, when — if we consult an almanac — we discover the earth’s position, relative to the sun, results in the Northern Hemisphere’s fewest minutes of actual daylight.

However, afternoons have been growing longer for nearly two weeks before the solstice, and the sun will continue to rise later until the “Twelfth Day of Christmas,” Jan. 6. This is a major feast in the Church calendar. It commemorates the Epiphany, or “manifestation,” of Christ’s light to the Gentiles. “In the liturgical year … various aspects of the one Paschal mystery unfold. This is also the case with … feasts sur-rounding the mystery of the incarnation.… They commemorate the beginning of our salvation and communicate … the first fruits of the Paschal mystery” (No. 1171).

Dec. 13, when afternoons begin to lengthen, is the feast of St. Lucy, whose name means “light.” Christ’s birth, thus, takes place 12 days before and 12 days after two feasts of light.