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 March 1-5, 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 March 1-5, 2010

Question of the Day for Friday, March 5, 2010

Can Angels Sing?

Q. I heard a priest say, "You know, of course, that angels cannot speak or sing, as they have no voice box."

If that's true, who sings in the choirs of angels? Who told Mary about Jesus' conception? Who told the shepherds about his birth? How did the angel talk to the children at Fátima?

Leslie Page, Washington, Mich.

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

It's true that angels have no voice box, because they have no physical bodies. But that doesn't prevent their communicating with human beings.

Angels who serve God on earth have the capacity for assuming human form in carrying out their divine missions. We see many instances of this in the Old Testament. 

Hebrews 13:2 refers to those occasions when it teaches, "Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels."

In ways keeping with their own nature, angels indeed can speak and sing. Sacred Scripture repeatedly refers to angelic choirs around the heavenly throne. All the prefaces in our liturgy invoke the example of the angels glorifying and praising God. The Epiphany preface thus joins us with the angels' worship: "Now, with angels and archangels, and the whole company of heaven, we sing the unending hymn of your praise."

They in their way, we in ours. But there are hints in divine revelation that in heaven we shall have with the angels a common medium of communication.

Question of the Day for Friday, March 5, 2010

Can Angels Sing?

Q. I heard a priest say, "You know, of course, that angels cannot speak or sing, as they have no voice box."

If that's true, who sings in the choirs of angels? Who told Mary about Jesus' conception? Who told the shepherds about his birth? How did the angel talk to the children at Fátima?

Leslie Page, Washington, Mich.

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

It's true that angels have no voice box, because they have no physical bodies. But that doesn't prevent their communicating with human beings.

Angels who serve God on earth have the capacity for assuming human form in carrying out their divine missions. We see many instances of this in the Old Testament. 

Hebrews 13:2 refers to those occasions when it teaches, "Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels."

In ways keeping with their own nature, angels indeed can speak and sing. Sacred Scripture repeatedly refers to angelic choirs around the heavenly throne. All the prefaces in our liturgy invoke the example of the angels glorifying and praising God. The Epiphany preface thus joins us with the angels' worship: "Now, with angels and archangels, and the whole company of heaven, we sing the unending hymn of your praise."

They in their way, we in ours. But there are hints in divine revelation that in heaven we shall have with the angels a common medium of communication.

Question of the Day for Thursday, March 4, 2010

Faith and Works

Q. My wife grew up Baptist (she converted to Catholicism about 13 years ago) and firmly believes that the only way to get into heaven is by believing in Jesus Christ. I have been of the belief that while you must believe in Christ you also must do good works, follow the commandments, etc. In reading the Bible, there are verses that you could pick out that would support both ideas. What is the Church’s stance on this?

— Joe Sevic

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

The relation of faith to works has been debated from the Church’s earliest days. If by “works” we mean activities “that accompany the exercise of the responsibilities of the Christian life and of the ministries within the Church” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2004), works are essential to our salvation. Jesus tells us we will be judged by them (see Mt 25:31-46).

However, we must distinguish between actions flowing from cooperation with baptismal grace, which include the “power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit” (Catechism, No. 1266), and the hypocritical cynicism Jesus condemns (see Mt 23), in which action is divorced from the loving desire to act like the God in whose image we have been created. The heart is essential to understanding the value (and necessity) of our works. The Dictionary of Biblical Theology offers a helpful reflection: “Judaism never lost sight of the fact that works prescribed by the Law were directed to the kingdom of God. Nevertheless, casuistry often masked the true meaning of the works … focusing the efforts of man on the letter of the Law, as if the works accomplished accorded man a claim upon God and sufficed to confer interior justice upon him” (p. 675).

Question of the Day for Thursday, March 4, 2010

Faith and Works

Q. My wife grew up Baptist (she converted to Catholicism about 13 years ago) and firmly believes that the only way to get into heaven is by believing in Jesus Christ. I have been of the belief that while you must believe in Christ you also must do good works, follow the commandments, etc. In reading the Bible, there are verses that you could pick out that would support both ideas. What is the Church’s stance on this?

— Joe Sevic

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

The relation of faith to works has been debated from the Church’s earliest days. If by “works” we mean activities “that accompany the exercise of the responsibilities of the Christian life and of the ministries within the Church” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2004), works are essential to our salvation. Jesus tells us we will be judged by them (see Mt 25:31-46).

However, we must distinguish between actions flowing from cooperation with baptismal grace, which include the “power to live and act under the prompting of the Holy Spirit” (Catechism, No. 1266), and the hypocritical cynicism Jesus condemns (see Mt 23), in which action is divorced from the loving desire to act like the God in whose image we have been created. The heart is essential to understanding the value (and necessity) of our works. The Dictionary of Biblical Theology offers a helpful reflection: “Judaism never lost sight of the fact that works prescribed by the Law were directed to the kingdom of God. Nevertheless, casuistry often masked the true meaning of the works … focusing the efforts of man on the letter of the Law, as if the works accomplished accorded man a claim upon God and sufficed to confer interior justice upon him” (p. 675).

Question of the Day for Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Cathedrals, basilicas

Q. What is the difference between a basilica and a cathedral?

-- Lynn Chaffin, Nashville, Tenn.

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

A cathedral is the mother church of a diocese. Every archdiocese and diocese has a cathedral. It is also the physical location of the bishop's chair, or cathedra, hence the name. The principal ceremonies of the diocese take place there.

"Basilica" is a title assigned by the Holy See to certain churches because of their antiquity, historical importance or significance as centers of worship or pilgrimage. Basilicas are assigned a special duty to be models of liturgical celebration, with a certain emphasis given to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Most basilicas are not cathedrals, and most cathedrals are not basilicas.

Question of the Day for Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Communion Service

Q. Does a Communion service fulfill a Sunday obligation?

Wence Polivka, via e-mail

A. Here’s a reply from TCA columnist Father Francis Hoffman, J.C.D.:

No. However, if it is physically or morally impossible to attend Mass on Sunday, or the anticipated Mass on Saturday evening, the obligation no longer applies.

In the case that you arrive for Sunday Mass in your parish and, to your surprise, the priest does not show and a Communion service is offered instead, you have attempted to fulfill your Sunday obligation, and that's what counts. It's not your fault.

Even in that event, however, I would encourage you to go to the next parish and try to attend Sunday Mass there if that is at all possible.

Question of the Day for Monday, March 1, 2010

Lay Leadership in Parochial Devotion

Q. Are priests or deacons the only ones allowed to lead Stations of the Cross? Can lay parish members lead Stations?

— Kurt K.

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

The Catechism of the Catholic Church does a remarkable job of summarizing teaching contained in several documents of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) speaks of the “common priesthood” of Christ’s people, and Presbyterorum Ordinis (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests) makes some useful distinctions. “Certain members are called by God … and consecrated by the sacrament of Holy Orders., by which the Holy Spirit enables them to act in the person of Christ … for the service of all the members of the Church” (No. 1142).

Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) identifies “particular ministries” to be exercised by the laity, and identifies a few of them, “servers, readers, commentators, and members of the choir also exercise a genuine liturgical function.” Diocesan and parochial custom play an important part in determining who exercises these “particular ministries,” but, otherwise, the laity are encouraged to take an active role in leading devotional exercises, such as recitation of the Rosary or leading the Stations of the Cross (see Catechism, Nos. 1140-1144).

Some confusion may arise if a devotion takes place during exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, but even in this case, the Church’s sensible “division of labor” recognizes both the priest’s and the layperson’s contribution to the worship that is taking place.