Catholic Replies
Q. I attend a Sunday Tridentine Mass. Is it permissible to omit the epistle and the Gospel during this Mass and proceed to the homily? I have been to this Mass a number of times, but had not seen this practice before. — M.S., via e-mail.
A. And we hope you never see it again. No, it is not permissible to omit the epistle and Gospel from the Mass, anymore than a priest can omit the offertory and consecration. The next time you see this priest, ask him by what authority he omitted these essential readings from Holy Scripture.
Q. Is it or isn’t it a serious sin for Catholics to vote for candidates who support abortion and selling body parts, etc.? If the answer is yes, are priests, bishops, or even the Pope going to announce that these Catholics need to get to Confession? I know the Church couldn’t say individual’s names before the election, but why was so little ever mentioned about candidates in general who support things that are totally against our beliefs?
My friends and I have never understood why people like Pelosi, Durbin, etc., aren’t excommunicated or even mentioned. — M.B.A., via e-mail.
A. The reason why these politicians are not reprimanded or censured for their support for evil practices, which is a serious sin that precludes reception of Holy Communion until one has repented of the sin through sacramental Confession, is that many members of the clergy are afraid of the negative publicity that will follow any attempt to confront pro-abortion politicians. There are courageous exceptions, of course, and we have mentioned them in the pages of this newspaper. Here are some thoughts regarding this problem.
During the recent presidential election, vice-presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine was frequently described in the media as a “devout Catholic.” Now the media don’t usually speak so kindly of Catholics, so why the exception in this case? Could it be because he disagrees with some of the core teachings of the Catholic Church?
Although he was once pro-life, he is now pro-abortion. Although he was once in favor of defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, now he believes in same-sex “marriage.” He also thinks that women should be priests and that the Catholic Church should abandon some of its long-held teachings and get with the modern secular agenda.
This is a classic example of the media’s belief that the only good Catholic is a bad Catholic, i.e., one who rejects key teachings of the Church, but who still wants to be considered a Catholic in good standing. It’s like calling yourself a Republican and rooting for the Democrats. It makes no sense.
Sen. Kaine likes to say that he is “personally opposed” to abortion, but doesn’t want to impose his beliefs upon all Americans. This is another one of those slogans that makes no sense. Presumably, he opposes abortion personally because he knows that it takes the life of a baby. Isn’t that terrible tragedy something that should be opposed publicly?
What would happen if Kaine said that he was personally opposed to racism or sex trafficking of boys and girls, but didn’t want to impose his beliefs on others? Would anyone take him seriously? Would he ever have been considered for the vice-presidency of the United States? Of course not. But being in favor of killing babies and selling their body parts — that’s not a problem in today’s crazy political world.
Kaine’s own pastor and bishop in Virginia have not criticized him for his departure from Catholic doctrine, even though the Second Vatican Council called abortion an “unspeakable crime.”
Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kans., however, was not afraid to call him out. He found it “ironic that Sen. Kaine expressed such profound concern about imposing his religious beliefs on others, while supporting efforts: 1) to coerce the Little Sisters of the Poor and other faith-based ministries to violate their conscience by including abortifacients, contraceptives, and sterilizations in their employee health plans; 2) to put small business owners (e.g., florists, bakers, photographers, etc.) out of business with crippling fines if they decline to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies; and 3) to force every American taxpayer to help fund abortion.”
The archbishop offered this advice: “Be wary of candidates who assume to take upon themselves the role of defining what Catholics believe or should believe. Unfortunately, the vice-presidential debate revealed that the Catholic running for the second-highest office in our land is an orthodox member of his party, fully embracing his party’s platform, but a cafeteria Catholic, picking and choosing the teachings of the Catholic Church that are politically convenient.”
As of November 8, however, we don’t have to worry anymore about a Vice President Kaine.
So what is a devout Catholic? A devout Catholic is one who has been fully initiated into the Catholic Church through Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Eucharist; who attends Mass every week and only receives Holy Communion if any serious sins have been forgiven in Confession; who prays daily, reads the Bible, takes part in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament; who reaches out to those in need, especially the most vulnerable persons among us, the unborn; and who accepts everything that the Catholic Church believes and teaches because the Church was founded by the Son of God Himself, who promised to be with His Church always and to back up in Heaven whatever decisions His Church makes on Earth.
Q. During the recent election season I heard some Catholics and Protestants say, “God is in charge down here and we can rest assured that whoever is elected is the person that God wanted elected.” It brought to mind some questions. Did God select Nazi leadership in Germany or did He select the current leadership in Syria, North Korea, Iran, or perhaps even the United States? This also calls to mind the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, that indicates the Devil tempted Jesus by offering Him the kingdoms of this world because the Devil claimed, “It has been delivered to me and I give it to whom I will.”
If Jesus actually was tempted by the Devil, the kingdoms of this world must actually be the Devil’s to give. I believe that Jesus has called His followers here on Earth to strive through prayer and action to bring about God’s Kingdom in this world. But we know God’s Kingdom is not a worldly kingdom.
Therefore, I ask the following: Are the worldly kingdoms God’s or are they Satan’s to give to whom he wills? Does not God in His permissive will allow us to use our God-given free will to choose our worldly leadership? It seems we just don’t always select the worldly leadership that God would have selected. — D.M., Virginia.
A. That’s for sure and, yes, God does give us the free will to choose those who will lead us, although we sometimes make bad choices for a variety of reasons. Regarding whether the kingdoms of the world are the Devil’s to give to whom he wills, the answer is no. The Devil is the “father of lies” (John 8:44), and he is lying in chapter 4 of Luke (and chapter 4 of Matthew) when he claims that power has been “handed over to me” to distribute the kingdoms of the world “to whomever I wish.” All the kingdoms of the Earth belong to God, not to Satan, although Satan of course can influence world leaders to do his bidding.
St. John says that “the whole world is under the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Does that mean that the Devil is in charge of the world? No, John is talking about everything in the world that is opposed to God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 2852) quotes St. Ambrose as having said that “the Lord who has taken away your sin and pardoned your faults also protects you and keeps you from the wiles of your adversary the Devil, so that the enemy, who is accustomed to leading into sin, may not surprise you. One who entrusts himself to God does not dread the Devil. ‘If God is for us, who is against us?’ ”
The Catechism (n. 2853) also says that “victory over the ‘prince of this world’ [John 14:30] was won once for all at the hour when Jesus freely gave himself up to death to give us his life. This is the judgment of this world, and the prince of this world is ‘cast out’ [John 12:31; Rev. 12:10]. . . . Therefore the Spirit and the Church pray: ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ [Rev. 22:17, 20], since his coming will deliver us from the Evil One.”
