Thursday 28th March 2024

Home » Our Catholic Faith » Currently Reading:

Catholic Replies

August 8, 2014 Our Catholic Faith No Comments

Q. I have a question, after having been, shall I say, “detained,” while receiving Holy Communion in Falmouth, Mass. Is the reception of Holy Communion contingent on the priest’s hearing the recipient say “Amen”? Indeed, is “Amen” even required if the recipient bows before the Eucharist and receives on the tongue? Is “Amen” ever required, or is any sign of respect sufficient? I would appreciate your answer and any source reference. — A.G., via e-mail.
A. Yes, it is required that the communicant say “Amen” when receiving either the consecrated Host (on the tongue or in the hand) or the Precious Blood. In the words of the Vatican document Norms for the Distribution and Reception of Holy Communion Under Both Kinds in the Dioceses of the United States of America: “The act of Communion, therefore, is also an act of faith. For when the minister says, ‘The Body of Christ’ or ‘The Blood of Christ,’ the communicant’s ‘Amen’ is a profession in the presence of the saving Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity, who now gives life to the believer” (n. 14).
This document was issued in 2002 by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
When the communicant approaches the minister of Holy Communion, he or she should bow as a sign of reverence and the minister should hold up the Host (or chalice) and say, “The Body of Christ” (or “The Blood of Christ”), without, by the way, adding the person’s name since that is not part of the rite.
When functioning as an extraordinary minister, we don’t have a problem with trying to elicit an “Amen” from the communicant to remind the person that they are about to receive the Son of God, especially since some persons seem to have no clue as to what they are doing.
We have received Communion from ministers who say “The Body of Christ” so softly that we’re not sure they even said it. Nevertheless, we always say “Amen.”

Q. In his homily today, our young priest addressed the problem of people arriving late for Mass and leaving early. He made the comment that “to intentionally arrive late and leave Mass early is a mortal sin,” and that “to harshly judge such people is an even greater sin.” Please separate the two comments.
As to the sad practice of arriving late and leaving early, I think we need a clear understanding of what constitutes “late” and “early.” Not to be legalistic, but we were always taught that you have met your Sunday Mass obligation if you are present from the Gospel through the distribution of Holy Communion. If that is the case, we wonder whether a habit of just meeting such minimal core requirements could or would constitute a mortal sin.
As to the seriousness of being judgmental, I guess we have to understand exactly what constitutes “being judgmental” and how it could or would be a mortal sin. I am afraid this is something that is so common in our lives and, while we know that being judgmental was often condemned in the Gospels, I fear that it is something that not many of us think of as a mortal sin.
In this regard, we think that there would be a difference between just thinking judgmentally and pointing this out to others so as to incite their condemnation. We would very much appreciate your views on these matters. — D.J.D., via e-mail.
A. We don’t agree that intentionally arriving late for Mass and then leaving early is a mortal sin. It is surely a sign of disrespect for God and would probably be a venial sin. But we would surmise that most of those who engage in this behavior do so out of carelessness or laziness, and not out of deliberate contempt for God. If the latter were the case, why would these folks even bother coming to Mass?
The ironic thing is that these late arrivals and early departers would never act that way at a dinner party or a movie or a sporting event. It shows how out of touch these people are as to the awesome significance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It also demonstrates the failure of their pastors to instruct them about the wonder of the Mass.
Maybe these are the people who were told that the Mass is only a meal, and it’s no big deal if one is not present. When was the last time you heard a priest say that deliberately staying away from Mass on Sunday, without a good reason (e.g., illness, care of infants), is “a grave sin” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2181)?
As for whether harshly judging these people is “an even greater sin” (greater than a mortal sin?), we think that the priest was engaging in a little hyperbole. He was correct to point out in his homily that the latecomers and early leavers are wrong and that they should change their bad habits. It is his responsibility to point out such things and to judge the conduct of these parishioners without speculating about their motives. Only God knows their reasons and He will judge them accordingly. The rest of the folks in the pews would do well to focus on improving their own participation at Mass and not dwelling on what time some people arrive and leave the church.
We agree with D.J.D. that judging someone in your own mind is less serious than pointing out what others are doing in an effort to incite condemnation of them. You also have to make the distinction between judging actions and guessing about motives. For example, it is not wrong to condemn the act of abortion as a grave evil, but it would be wrong to condemn the person who had the abortion since there may be extenuating circumstances (age, ignorance, pressure from others, etc.) that would lessen that person’s guilt. We are content to leave that kind of judging to God.

Q. My wife and I recently attended an excellent presentation by Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wis., at the Institute of Catholic Culture. During his talk, the bishop commented that the state/government can tolerate evil, but it cannot promote it, while the Church cannot even tolerate evil. My question concerns the Church leadership. It seems to me that a large portion of Church leadership has publicly promoted government-legislated health care which directly promotes contraception and abortifacients. I wonder if those who publicly promote such legislation are guilty of tolerating and promoting evil.
I ask the above knowing that some believe it’s okay for non-Catholics because they don’t believe it’s sinful. However, I am reminded of Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s comment that heathens are no more free to disobey the natural law than Catholics are. — D.M., Virginia.
A. The official Church hierarchy in this country has opposed sections of Obamacare that compel Catholics to pay for contraception and abortifacients, but some of those in leadership positions in the Church are wishy-washy on these issues and find themselves backing health-care legislation that would undermine Church teaching on these moral evils. If there were united Catholic opposition to contraception and abortion — by bishops, priests, theologians, educators, and lay persons — these evils would not be as prevalent in our society today. But too many Catholics have abandoned or so compromised their religious beliefs that they are indistinguishable from their peers in our secular culture.
As for Archbishop Sheen’s statement that heathens are no more free to disobey the natural law than Catholics are, St. Paul was the first to make this assertion. In his Letter to the Romans, Paul said that “the wrath of God is indeed being revealed from heaven against every impiety and wickedness of those who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.
“As a result, they have no excuse; for although they knew God they did not accord him glory as God or give him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes” (1:18-23).
Or in modern-day parlance, they have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the false idols of money, power, sexual pleasure, and hedonism. St. Paul might have been talking about the 21st century when he said that God handed over the heathens of his time “to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (1:24-25).

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

21,000 sign petition protesting US Catholic bishops vote on Biden, abortion

More than 21,000 people have signed a letter calling for U.S. Catholic bishops to cancel a planned vote on whether President Biden should receive communion.  Biden, a Catholic, supports abortion rights and has long come under attack from some Catholics over that…Continue Reading

Bishop Gorman seeks candidates to fill two full time AP level teaching positions for the 2021-2022 school year in the subject areas of Calculus/Statistics and Physics

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Regional Catholic School is a college preparatory school located in Tyler, Texas. It is an educational ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Tyler led by Bishop Joseph Strickland. The sixth through twelfth grade school provides a…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Abortion Advocates No Longer Consider It “A Necessary Evil,” They Celebrate Killing Babies

Last week, Kamala Harris became the first vice president in U.S. history to make a public visit to an abortion clinic. Though the Democratic party’s support for abortion is nothing new, Harris’ Planned Parenthood appearance does illustrate how that support has become a flagrant celebration of abortion as a public and personal good, essential to both “freedom” and to “healthcare.” At the appearance, Harris proclaimed,  It is only right and fair that people have access…Continue Reading

Wisconsin Supreme Court says Catholic charity group cannot claim religious tax exemption

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a major Catholic charity group’s activities were not “primarily” religious under state law, stripping the group of a key tax break and ordering it to pay into the state unemployment system. Catholic Charities Bureau (CCB) last year argued that the state had improperly removed its designation as a religious organization.  The charity filed a lawsuit after the state said it did not qualify to be considered as an organization…Continue Reading

Walgreens and CVS Will Start Selling Abortion Pills That Kill Babies

The two largest pharmacies in America will start selling abortion pills this month that end the lives of unborn children by starting them to death. Walgreens and CVS will both sell the abortion pills despite the fact that they kill a developing human being and have killed at least dozens of women and injured tens of thousands more. They plan to initially roll out abortion drug sales in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, California…Continue Reading

Cardinal Burke announces novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe for ‘crises of our age’

VATICAN CITY (PerMariam) — Raymond Cardinal Burke has announced the start of a global, nine-month novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, calling on Catholics to beseech Mary’s intercession on the Church and the world in the face of the “crises of our age.” In a new endeavour published online over the weekend, Cardinal Burke announced a novena beginning in March, and culminating on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12.

Texas attorney general targets Catholic nonprofit, alleges it facilitates illegal immigration

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 21:15 pm Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is trying to shut down a Catholic nonprofit organization in El Paso based on allegations that the group may be facilitating illegal immigration, harboring immigrants who entered the country illegally, and engaging in human smuggling.  Paxton filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit Annunciation House, which has operated in the state for nearly 50 years. The lawsuit asks the District Court of El Paso…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)