Catholic Replies
Editor’s Note: A few weeks ago, a reader from Oregon recalled that when he was raised in the thirties and forties, “we were taught that, during Lent and Advent, we were to say the Sorrowful Mysteries of the rosary on Sundays, instead of the Glorious Mysteries.” He wondered if this was a universal practice or just a local custom. We promised to ask readers of this column for their comments.
Several readers responded that this coincided with their memories, while others said that the Joyful Mysteries were recited on the Sundays in Advent, and the Sorrowful Mysteries on the Sundays in Lent. S.M. emailed us the following instruction from the 1962 Roman Missal:
“It has become customary to say only the third part of the rosary, that is, five decades, each day. In that case, though you may say either the Joyful, Sorrowful, or Glorious Mysteries at your choice, yet it is the prevalent custom to say the Joyful Mysteries on Mondays and Thursdays, as well as the Sundays of Advent, the Sorrowful Mysteries on Tuesdays, Fridays, and the Sundays during Lent, and the Glorious Mysteries on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and the Sundays after Easter and Pentecost.”
At the Fatima devotions in our parish on the first Saturday of the month, it would be the normal practice to say the Joyful Mysteries. But instead we meditate on a different set of mysteries for four consecutive months, and then start the cycle over again. This gives us a chance to ponder twenty events in the life of Jesus and His Mother, not just five.
Q. I was impressed with the percentage of biblical texts that are covered in daily and Sunday Masses. Are there any figures available if the Office of Readings and Morning Prayer from the Breviary are added? — J.M., California.
A. We have read that if a person were to attend Mass every Sunday for three years, he would hear 7,000 Bible verses. If he were also to attend daily Mass for three consecutive years, he would hear 14,000 Bible verses. We are not aware of how many more Scripture verses one would hear by reading the breviary every day. Perhaps one of our readers knows.
Q. What does the Church say about ghosts? There are many reports of unexplained phenomena, so what are we to believe? — T.K., North Dakota.
A. A ghost is a disembodied spirit and there is nothing in Catholic teaching that would rule out the possibility that God might permit departed souls to appear in some visible form on Earth. Ghostly apparitions or illusions could be caused by the Devil, of course, but there is sufficient evidence to indicate that ghosts have appeared on Earth for a good purpose — to help or warn someone or to request prayers from the living. Souls in Purgatory often appeared to St. Padre Pio to tell him that Masses said for them by loved ones on Earth helped to lessen their suffering and to facilitate their journey to Heaven.
There are reports of ghosts in the Old Testament. For example, there is the time when King Saul conjured up the ghost of the prophet Samuel, who gave him the bad news that because Saul had disobeyed the Lord, “the Lord will deliver Israel, and you as well, into the clutches of the Philistines. By tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the Lord will have delivered the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 28:19).
There are also condemnations of anyone “who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead. Anyone who does such things is an abomination to the Lord” (Deut. 18:11-12). And in Lev. 19:31, it says, “Do not go to mediums or consult fortune-tellers, for you will be defiled by them.” Some people at that time must have believed in ghosts or the Lord would not have prohibited contacting the spirits of the dead. Commenting on the passage from Deuteronomy, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 2116) says:
“All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to ‘unveil’ the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.”
In his book A Priest Answers 27 Questions You Never Thought to Ask, Fr. Michael Kerper said that according to St. Thomas Aquinas, “the souls of the dead, who are in Heaven, can indeed manifest themselves to the living on their own initiative. Such appearances, however, are not ‘hauntings’ meant to terrify or tease people. Rather, these saintly apparitions occur only to bring comfort and encouragement, never fear. And remember ‘saint’ means anyone who dwells with God, not just those officially declared ‘saints’ by the Church.
“In light of this, it is theoretically possible for loved ones, like deceased grandparents or children (even babies), to become sensibly discernible to us. While such occurrences may be rare, there is no reason to rule them out. In a sense, these spirits are ‘ghosts,’ but they are benign, even loving.”
As for the malicious and nasty ghosts which are featured in horror movies, said Fr. Kerper, “St. Thomas clearly states that the souls of the dead, who are not in Heaven, can never appear to the living without God’s consent. But why would God ever allow ghosts to ‘haunt’ people? St. Thomas gives two reasons: first, as a warning, and second, to seek spiritual assistance from the living in the form of prayer or good deeds to advance the dead person toward fulfillment in God. The ghosts or ‘non-saints’ may annoy people, but they can never harm them. Of course, one can read somewhat credible stories about destructive ‘hauntings,’ but St. Thomas always insisted that these ‘ghosts’ were definitely not the souls of dead people, but something else, most likely demons masquerading as ghosts.”
Q. My cousin in Texas called me about a program called “Eden Invitation” that is scheduled to be conducted in his parish. After looking at their website, does Eden Invitation promote homosexuality? Are they a dissident Catholic group, or do they promote the Catechism’s teaching on homosexuality? — D.P., New Jersey.
A. We also visited their website and watched several talks by the co-founders of the group, Anna Carter and Shannon Ochoa. Both women have experienced attractions to those of the same sex and the opposite sex, and they started their ministry to reach out to people on the “LGBT+ spectrum.” Both have also had profound encounters with Jesus in Eucharistic adoration. They do not come across as dissenters from Church teaching, but rather as persons who want to “proclaim the full gospel of Christian social ethics” without condemning those who are struggling with same-sex leanings. They consider their deepest identity “as a daughter of God” who wants to be united with Christ, despite their same-sex desires.
In telling her story, Anna said that “my Maker has a plan for me, for my body, for my life, beyond what I could ever know in any given moment. At the end of the day, the longing isn’t that I choose not to kiss women I wanted to kiss. The anguish is that I haven’t fully seen the God I’m seeking. That’s the longing for every human person. Our hearts were made for an infinite love, and we don’t always know how to receive it.”
She said that “we all face crosses we didn’t choose, but somehow He allowed them for us. This is no cause for shame. It is no cause for mistaken identity. It’s just our particular version of the phantoms of half-love that confront every human being. Christ is alive in us — every fragile, slipshod, striving part. Let’s not be afraid to meet Him. His longing Heart is waiting.”
In her story, Shannon said that she doesn’t know “whether you’ve been searching for God, for identity, for meaning, for hope. . . . But I can tell you this: God knows you. He sees you….Do you want to be known? Let the One who has been misunderstood, abandoned, betrayed, doubted, and loved into your life. Come before Him in honesty with your aches and your search. He wants to call you by name. Rest easy, He’s already in the garden with you.”
