Editor’s Note: In his Easter Sunday bulletin at the Church of St. Michael in New York City, Fr. George Rutler noted that “on Palm Sunday, Queen Elizabeth spoke words as maternal as they were monarchial: ‘We will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.’ Those with memories long enough will recognize that the Queen was evoking the World War II song: ‘We’ll meet again. Don’t know where, don’t know when. But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day’.”
Fr. Rutler said that “in hard times people have consoled each other with the promise, ‘We’ll meet again.’ Because of the cruelties of circumstance, not all did meet again, not in this world. But the joy of Easter is this: Just as the disciples met again the Lord they thought they had lost, so may we meet Him on what our limited language calls ‘some sunny day.’ He is the living Word who made all things, so He says in speech not limited by mortal intelligence: ‘A little while, and you will no longer behold me; and again a little while, and you will see me’ (John 16:16).”
If you are interested, Google the name Vera Lynn and hear her sing We’ll Meet Again in 1943 and in 1995 on the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II. The song was a great morale booster for the English people in the darkest days of the war. At the time of this writing, by the way, she is still alive at age 103!
Q. When our Savior said, “Until we become like children, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven,” what did He mean since children are so bad today? — J.B., Pennsylvania.
A. Jesus was referring to good children, those who are pure and innocent and open to God. If all persons, adults and children, had these characteristics, they would indeed be on the road to Heaven. But as we know, there are too many persons, children included, who are far from entering the Kingdom of Heaven unless they turn their lives around. Here are two scenarios that are typical of the situation today.
One of my daughters overheard her seven-year-old son, who is preparing for First Communion, tell his five-year-old brother that Easter was not about candy and bunnies, but about Jesus rising from the dead. That’s the kind of childlike purity, innocence, and openness to God that is necessary to get to Heaven. It’s the kind of demeanor that one notices at First Communions. My prayer at those times is that all the children will always be as close to God as they are at that moment.
On the other side, that same daughter, who is a kindergarten teacher, has a particularly troublesome student in her class. One day recently, the five-year-old climbed on top of his desk and screamed the “F” word at the top of his lungs. We don’t know what life is like in this boy’s home, but we suppose that it is quite different from life in my daughter’s home.
This isn’t the boy’s fault, of course; he’s only five years old. But we shudder to think what he will be like when he’s fifteen years old. Pray that he, and many like him, will find the adult example and guidance they need to ensure their eventual entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Q. I read with interest your recent reply regarding the identity of St. Mary Magdalene. I have always been intrigued by this question, but that has been overtaken in my mind by the scriptural indications that this Mary who anointed the head and feet of our Lord was Mary of Bethany. See, for example, Matt. 26:6-7, Mark 14:3, Luke 7:36-38, John 11:1-2, and John 12:1-3. It all seems to fit together that this person who lovingly anointed Jesus was Mary of Bethany by the circumstances of our Lord’s being in Bethany right before the Passion, the dinner at the house of Simon the Pharisee, and the statement from St. John that Mary of Bethany was the Mary in question.
It is, of course, a mystery why she is referred to as a sinner in Luke’s Gospel. Perhaps she was delivered of her sins and converted by our Lord prior to this event. Please let me know what your thoughts are on this. — C.H.H., via e-mail.
A. Our thoughts are almost the same as yours, that the Mary who anointed our Lord with precious ointment was not Mary Magdalene, but Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha.
Note, however, that we are talking about two separate incidents here. First is the incident at the house of Simon the Pharisee (cf. Luke 7:35-50), where an unidentified “sinful woman” washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and put ointment on them. Because the name of Mary Magdalene appears for the first time a few verses later (cf. Luke 8:2), some have identified the sinful woman with Magdalene, but John (11:2) identifies her as the sister of Lazarus.
The second incident occurs at the house of Lazarus in Bethany six days before Passover. It was at that dinner that Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus’ feet with precious nard, and Judas complained about this waste of money (cf. John 12:1-8).
Q. I was recently refused Communion on the tongue. Is it now the rule in the Archdiocese of Boston that you must receive Communion in the hand? — O.O., Massachusetts.
A. Yes, that is the rule since the coronavirus pandemic began, although the ban on public Masses means no Communion of any kind for the time being.
Q. A friend and I were discussing who created the universe and everything in it. I contend that it was God the Father, but he says that it was Jesus. He is quite a good biblical scholar of a different faith, and he bases his belief on the verses in John 1:8-15 and Col. 1:15-20. What do you think? — J.G., Minnesota.
A. John 1:10, referring to Jesus, says that “he was in the world, / and the world came to be through him.” In verses 15 and 16 of chapter one of Colossians, St. Paul calls Jesus “the firstborn of all creation. / For in him were created all things in/ heaven and on earth, / the visible and the invisible, / whether thrones or dominions or / principalities or powers; / all things were created through him and / for him.”
Although the work of creation is usually attributed solely to God the Father, the Church teaches that it was the combined action of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everything was made out of nothing by God (cf. John 1:1-3), but through the Son (cf. Col. 1:16-17), and with the Spirit, whom the Nicene Creed calls “the giver of life.” Here are the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 291):
“The New Testament reveals that God created everything by the eternal Word, his beloved Son. In him ‘all things were created, in heaven and on earth…all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together’ [Col 1:16-17]. The Church’s faith likewise confesses the creative action of the Holy Spirit, the ‘giver of life,’ ‘the Creator Spirit’ (Veni, Creator Spiritus), the ‘source of every good’ [cf. Nicene Creed: DS 150].”
The Catechism also says that “God alone created the universe freely, directly, and without any help” (n. 317) and that “God created the universe and keeps it in existence by his Word, the Son ‘upholding the universe by his word of power’ (Heb.1:3), and by his Creator Spirit, the giver of life” (n. 320).
Q. Regarding the donation of holy cards, rosaries, and other religious articles, I have sent such items to a lady in Wisconsin, who distributes them to the missions. Those who have such things can send them to Patricia Murray, 2144 Market St., Friendship, WI 53934. — J.M., via e-mail.
A. Thank you for the information.
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