Editor’s Note: We are in the process of reducing our supply of books and are offering them to interested readers at a substantial discount. The books available, all in mint condition, are Catholic Replies and Catholic Replies 2 (both $17.95), All Generations Will Call Me Blessed and Who Do You Say That I Am? (both $10.95), and Catholicism & Reason (Apologetics), Catholicism & Scripture (Salvation History), and Catholicism & Life (Commandments and Sacraments), each $14.95. The books can be had for 50 percent off for 1 to 25 books, 60 percent off for 26 to 50 books, and 70 percent off for over 50 books. You can learn more about each of these books by visiting www.crpublications.com.
Don’t order from the website, however, since it automatically charges full price. If you know pastors, schools, home schools, or parish religious education programs who would benefit from these books, please have them get in touch with us at the address below. All orders must be paid by check.
Q. You published Catholic Replies book one in 1995 and book two in 2003. You should have book five by now, but I haven’t seen number three. Is there something preventing you from publishing more questions and answers in book format? — P.S., via e-mail.
A. Yes, getting people to buy the previous volumes. The first Catholic Replies continues to sell well, but volume two not nearly as well. That being the case, it didn’t make financial sense to spend the money to get a volume three in print (even though there are enough questions to fill another book) if it were not going to sell any better than volume two. We are grateful to those who have purchased one or both of the books and discounts are available as indicated above, but there won’t be a volume three.
Q. In a recent issue of The Wanderer, there is a quote from Sr. Deirdre Byrne’s pro-life speech at the Republican National Convention that both concerns and confuses me. She said, “As Christians, we first met Jesus as a stirring embryo in the womb of an unwed mother” — an unwed mother? If Mary was an unwed mother, why did God so honor her with an “Immaculate Conception” — a gift of purifying her soul from original sin and preparing her body as a holy place for the gestation of His Son?
And it doesn’t seem logical that God would allow His Son’s birth to be “illegitimate” by having Mary labeled an “unwed mother.” So can you explain how calling Our Blessed Mother an “unwed mother” came to be and why? — S.B., Kentucky.
Q. In her very impressive speech at the Republican National Convention, Sr. Deirdre Byrne referred to the Blessed Virgin as an “unwed mother.” I have read that she and Joseph were married and that the marriage took place in two stages in those days. First, the woman was betrothed to the man and, sometime later, they lived together. Can you please clear this up for me? — C.R., Louisiana.
A. Regarding the mistaken belief that the Blessed Virgin Mary was an unwed mother, we have in the past made the following points:
First, Matthew tells us in his Gospel that when Mary was found to be pregnant, “Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly” (1:18-19). Notice that Matthew calls Joseph Mary’s “husband” and says that he had decided to divorce her quietly, but how could he divorce Mary unless they were already married?
Second, when the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, he told him, “Do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her” (1:20). The angel calls Mary Joseph’s “wife.”
Third, in his apostolic exhortation Guardian of the Redeemer, Pope St. John Paul II said that “according to Jewish custom, marriage took place in two stages: first, the legal or true marriage was celebrated, and then, after a certain period of time, the husband brought the wife into his own house. Thus, before he lived with Mary, Joseph was already her ‘husband.’ Mary, however, preserved her deep desire to give herself exclusively to God” (n. 18).
We also heard Sr. Deirdre give her marvelous talk at the Republican National Convention and were dismayed at her mention of Mary as an unwed mother. We are willing to overlook this lapse, however, in view of the many wonderful things she said. For example, this former Army surgeon, who entered religious life in 2002, said that “while we tend to think of the marginalized as living beyond our borders, the truth is the largest marginalized group in the world can be found here in the United States. They are the unborn.”
She said that “it is no coincidence that Jesus stood up for what was just and was ultimately crucified because what He said was not politically correct or fashionable. As followers of Christ, we are called to stand up for life against the politically correct or fashionable of today. We must fight against a legislative agenda that supports and even celebrates destroying life in the womb. Keep in mind, the laws we create define how we see our humanity. We must ask ourselves: What are we saying when we go into a womb and snuff out an innocent, powerless, voiceless life?”
Sr. Deirdre said that “as a physician, I can say without hesitation: Life begins at conception. While what I have to say may be difficult for some to hear, I am saying it because I am not just pro-life; I am pro-eternal life. I want all of us to end up in Heaven together someday.”
Q. One thing that bothers me today is the widespread and truly vicious hatred that some people have for those with whom they disagree on political and moral issues. Whatever happened to having a civilized discussion about issues, about disagreeing with another person without portraying him or her as the epitome of evil? And isn’t hatred of another person a grave sin? — F.A., via e-mail.
A. Yes, hatred is a grave sin, a sin that if not repented can keep a person out of Heaven. It comes under the Fifth Commandment because it is akin to murder in that it can lead to violence and death, as we see today in the streets of American cities. “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,” says St. John, “and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him” (1 John 3:15). The Lord Himself, after reminding His listeners that “whoever kills will be liable to judgment,” said that “whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment” (Matt. 5:21-22).
“Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 2303). “Hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor is a grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm. ‘But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven’ [Matt. 4:44-45].”
Even if we do not particularly like some people, or disagree with their beliefs and opinions, we are still called to love them. This means praying for them that they will turn away from anger and hatred. We may not wish another person evil since we are all children of the same heavenly Father and beneficiaries of His Son’s death on the cross. Not an easy thing to do in the face of the diabolical hatred that is being directed not only at public figures today, but even at innocent bystanders.
Jesus, give us the courage to respond to hatred as you did: “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
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