Q. I like to attend daily Mass, but the town where I live only offers two — at 6:45 and 7:00 a.m. at two different churches. Now that I am getting older and have trouble sleeping, these early Masses are very difficult to attend regularly. I wonder if every parish priest would consider offering at least one Mass per week in the evening, say, at 5:30, and even better, offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation right before Mass.
I know from visits to other cities that these Masses would be well attended. I realize our priests are already often very overworked, but saying Mass and offering the sacraments (especially Confession and Last Rites) are their primary duties. I am certain I speak for many Catholics out there who would welcome this opportunity. What do you think? — J.G., via e-mail.
A. We think it would be wonderful if more daily Masses were offered in parishes, including evening or even noontime Masses, but where are these parishes going to get the priests to celebrate the Masses, and how many people would attend? Many churches have cut back on their Sunday Masses because of declining attendance, and some parishes don’t even have weekend Masses because no priests are available.
Perhaps you could speak to the priests in the two churches you attend and ask them if the morning Mass could be a little later, say, at 9:00 a.m., although this would cause a problem for those who try to attend Mass before going to work. Perhaps one of the churches could continue with a 6:45 Mass for the early birds, while the other could offer one at 9:00 for those who find it difficult to attend an early Mass. That is the situation in our town, by the way, where one has a choice between early Mass at one church and a later Mass at the other.
But until there are more priestly vocations (something we should pray for every day), and Catholics begin attending Mass in the numbers that were common 50 years ago, priests and parishioners will have to be creative and work out a Mass schedule that will not overburden priests and will serve the needs of the people.
Confession should also be available not only on Saturday afternoons or evenings, but also by appointment or, where more than one priest is available, before Mass, and frequent reception of the sacrament should be urged from the pulpit, accompanied by homilies on sin. For if the people never hear anything about sin, why would they see a need for Confession?
Q. Regarding the recent editor’s note about Jonah and the whale, there is a case reported in medical archives of an English crewman being swallowed by a whale and surviving. I remember reading of this case in a 1980s edition of Military Medical Journal. The event occurred in the 1800s. — R.M.V., Spain.
A. We also remember reading some years ago about an article in the People’s Almanac that reported the story of a seaman named James Bartley who disappeared in 1891 after his shipmates had caught an 80-foot sperm whale. They thought that Bartley had drowned, but when the crew cut the whale open the next day, he was found alive inside the huge fish. Is this possible? Perhaps, although there are those who discount the truth of this story.
Q. What is wrong with our bishops who want open borders? This agenda protects moral corruption, illegal entry, drug activities, and depravity in so many areas. It would seem that our bishops are addressing the moral directive of helping the poor. However, it is obvious that their reasoning requires more help from the Holy Spirit since it appears that their good intentions are overwhelmed by evil. — R.B.K., Virginia.
A. The bishops seem to be trying to balance the Lord’s command to welcome the stranger with an immigration system that is badly broken. You are right that their good intentions are being overwhelmed both by those who are exploiting people seeking freedom and opportunity and by those who are jeopardizing our national security by allowing terrorists and other enemies of our country to cross our increasingly porous borders.
The bishops should pay closer attention to the balance struck by the Catechism of the Catholic Church (nn. 2241-2242) on this matter:
“The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin. Public authorities should see to it that the natural right is respected that places a guest under the protection of those who receive him.
“Political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption. Immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws, and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”
Q. In a recent issue of The Wanderer, Brian Clowes said that the Book of Ezekiel (3:19), Revised Standard Version, says: “But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness. . . .” I thought that to be guilty of sin, one must know that he is sinning. How could, then, someone be wicked if he must be warned of his wickedness? In many places of the Bible, people must be told of their wickedness (e.g., Nineveh). If they are wicked, don’t they know it? — M.W., via e-mail.
A. Are there people so steeped in sin — e.g., abortionists tearing the arms and legs off unborn babies, or terrorists planting bombs in crowded malls, or hired killers murdering targeted individuals, or practitioners of sodomy, or facilitators of pornography or illegal drug sales, etc. — that they don’t even recognize the wickedness of what they are doing? It would appear that way.
What is more wicked than abortion? And yet seven members of the U.S. Supreme Court found this wickedness to be a constitutional right. So obviously there are some people who need to be warned of their wickedness.
And when these purveyors of wickedness stand before God on Judgment Day, they will not be able to plead ignorance of the evil nature of what they did. For they should have known from the natural law that God places in the hearts of every person that their deeds were wicked. What St. Paul said about the Romans could easily be applied to persons today:
“The wrath of God is 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.
“Therefore, God handed them over 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.
“Therefore, God handed them over to degrading passions. Their females exchanged natural relations for unnatural, and the males likewise gave up natural relations with females and burned with lust for one another. Males did shameful things with males and thus received in their own persons the due penalty for their perversity. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God handed them over to their undiscerning mind to do what is improper.
“They are filled with every form of wickedness, evil, greed, and malice; full of envy, murder, rivalry, treachery, and spite. They are gossips and scandalmongers and they hate God. They are insolent, haughty, boastful, ingenious in their wickedness, and rebellious toward their parents. They are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know the just decree of God that all who practice such things deserve death, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:18-32).
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress