Question: In confession recently the priest told me I should not say, “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned”; instead I should say, “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.” Is he right? — Name, location withheld Answer: The opening of confession
Question: Some say the last prophet was St. John the Baptist. But how can this be? Are we without prophets today? — David O’Flaherty, Springfield, Massachusetts Answer: As always with questions like these, it is going to depend on whether the word
Question: I am 87 years old, live in a retirement community and can no longer drive. I attend the Mass that is offered here once a month and receive holy Communion when it is distributed each week by extraordinary ministers of the
Question: I have heard Advent used to be time of fast, much like Lent. Is this so, and what should we do? — Steven Acton, Washington, D.C. Answer: This is true. Advent was once treated more like Lent than it is today,
Question: I was trying to instruct someone that masturbation is wrong. And when I went to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it did say masturbation is “intrinsically and gravely disordered.” But then it says this: “To form an equitable judgment about
Question: I am an 86-year-old Catholic, and I am trying to remember the three signs of demonic possession that I was taught. I seem to recall that they are coldness, objects moving by themselves, and the third I can’t remember. Can you
Question: I was surprised to hear on a radio show an advocate for the gay community say that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not about homosexuality, but that the sin for which God destroyed that city was greed and a
Question: I get confused about the various uses of the words continence, chastity and celibacy. Are they the same thing? — Name withheld, via email Answer: The words are related but also have distinct meanings. Continence, in the wider sense, simply means
Question: A friend told me he was insulted that, in confession, a priest asked him how many times he had committed a certain sin. How specific does one have to be when confessing sexual sins? And does one have to mention how
Question: You recently referenced Matthew 19, where Jesus forbids divorce. But you said nothing about an exception the Lord makes “for unchastity.” Please explain what the Lord means here. — Name Withheld, Chicago Answer: The particular verse you reference reads as follows: