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Q u i c k Q u e s t i o n s
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This Rock
Volume 14, Number 1
 January 2003 
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No Second Chance
Q: During an RCIA session on "last things" a candidate pointed out that the concept of purgatory held a parallel to reincarnation. I agreed that they did sound similar but were founded on entirely different principles. Please help me give a better answer.
A: Scripture tells us, "It is appointed that men die once and after death be judged" (Heb. 10:27). Those in purgatory have been decisively judged after death and found to be in God’s friendship; otherwise they would be not in purgatory but in hell. The notion of reincarnation, by contrast, proposes that death brings not decisive judgment but simply endless opportunities to improve. Even the most wicked and unrepentant souls are simply reincarnated over and over until they finally come around and ascend to perfection. Thus, there is no "dying once" and no judgment after death.
Reincarnation is also incompatible with Christianity because it reduces the body to a disposable container. The person is essentially a spirit who inhabits one body or another. In Catholic belief, one’s own body is as uniquely one’s own and as essential to one’s nature as one’s spirit. Our destiny is resurrection, not reincarnation.
Q: Why do we consider the general judgment as a judgment if we have already been judged? The particular judgment cannot be reversed.
A: The purpose of the general judgment is not to redetermine one’s standing with God but to reveal the full ramifications of all our good and bad deeds in relation to other people. Although we will know instantly all the good and the bad we have done at our particular judgment, only at the general judgment will we see what effect the way we lived had on others and thus truly understand the ultimate significance of our moral acts. The Catholic Encyclopedia says:
"Those who depart this life sometimes leave behind them children who imitate the conduct of their parents, descendants, followers; and others who adhere to and advocate the example, the language, the conduct of those on whom they depend, and whose example they follow; and as the good or bad influence or example, affecting as it does the conduct of many, is to terminate only with this world; justice demands that, in order to form a proper estimate of the good or bad actions of all, a general judgment should take place."
Q: Many Protestants are used to seeing a preacher invite listeners to accept Jesus as Savior. What should I tell them if they ask me whether our priests ever give such an invitation at Mass?
A: The invitation to accept Jesus as one’s personal Savior has a specific meaning in certain Protestant circles. For them, accepting Jesus as one’s personal savior is how one becomes a Christian. It is being born again. At this juncture they consider themselves "saved," and this holds despite any future sins they may commit. As Catholics, we believe that the process of salvation begins at baptism, continues by the way we live, and is complete only when we are judged at the end of our lives. We believe that it is through baptism that we become members of Christ.
While we don’t have an altar call, as they refer to it, the Mass is full of invitations. For example, just before the preface, the priest invites the people to "Lift up your hearts," adding, "Let us give thanks to the Lord our God." At one point he takes the host in his hands and he says: "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper." Talk about invitations!
Communion itself is an invitation to receive the whole Christ, not just into our hearts but into our whole being, body and soul. There is nothing on the face of the earth that can equal this. Unfortunately, so many Catholics are ignorant of what they have.
Q: If you go get married in Jamaica, can you come back to the States and have your marriage blessed by the Catholic Church?
A: Getting married in Jamaica is not an impediment to a valid marriage, and those who validly marry there are not required to travel to the United States in order to have their marriage blessed, or convalidated.
Catholics are required to be married in the Church; if one marries outside the Church, whether in or out of the United States, then one’s marriage will not be valid unless it is later convalidated. To deliberately marry outside of the Church and live as husband and wife is not a minor irregularity that one can always plan to straighten out later; it is a grave betrayal of our obligation as Catholics to live by the law of the Church and a sin against God, in whose eyes the marriage is nonexistent.
Q: Is it okay for Roman Catholics to hear a Byzantine Mass and receive Communion there?
A: It is perfectly fine for a Western Catholic to participate in a Catholic Eastern Rite Liturgy, though one must be sure that it is truly Catholic, celebrated in communion with the Holy See.
By the way, "hearing" Mass is not an adequate idiom for our participation in the Eucharistic liturgy. To hear is to be passive, and we are meant to participate actively in the Mass. We are invited to unite ourselves with the Lord in his sacrificial prayer to the Father. When the priest says, "Through him, with him and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever," the faithful answer, "Amen." That Amen makes Christ’s prayer ours as well.
Q: I’m sure you hear this all the time, but I’m looking for a concise and convincing way of answering objections to the wealth of the Church.
A: Most objections about the Church’s alleged wealth is in regard to the art in the Vatican. Most of the art represents the work of Christians who wanted to place their talents at the service of God through the Church. The artwork is an example of their religiosity and is not for sale. Had the Church not preserved the art, much of it would have been destroyed through the ages. Such art is part of our heritage as Christians and indeed as human beings, and few people of any persuasion who appreciate such world culture would truly prefer that these treasures have been put into the control of secular commerce.
In Matthew 26:6ff we read, "A woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at table. But when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, ‘Why this waste? For the ointment might have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor.’ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me."
Likewise, many of the great cathedrals of Europe were built with donations and labor from the poor, who wanted to build such monuments to God’s goodness and sovereignty. The Vatican does not control enormous liquid wealth, and its annual operating budget has been compared to that of a large archdiocese such as that of Chicago.
In spite of this, the Catholic Church is still one of the most giving institutions on earth, running and supporting countless charities, relief organizations, hospitals, and similar enterprises at great cost to the Church.
Q: My Protestant friend says that the Catholic Church has finally changed its teaching on justification to line up with Luther’s interpretation. He bases this on section 15 of a document signed by the Church and the Lutherans.
A: Your friend is referring to the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification that was signed in October 1999 by the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation. This is what §15 says:
"In faith we together hold the conviction that justification is the work of the triune God. The Father sent his Son into the world to save sinners. The foundation and presupposition of justification is the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ. Justification thus means that Christ himself is our righteousness, in which we share through the Holy Spirit in accord with the will of the Father. Together we confess: By grace alone, in faith in Christ’s saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works."
Now let us look at what the Council of Trent said, in the decrees on justification, in the 16th century: "Canon 1. If anyone says that man can be justified before God by his own works, whether done by his own natural powers or through the teaching of the law, without divine grace through Jesus Christ, let him be anathema."
In no way did the Catholic Church change its doctrines. After years of dialogue, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation realized that there was a degree of agreement on justification between them that warranted a statement explaining that a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification exists between them.
Q: Why do we use our right hand instead of our left hand to make the sign of the cross?
A: The right hand, probably in part due to the fact that most people are right-handed, is traditionally the hand of blessing and greeting in many cultural settings, a convention found in Scripture and Tradition. For example, Jesus places the sheep on his right hand but the goats on his left; he himself is "seated at the right hand of the Father"; at God’s "right hand are blessings forevermore"; and so on. In sacred images, Jesus is depicted raising his right hand in blessing. Even today, we use our right hand for handshakes or salutes, we are familiar with the phrase "the right hand of fellowship" and so forth.
By contrast, the left hand has in many cultures a very different set of traditional associations (for example, it is often designated for personal hygiene; the word sinister is derived from the Latin for left-handed; et cetera.). For all these reasons, it is natural that the sign of the cross has traditionally been made with the right hand.
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Catholic Answers
