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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 19, Number 10
 December 2008 
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Love Is . . .
Q: Please explain to me the Church’s definition of love. I have always looked upon love as sacrifice, mercy, and joy all rolled into one.
A: In Cardinal Levada’s glossary, charity (or love) is defined as, "The theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God." Paul tells us that love is the greatest of the theological virtues: "So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13:13).
Our Sunday Visitor’s Catholic Encyclopedia entry on "Love" defines it as:
[A]ny strong affection, closeness, or devotion to things or persons. The Greeks distinguished four types of love: storge, philia, eros, and agape. Storge, familial love, is a word for the bond that exists between one who loves and persons, animals, and the things that surround him. It is compatible with quite a bit of taken-for-grantedness or even of hatred at times. Philia pertains to friends, freely chosen because of mutual compatibility and common values. Eros is passion, not only of a sexual nature, but also of an aesthetic or spiritual nature, for what is conceived of as supremely beautiful and desirable. Agapic love is manifested when one person has much to give to another more needy. It is generous self-donation without concern for reward.
Such distinctions become especially important in discernments about marriage, because the strength of eros love may blind one to the absence of ther types of love needed to experience a good Christian bond that, with God’s grace, can endure "till death do us part." —Jim Blackburn
Q: Non-Christians claim that Christmas trees are a religious symbol of Christmas. Is a Christmas tree really a religious symbol of Christmas equal to a Nativity scene?
A: It depends on how religious symbol is defined. If it means anything to which religious significance can be attached, then yes, because many Christians have attached religious significance to the Christmas tree (e.g., the Tree of Life, both in Eden and on Calvary). But if a religious symbol of a holiday is considered a tangible object intrinsically attached to that holiday, and without which the holiday wouldn’t be the same, then no, because the celebration of Christmas does not require Christmas trees.
Christmas trees are a decoration that Christians incorporated into their celebration of the holiday over the centuries. They did not become widespread in the English-speaking world until German relatives of the British royal family brought the custom to Great Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries. Christians justified the custom on religious grounds by explaining that the evergreen tree can symbolize eternal life. Even today in many traditionally Catholic countries, far more emphasis is placed on the much older Christian custom of erecting Nativity scenes, a tradition attributed to St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226).
In short, although Christmas trees are a beloved custom in much of the English-speaking world, they are not necessary to the celebration of the holiday and are not nearly as symbolic of the holiday as the crèche. If it is agreed that a religious symbol should be understood to mean a tangible object intrinsically attached to that holiday, then Christmas trees are to Christmas what dreidels are to Hanukkah—a beloved custom but not a religious symbol.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: I am a candidate and will be coming into the Church this Easter. My problem is that I have yet to make my first confession, and I am afraid of it because when I was 16, I had an abortion. I have regretted it every moment since. Will they still let me join the Church?
A: You have nothing whatsoever to fear. The priest is there to absolve you of your sins—not to condemn you. That sin will be forgiven and nothing that you say during your reception of the sacrament of penance (as confession is formally called) can be revealed. We call this the seal of confession. Any priest who breaks that seal would be automatically excommunicated from the Church. In any case, your entrance into the Catholic Church will not be denied.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: Adolf Hitler claimed to be a Christian, but would it be wrong to say he most certainly was not a Christian?
A: So far as we know, Adolf Hitler was validly baptized in the Catholic Church. That means he was a Catholic. Baptism is, literally, a new birth that makes the person a Christian in his very being, no matter how well or how poorly he lives out his faith. Just as physical conception means that a person will always be a human person with inherent human dignity, no matter how detestable the crimes he may choose to commit, so a baptized person, no matter how evil he becomes, remains a Christian.
In Hitler’s case though, and in the cases of those Christians who also entirely abandon the faith into which they were baptized, it can be said that they no longer believe in Christianity and that their theological beliefs cannot be considered Christian. If they completely abandon their Christian faith, then they are apostates (cf. CCC 2089), though objectively they remain among the baptized.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: Is it possible to be saved without knowing anything about the Bible or Jesus?
A: All people are called by God to know him and to please him. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, "The desire for God is written in the human heart, because man is created by God and for God; and God never ceases to draw man to himself. Only in God will he find the truth and happiness he never stops searching for" (CCC 27).
God freely gives everyone the grace to respond to his call. "Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life" (CCC 1996).
So what happens to those who have the desire for God written on their hearts and are moved by grace to respond to him but never hear the gospel or know of Jesus? The Church teaches that they may attain salvation. Quoting from Vatican II document Lumen Gentium, the Catechism explains, "Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience—those too may achieve eternal salvation" (CCC 847).
—Jim Blackburn
Q: If a person has been born again through the sacrament of baptism (as in John 3:3, 5), then what need is there to make a conscious decision to trust Christ for salvation since we are already "in Christ" and saved?
A: From Scripture we know that the baptismal rite instituted by Christ is a sacramental rite; it is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give grace, a grace that sanctifies the soul and makes it pleasing to God (1 Pet. 3:21; 2 Pet. 1:4). We also read in John 3:5 and Mark 16:16 where Christ says "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God," and "he who believes and is baptized will be saved." Then we read in Acts 19:1-6 and 22:16; Romans 6:3-4, 11; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and 12:13; and Galatians 3:26-27, where Paul says baptism frees us from sin, makes us children of God, gives us new life, and incorporates us into the Body of Christ. In Titus 3:5, Paul again refers to baptism as the "washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit," for it signifies and actually brings about the birth of water and the Spirit without which no one "can enter the kingdom of God" (CCC 1215). In Colossians 2:11-12, Paul declares that baptism is "the circumcision of Christ": "In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead."
Catholics do not believe in the Protestant doctrine of "once saved always saved." Not only was this teaching never taught in the early Church, there is no biblical basis for it, either.
Every Catholic is called upon by the Church to make a "conscious decision to trust Christ for salvation." But trusting Christ for salvation is not a one-time event (e.g., praying the sinner’s prayer). It is a lifelong commitment. In fact, the Church teaches that "reborn as sons of God, [the baptized] must profess before men the faith they have received from God through the Church and participate in the apostolic and missionary activity of the people of God" (CCC 1270).
—Peggy Frye
Q: I understand that novenas are an acceptable form of prayer. When an intention is included, the individual praying accepts God’s will as a response. However, I am becoming familiar with prayers which guarantee the request if the formula is followed. Where does the Church stand on this type of prayer?
A: What you said in the beginning is what needs to be followed. There are no short cuts. God is not that big vending machine in the sky that will release the goods if we know just how to appease him. Passing a prayer formula by mail or making a certain number of copies and dispensing them to others to get what we want is an affront to God and the Church.
The Lord told us to ask for what we need—not because he doesn’t already know, but that we come to him in love, humbly acknowledging our complete dependence on him—and willingly accepting whatever and however he chooses to respond. The prayer of petition is a matter of loving trust and absolutely nothing else.
—Fr. Vincent Serpa
Q: My Protestant friends point to 1 Peter 2:9 and say, "Look, we are all priests. You don’t need to go to a priest to confess your sins." How do I answer?
A: In a sense we are all priests. But this title is not what bestows the power to forgive sins. God sent Jesus to forgive sins, and Jesus conferred the power to forgive sins on the apostles when he said, "‘As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’" (John 20:21-23). This power to forgive sins has been passed on to the apostles’ successors and to priests ordained to the ministerial priesthood through the sacrament of holy orders.
Catholics recognize the difference between the priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood:
Priesthood: (1) Of the faithful: The priestly people of God. Christ has made of his Church a "kingdom of priests," and gives the faithful a share in his priesthood through the sacraments of baptism and confirmation. (2) Ministerial: The ministerial priesthood received in the sacrament of holy orders differs in essence from this common priesthood of all the faithful. It has as its purpose to serve the priesthood of all the faithful by building up and guiding the Church in the name of Christ, who is head of the Body. (Cardinal Levada’s glossary)
—Jim Blackburn
Q: At Mass on Epiphany Sunday, the Offertory Prayer went something like this: "Lord, accept the offerings of your Church, not gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but the sacrifice and food they symbolize: Jesus Christ who is Lord for ever and ever." Why does the prayer say that the food symbolizes Jesus? Why use such confusing language? It ends up sounding like heresy.
A: While at first this prayer may sound confusing, it is not heretical. The unconsecrated bread and wine presented at the Offertory are offered up by the Church in thanksgiving "to the Creator for bread and wine, fruit of the ‘work of human hands,’ but above all as ‘fruit of the earth’ and ‘of the vine’—gifts of the Creator. The Church sees in the gesture of the king-priest Melchizedek, who ‘brought out bread and wine,’ a prefiguring of her own offering" (CCC 1333).
The USCCB’s "The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of the Eucharist: Basic Questions & Answers" explains the use of symbolism when referring to the Eucharist:
Are the Consecrated Bread and Wine "Merely Symbols"?
In everyday language, we call a "symbol" something that points beyond itself to something else, often to several other realities at once. The transformed bread and wine that are the body and blood of Christ are not merely symbols because they truly are the body and blood of Christ. . . . At the same time, however, it is important to recognize that the body and blood of Christ come to us in the Eucharist in a sacramental form. In other words, Christ is present under the appearances of bread and wine, not in his own proper form. We cannot presume to know all the reasons behind God’s actions. God uses, however, the symbolism inherent in the eating of bread and the drinking of wine at the natural level to illuminate the meaning of what is being accomplished in the Eucharist through Jesus Christ.
There are various ways in which the symbolism of eating bread and drinking wine discloses the meaning of the Eucharist. For example, just as natural food gives nourishment to the body, so the Eucharistic food gives spiritual nourishment. Furthermore, the sharing of an ordinary meal establishes a certain communion among the people who share it; in the Eucharist, the people of God share a meal that brings them into communion not only with each other but with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Similarly, as St. Paul tells us, the single loaf that is shared among many during the Eucharistic meal is an indication of the unity of those who have been called together by the Holy Spirit as one body, the body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:17). To take another example, the individual grains of wheat and individual grapes have to be harvested and to undergo a process of grinding or crushing before they are unified as bread and as wine. Because of this, bread and wine point to both the union of the many that takes place in the Body of Christ and the suffering undergone by Christ, a suffering that must also be embraced by his disciples. Much more could be said about the many ways in which the eating of bread and drinking of wine symbolize what God does for us through Christ, since symbols carry multiple meanings and connotations.
Additional excerpts may be found at www.usccb.org/publishing.
—Peggy Frye
Q: Why are Bibles not supplied for Mass? In fact, at my parish, no printed copies of the readings are supplied. Why?
A: Catholic parishes usually supply missalettes, which contain both the prayers for the Mass and the Scripture readings of the day. Bibles are not supplied for Mass because they are not usually used at Mass.
Some parishes prefer that congregants listen only to the lector rather than silently reading along with the lector, and they encourage this by not providing missalettes. Still, providing a missalette makes available one more means by which the assembly can participate in the liturgy of the word specifically and in the Mass generally.
—Michelle Arnold
Q: When a Protestant man and woman are married in a non-Catholic ceremony which is not celebrated by a Catholic priest, why does an annulment have to be obtained in the event one becomes Catholic and wants to remarry?
A: A consummated sacramental marriage is indissoluble by any human power. Jesus said, "What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder" (Mark 10:9). The Catholic Church takes this seriously and therefore will not take part in a new marriage when it believes another valid marriage may already exist. This is true even if that marriage is between Protestants married outside the Catholic Church—such marriages are recognized as valid by the Church. (Note that St. Paul taught of a variance to this—in the case of a marriage between two non-baptized persons when one party later becomes a Christian: "if the unbelieving partner desires to separate, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. For God has called us to peace" [1 Cor. 7:15]. In this case the marriage was not sacramental because the two parties were not baptized.)
Civil divorce is often man’s attempt to put asunder what God has joined together, and the Church knows that man does not have the power or authority to do this. The annulment process is simply the Church’s investigation into what looks like a marriage to determine whether a valid marriage really exists. If it does, the Church will not, indeed cannot, recognize another marriage. If, on the other hand, the Church finds that a valid marriage does not exist, then a new marriage, truly a first marriage (unless a valid previous marriage ended through death), may be celebrated.
—Jim Blackburn
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Catholic Answers
