Ending of Our Father
Q. Protestants have their own form of the Lord's Prayer, ending with, "For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Amen." I read in a book by a Catholic author, first published in 1911, that ...
Disposing of wedding ring
Q. What is the proper way of disposing of a wedding ring that is no longer wanted? Many years ago, I was married in a Catholic church, and our rings were blessed as a part of the wedding ceremony. Some ...
Is a Catholic funeral Mass mandatory?
Q. My wife and I are in our mid-70s and have bought cemetery plots and made our funeral arrangements. We selected immediate burial, without any rites, ceremony, or embalming. But after talking to family ...
Keeping Lord's day holy
Q. I write to ask for guidelines on the Third Commandment -- keeping holy the Lord's day. I do not consider some of the things that I do to be work -- cooking, for example, minor cleanups, mowing, trimming, ...
Holy Communion without Mass?
Q. This morning, I went to weekday Mass, as is my custom. Due to a heavy snowstorm in the area, I was the only person there, so the priest decided not to celebrate Mass. I asked whether I could receive ...
Remain a Catholic?
Q. How, in good conscience, can I remain a practicing Catholic with all the scandal and hypocrisy exposed within the Church? So many of the Church's actions seem far removed from the message of Jesus. The ...
Scolding from pulpit
Q. What is the reason behind some sermons sounding like a scolding and some being so uplifting? Our new pastor is the complete opposite of our former priest, and I hate being scolded. I need instead to ...
Plush retirement for priests
Q. With all due respect to my Catholic faith, there is one thing that I question. Many, many devout Catholics have contributed over the years to special collections for the benefit of retired priests. ...
