Ask the Priest

[NO ENTRY FOR JANUARY 1, 2017]

January 8, 2017

Q. Are there video games in heaven? –Anonymous

A. No.  Heaven has a far better entertainment system!

Q. Why aren’t there speakers in the hallway? –NFW

A. Because we worship God at Mass in church and not in the hallway.

Q. One time the priest was rushed to say Mass and didn’t give me a penance.  What should I have done? –Anonymous

A. If that happens again in the future, just pray an Our Father, Hail Mary & Glory Be for penance and you should be good to go.  Even if you didn’t do any particular penance at that time you were still forgiven of all your sins because it is the absolution prayer by the priest that allows the sacramental grace of forgiveness to happen.

Q. Do you sleep in heaven? –Will Cantrall

A. We don’t need to sleep in heaven because we’ll have a perfect resurrected body that does not need sleep to stay healthy.  God’s glory will shine for all eternity and there will be no darkness in heaven at all.  We read in the Bible, “They shall see him (God) face to face and bear his name on their foreheads.  The night shall be no more.  They will need no light from lamps or the sun, for the Lord God shall them light, and they shall reign forever” (Revelation 22:4-5).

January 15, 2017

Q. If the red candle on the altar is lit, that’s supposed to indicate Jesus is present in the tabernacle.  Does that count as adoration if someone prays in church? –M.

A. Yes, it definitely counts as adoration and the Church highly recommends that we do this often.  Eucharistic Adoration can be done with the Eucharist either inside or outside the tabernacle.  When the Eucharist is presented for Adoration outside the tabernacle, it is called “Exposition.” 

Q. How do you determine how many communion hosts are placed in each ciborium? –Anonymous

A. The task is done by either the Mass coordinator or one of the Junior Altar Women Society (JAS) to count the number people in church just before Mass.  The number of communion hosts is then added to the ciborium (container that holds the hosts) and brought up to the altar after the collection is taken.

Q. Before the birth of Jesus, did the Jews celebrate Christmas? –Anonymous

A. No, they were just waiting for the Savior (Messiah) to be born.

January 22, 2017

Q. Where can you find either a book or website where you can learn about the saints?  Do you have a favorite?  --Tammy

A. There is an extensive list of saints and their brief biography on this website:  http://catholicsaints.info.  You can do a web search for “Lives of the Saints” and there’s plenty to choose from out there.  Butler’s Lives of the Saints is one of the most popular ones out there but there are also illustrated lives of the saints’ books for little children.

Q.  Is there a park or playground in heaven where you can play with your pets? –Trinity Yevoli

A. We know the Earth is not going to be destroyed but made perfect so if there are animals around then the whole world would become a friendly park and petting zoo! We don’t know what heaven is going to be like for sure but it will definitely be an even better place the “perfect” Earth because God’s beauty alone will make us extremely joyful.

Q. Is there a patron saint for people suffering from cancer? –Will Twetten

A. Yes, his name is Saint Peregrine Laziosi (1260-1345 AD).  He was a priest of the Servite Order.  When he was 60 years he old he suffered from leg cancer which needed to be amputated to keep it from spreading.  While in deep prayer before a Crucifixion image, he fell into a spiritual ecstasy and saw Jesus touch and heal his leg.  When the doctor saw him the next day to amputate his leg there was no sign of cancer at all and he told everyone that this was an incredible miracle.  He lived to be 85 years old and after his death many who prayed to him for healing were cured including those with cancer.  That’s how he became a patron saint of cancer patients.  He was canonized a saint by Pope Benedict XIII on December 27, 1726.  There is a National Shrine of St. Peregrine at Our Lady of Sorrows in Chicago, IL.  He is buried in Forli, Italy at the Basilica of San Pellegrino Laziosi. 

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January 29, 2017

Q. I was always taught to remain kneeling during the consecration of the Precious Body and Blood.  Yet so many people in our parish get up and run to the bathroom in the middle of the consecration.  Why? –Anonymous

A. You are absolutely right!  No one should be moving about during the whole Eucharistic Prayer especially during the consecration.  I’ve noticed this as well and it seems to happen quite regularly.  Most likely, it’s because no one ever mentioned it to them.  This is a good starting point to correct this problem since a lot of people read this section of the bulletin.  Let’s make this the beginning of eliminating this bad habit.  Thank you for bringing it up!

Q. How come we sit in line for confession instead of standing in line? –Anonymous

A.  On a crowded day for confession you could be waiting in line for more than 20 minutes and for many, especially those with physical limitations, this can become uncomfortable to stand and wait.  But I’m sure no one would object if you prefer to wait standing up while everyone else is sitting down.

Q. What year was the Saturday evening Mass accepted for a Sunday Mass? –Bob Rutzel

A.  I had to do a little research on this one but I found the exact date as January 10, 1970 when the Sacred Congregation of the Clergy in the Vatican first permitted the Saturday evening (“anticipated”) Mass to count as fulfillment of the Sunday Mass obligation.  It was originally permitted to accommodate those who cannot possibly attend a Sunday Mass especially by those who work in hospitals, emergency services, military, law enforcement, etc.  Now anyone just chooses to attend the Saturday night Mass because they have “fun” stuff to do all day on Sunday.

February 5, 2017

Q. The past month it appears that all the overhead lights are not on during Mass.  It makes it difficult to read my prayer book and follow along with the readings.  Is there a reason for this? –Anonymous

A. Many of the overhead lights in church are no longer working.  Don’t worry, getting new lights is part of the church renovation.  We didn’t see any point of paying for repairing them since we’re going to replace them all soon anyway.  We’re sorry for the temporary inconvenience.  We have a similar problem with not having enough lighting around the sanctuary.

Q. Are there any plans to ad stained glass windows in the new renovated church? –Anonymous

A. We just replaced all the windows in the church so we’re not planning on replacing them with stained glass windows anytime soon.  The churches during the time of St. Francis de Sales, which was in the late 16^th century, used natural light to highlight the catechetical teachings of the sacred images and statues inside.  One of those who did not use stained glass windows was the great Michelangelo when he built the pope’s St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.  The colors of the walls, ceilings and the paintings’ colors in our renovated church are all going to be based on the natural light cascading through the windows.

Q. How many people are there in our parish? –Anonymous

A. At the last count for the 2016 diocesan census reporting, we have a total of 6,343 registered parishioners in 1,649 households.

February 12, 2017

Q. How did Noah keep all the animals from eating each other?  How did he keep all the animals that needed to be cold cold and the ones that needed to be hot hot? –Anonymous

A. God has power over nature and by grace could have just easily prevented the animals from eating each other.  It was by God’s grace that the animals knew to go to the ark and willingly boarded it as if they were going on a cruise.  Somehow Noah and his family guided the animals to their staterooms, I mean, designated quarters, without a struggle and they weren’t attacked or eaten either by the wilder animals.  These animals were most likely the very young ones (cubs, pups, etc.) and the kind that haven’t reach their predatory stage.  It makes sense for them to be young and small so that they could easily fit inside the ark and have longer life existence to repopulate their species.  As far as temperature issues, the cold-blooded animals were likely kept in the lower section of the ark while the warmer ones were kept above where the warmer air would naturally rise.  Since the world was set to be flooded and there was only one boat, the animals temporarily adapted to the environment they were in.  As the old saying goes, when you’re hot you’re hot, and when you’re cold you’re cold!

Q. Who is the patron saint of pilots? –Anonymous

A. The most popular saint invoked by pilots and astronauts is Saint Joseph Cupertino (1603-1663).  This 17^th century Franciscan priest would sometimes float in the air while deep in prayer.  We’re not talking about just a couple of inches off the floor.  Eyewitnesses attested he would float 20 feet to the extremities of the monastery ceiling and he wouldn’t even know he was up there during his spiritual ecstasy!  Nothing could bring him down except when the superior commanded him and then he would float back down.  Fittingly, this “flying priest” was the natural choice for the church to declare him the patron saint of pilots.  During Pope Benedict XVI’s reign he added this Franciscan saint to the patron saint of astronauts as well.

Q.  If you mess up putting more water with the wine in the chalice, what would you do? –Celine Willard

A.  I’ve seen that happen to a priest once when I was still in high school.  The altar boy accidentally poured too much water into the chalice.  The priest drained the chalice and had to start all over again.  Since this takes place before the consecration, the wine has not changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus so it is all right to drain the water and wine into the sink.

February 19, 2017

Q. Is the tomb that Jesus was buried in still there? –Ethan

A. Yes, it is still in Jerusalem and a great basilica was built around it.  It is called the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  The tomb of Jesus was also where he rose from the dead.  Back in March 2008 Father Mullaney and I concelebrated Mass there and was the first time we met.  Someone took our picture and had it framed.  You can see it in the Parish Education Center’s lobby and Library.

Q. Is the parish hall downstairs, the hallway, and narthex going to be renovated as well? –Anonymous

A. I wish!  We have very limited funds at this time.  We can only include the renovation of the narthex.  You will read about the work that will be done in the narthex soon in the Shepherd’s Notes!

Q. What was Mary’s role at Pentecost?  Where was Joseph when all this happened? –SBC

A. Traditionally, it is believed that when the apostles and other disciples were huddled in fear and confusion after Jesus ascended into heaven, they sought guidance from Mary who knew Jesus better than anyone.  During those 9 days she reminded them Jesus’ instruction that they pray until He sends them the Holy Spirit (who is also Mary’s Divine Spouse).  At the end of 9 days, which traditionally became the first of many 9-day novenas, the Holy Spirit arrived and turned them into “super disciples.”  We commemorate this day as Pentecost.  Regarding Joseph, he missed the big birthday of the Catholic Church (Pentecost) because he died before Jesus even began his 3-year public ministry.