Catholic Answer Girl!

[loveneverfails]

Ok, LJ!  Does anyone have any theological questions about the Catholic Church that I can help with?  Confused as to why the Church opposes contraception?  What's the story with stuff about condoms and Africa?  Why the hell should you listen to a bunch of old celibate white guys about what to do with sexuality?  Do you have any questions about Holy

Comments

[blakdove]

This is sort of theological, but with out own Holy Week approaching, I'm really curious about the Catholic Holy Week! What are the services like? Any special traditions?

[elena23]

I'm not the owner of the journal, but I saw your post, and I did want to say that the Good Friday service is my favorite of the whole year. That may seem an odd thing, but it is because I feel it is the most poignant.

My church does a reenactment of the Passion. The Church is dimly lit, with candles leading up each of the aisles. As the verses are read that approach closer and closer to the death of Jesus, the candles are extinguished until only the Christ candle is left (the candle that burns all year long in the Church). The final verse is read, and the Christ candle is extinguished, leaving the church in darkness.

They also sing one of my favorite songs, Via Dolorosa (lyrics here: http://artists.letssingit.com/sandi-patti-lyrics-via-dolorosa-2pfmkrd).

It's very solemn and a little sad. But I always love to attend this service because it puts the celebration of Easter Sunday into such brilliant perspective.

[blakdove]

Very cool!

I love our Holy Week for exactly the same reason -- going through the Passion really brings out the joy in the Resurrection. On our Holy Friday, we actually have a "burial" service for Christ! We process around the church with a special icon that's meant to be displayed horizontally and portrays Christ's dead body. We chant funeral hymns and keep vigil over the "body" until the Easter service (which starts shortly before midnight on Holy Saturday).

[primroseburrows]

I love that song! It's nice to know I'm not the only one who knows it exists. :)

[perfectinpart]

Me me me! :) You know I always have questions.

1. Why is it that in Communion we only take the body and not the blood? Or is that just in our parish?

2. Why is it that only the priest reads the gospel in the liturgy?

Okay, those are my only questions at the moment, but I'll have more later, I think.

[loveneverfails]

1. It is most fitting for everyone to receive under both species, but you're only *required* to receive one. Many parishes don't offer both species because of lack of eucharistic ministers or other factors, but it's not a theological issue.

2. The priest (although I believe deacons can also read the Gospel) is the one who reads the Gospel because the Gospel is about the life of Christ, and the priest stands "in persona Christi." Therefore the Gospel about the life of Christ is read by the person who represents Christ in the congregation.

Any more questions?

[phebes_legacy]

The deacon usually reads it at our church.

[bonny_katie]

Our parish offers both species (my husband and I always receive both, too). We're small but we have a couple Eucharistic ministers who do the blood. :)

[beanrows]

So the saying "God has an answer to every prayer, but sometimes the answer is no," as trite as it sounds, often turns out to have some merit. It seems that God has a plan laid out for our lives and we can't always see it until after a lot of false starts and suffering. However, if this is the case, what is the point of praying for intentions other than "Your will be done"?

[loveneverfails]

We bring our intentions to Christ because what we want is a part of us, and we are called to share everything that we have and are with Jesus. What He does with what we give is ultimately up to Him, but we still offer our requests as a sign of humility. Offering ourselves means we offer even our struggles, our sins, and our wishes.

Sometimes it means we go in front of the Eucharist and say "God, I am so angry that I don't know what to do with myself. You promised to take care of me, but in spite of everything I've done, I am drowning. Is this the way you take care of people, Lord?" You can be as honest and blunt about your feelings, wishes, goals as you want and frequently the more candid you are the better. Ultimately God is going to love you through your struggles, and if you unite your will to His your suffering takes on a whole other dimension of value and will be used in ways you won't fully understand until you stand with God on the last day.

[blakdove]

Even Christ prayed about His wishes that the His fate be taken from Him! And David got pretty angry with God in his psalms...

[nagirrebailed]

I think God answers prayer three ways:

1. Yes!
2. Not yet.
3. I have something better planned.

[abbierose]

I live up the street from a Catholic Elementary School. After the parents pickup their kids, they speed home down my street, talking on the phone and digging in their purse at the same time.

We (the neighborhood) have written letters, yelled, painted "SLOW DOWN ST. MARY'S" onto our garbage cans....you name it.

Ahhh ok, well , not a question, just a rant. Maybe there's some kind of scary "sign of the apocalypse" I can mark their cars with :P

[kali_kali]

I'm going to ask about original sin, because this is one of my biggest concerns about Christianity. I understand the idea of confession, and making penance for bad things that one has done, but original sin just doesn't sit comfortably with me, so maybe you could explain that? Thanks.

[loveneverfails]

Original sin is the idea that there has been fundamental damage to the relationship with God that alters who we are. Nature as it was created by God is perfect, and God who is pure "to be" according to Aquinas holds all things in being. When we fell from grace, we distorted the way that God holds us in being. This alters our very being, from our intellects that can rationalize so many evil things, to our wills nagging us to do what we know to be wrong, to physical evils like birth defects, disease and death