tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294473542012-01-25T15:37:34.202-08:00This www.ParishWorld.net blog is a compilation of questions posted weekly by Paul Dion, STL, that are designed to make you think about your Catholic faith as it relates to your personal convictions. We hope you find the articles interesting, challenging and relevant. We encourage you to respond to the questions. All responses will be posted so all may learn from our common thoughts.Editor @ Parishworld.nethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11351018547370080019noreply@blogger.comBlogger1081100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29447354.post-1155877303587802782012-01-25T22:00:00.000-08:002012-01-25T15:37:34.217-08:00

By Paul Dion, STL We've all been in contact with the Catholic Church for many years now, some more, some less. And you have perhaps noticed that Catholics are true "believers" in their Church. They talk of their Church as "Our Faith". Catholics have been accused by others, clergy and lay alike, of believing more in their Church than in God. Some of you reading this "Burning Question" have

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By Paul Dion, STL This Sunday, January 22, is National Sanctity of Life Day in the United States. This was a holiday instituted by President Reagan in 1984 to remember all the unborn children who have been innocently aborted as a result of the Roe. V. Wade decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. It is celebrated every year on the Sunday that is closest to the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. In many

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By Paul Dion, STL I am 70 1/2 years old. I have an advanced degree in Theology. I don't think that I have missed a Sunday Mass 10 times in my life. I have participated in the Holy Mass hundreds of times on Sunday and during the week. I have done this in hundreds of churches in at least 10 countries plus the West Bank.Needless to say I have listened to countless homilies and slept through

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By Paul Dion, STL To the members of the Communion of Saints, the hands, feet, eyes, ears and hearts of the Mystical Body, in the name of Jesus the Resurrected Lord and Savior through His very own Lifestyle Magazine, ParishWorld.net, blessings and prayers to you all. This is a question that I have been asked twice in the last six or seven weeks. If you would like to share your thoughts or

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By Paul Dion, STL About one year ago a dear friend of ours gave my wife a wonderfully crafted, dainty and beautiful golden rosary specifically made to wear around her neck. At the time we both were deeply impressed by the craftsmanship and the captivating beauty of the piece. About a week or two ago a thought ran across my mind. I had not seen my wife wearing the wonderful rosary. This

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By Paul Dion, STL This is the Christmas Season and of course we have a lot of questions floating around in our heads. I hope that none of you has to figure out how to balance your check book so early in the month. But because this is a seriously spiritual season, let's consider the story of the Nativity and some of the symbolism that the Gospel Story of Luke holds. I suggest that you find a

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By Paul Dion, STL It is rather rare that we get to make contact with the same topic three of four times in the same two week span. Usually, something comes along and we answer it, get it off our minds and don't remember it before publishing time. Lately though, three times over the last two weeks the question of the perpetual virginity of the Mother of Jesus has been discussed. For that reason,

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By Paul Dion, STL Dear readers, it has happened to ParishWorld.net again. We have been asked for the "x"tieth time the question, "Why do Catholics worship the Virgin Mary as much as Jesus?" This question used to really get to me. It doesn't send me up the wall so much any more. I have just returned from the Holy Land and Italy and France. I have returned from the world of the churches that

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By Paul Dion, STL This week we bring you the easiest question that you will ever encounter here. But because it is so easy, we are going to ask a related question that will help you to stretch your minds a little bit. This will also send you to the shelf or the table upon which your Bible rests. As you all know, the teachings of Jesus and of the Apostles find their roots in the Old

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By Paul Dion, STL   Read these words of Jesus which you will hear in this Gospel story about John the Baptist: "History has not known a man born of woman greater than John the Baptizer. Yet the least born into the kingdom of God is greater than he" (Matthew 11:11). We're talking about Jesus' first cousin here. This is the precurser of the Messiah. His father was a priest. He was still in the

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By Paul Dion, STL Be careful what you ask for. This is the kind of question that everyone likes. There is no wrong answer. Or so we think. Let's start with the saying, "Be careful what you ask for." That having been said, there is a story in the bible about a young man who was destined to be king of his country some day. He knew it ahead of time because God had promised his father that

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It sure looks that way.By Paul Dion, STL So often in our culture, as children we are reprimanded by our parents when we get angry because it isn't "nice." We are trained as we grow up that anger is not a "nice" emotion. We are so often told to "control ourselves" rather than to show anger. OK, so what about God? He doesn't seem to have any problem with anger. He sure took care of His Adam

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Must we believe the Church 100% to be Catholic? By Paul Dion, STL Living the Catholic life is a life of penance, prayer and missionary zeal. It is about giving-up some things and for giving some things too. As Catholics, we hear a lot of teachings about our religion and we pray for all souls including those people who are going to be baptized into the Catholic religion each Easter Vigil.

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By Paul Dion, STL This is a question that does not come up too often because so many Christians live with their firm beliefs tightly contained secretly in their hearts. It is a topic that does not come up at cocktail parties for sure, and, truth be told, it is not even discussed at Baptisms and weddings. For several years I taught a theology course which is traditionally called, “Christology”.

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By Paul Dion, STL I decided that I would make this week's burning question a challenge for you all. You all know that Catholics believe that sinful acts against God's wishes can be forgiven by participating in the sacrament of Penance. What is essentially required for this sacramental forgiveness is a truthful and complete confession to a priest, a firm resolve to avoid the behavior in the

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By Paul Dion, STL This will take us down some rather interesting paths. Go for it! A great many of us consider a lot of things when we consider behavior, ours and that of others. We look around to see if anyone is watching. We review the ten commandments, the civil law, the rules of the "game", the "political" impact of our actions. The question for this week then is: "What is conscience, and

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By Paul Dion, STL Why is it a sin to miss Mass on Sunday? Maybe we should ask "Why is it a sin to "skip" Mass on Sunday? The second question might be the more correct one. After all, there are several reasons why simply missing Mass on Sunday is not sinful. We all know them well; taking care of a sick child; helping a parent to deal with a violent child; being too ill to get out of

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By Paul Dion, STL This is an important topic for Catholics. There are a lot of "street corner" opinions about it. Like everything else it is possible to find a friend of a friend who is an "expert" Catholic and who "knows about these things". Surely there are many of you who wonder about this topic. Please respond. This is an important element of Catholic life in the "trenches"? Is it permitted

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By Paul Dion, STL Brothers and sisters, it is a catechetical teaching that there are four marks of the true Church. These marks are rather easy to memorize because they are contained word for word in the Apostles' Creed. That's your clue. You may already know them off the top of your head, but you may not know what the deep significance of each one is. The question is, "What are the four

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By Paul Dion, STL, ParishWorld Theology Editor Rarely do we at ParishWorld.net dedicate so much space to "sin". This time we do. Since we celebrate the mystery of the breadth and the depth of God's love and glory, we grow up with the deep faith that He has the power to create, to support and to save anyone. ParishWorld.net is a part of that faith and we are happy that you accompany us down the

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By Paul Dion, STL This question gets close to the heart of Roman Catholicism. The Pope is the human leader of the Catholic Church. He is a lot of things to Catholics, not the least of which is being an object of Catholic Faith. To wit, more later. The question is: "What if any influence does the Pope have on your personal life?" You may also feel free to comment on what, if any influence you

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By Paul Dion, STL I was born and brought up in New England. Western Massachusetts, to be exact. We were a mixed neighborhood. We had Polish people, French people, Irish people, Italian people and we even had a Spanish family that we didn't know was Spanish. Everyone in the neighborhood was Catholic. Well, not really everyone. We happened to live next door to the only true, blue Anglo-Saxons.

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By Paul Dion, STL Tell us what your sincere opinion is: Is it better to be a lukewarm Catholic or an on-fire Protestant? I was in San Diego last weekend and as usual I was taking a break from my intellectual pursuits and working with my orchids. At one point I had to stand upright and give my aching back a "breather". As I finished stretching and twisting I saw two very fetching young ladies

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By Paul Dion, STL We are continuing our investigation into the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Your participation in the discussion of the "applause in church" was very enlightening. ParishWorld.net encourages you to click back on last week's blog so that you will not miss any of the "action". This week we will address ourselves to a topic that is a lot more directly focused on the Eucharist.

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By Paul Dion, STL Catholics have often been accused of being very loose with their morals with regards certain human activities. After all, we drink, we dance, we play cards and we even gamble. Gambling is considered to be rather nasty because it seems to take away from God the determination of what is going to happen next. It puts the welfare of the gambler at the mercy of the "odds" and not

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By Paul Dion, STL How many times you have heard from me, "This is not an intellectual exercise." Now is the time to put this axiom to the test. We are not looking for left-brained answers this week. (OK, you lefties, stop gloating!) We are getting really basic and fundamental here, but the simplicity of the question may stun you, so think it over. "WHAT IS FAITH?"   I beg of you to refrain

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By Paul Dion, STL   This week's "Burning Question" is a challenge that you are going to have to churn out of the depths of your hearts and souls. "Is it more effective to pray than to study the tenets of a religion when seeking a spiritual home community?" Take a look at this and at yourself and throw your convictions out on the table. God bless you all with health, peace and happiness.

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By Paul Dion, STL This week, you get a chance to comment on the following quotes: Karl Marx: "Religion is the opiate of the masses." Jesse Ventura: "Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers..." Surely you have heard similar statements in your daily routine. Therefore, what is your reaction to the question, "Is religion for the weak of heart

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By Paul Dion, STL The true presence of Jesus in the form of Bread and Wine is the burning question this week. It is addressed to all of us who receive communion as Catholics. We approach the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist easily and sometimes without much reverence and consciousness about what we are doing. We even forget sometimes that we may not be in the proper state of sould to approach

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Should Christians perform the sign of the cross? By Paul Dion, STL No matter where you go, in front of your mirror, your friend's house, your favorite restaurant or church on Sunday you will see someone tracing the sign of the cross over their body. It is the most prominent prayer of the Catholic church and is even believed to be somekind of secret membership signal of Catholics. When I first

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By Paul Dion, STL "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you," we say. Then we go to communion anyway. Well we should. Jesus didn't let the words of the Roman Centurion stop Him from blessing him and his family with a miracle. It is Christ Himself who invites us to "Take this and eat it, all of you". He further states, "Truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His

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Door to Door Anyone? By Paul Dion, STL This week ParishWorld.net has decided to break the trend of asking a question and giving an immediate answer. This week we are asking a question and we are counting on you to give the answer that you have in your heart. We know that you have one. We want to hear it. We will stay on top of your comments and we will participate along with you in the

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By Paul Dion, STL The Holy Spirit means a lot of things to a lot of people. His name is used in many ways and has influenced the spiritual lives of many. A careful reading of the Major Prophets will bring His existence into our conscience. A reading of the New Testament will introduce us to Him and His works. From St. John the Baptist to Jesus, He is promised to us as we live our lives as

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By Paul Dion, STL Those of you who just can't wait for the ParishWorld.net mailing every Friday are in for some homework this week. By now it has become clear to you that ParishWorld.net is INTERACTIVE. It is clear to you that the evangelization that Jesus expects from us is the soul of our publication. You have also become accustomed to the BURNING QUESTION OF THE WEEK. Some of you will

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Is the Mass a Eucharistic Banquet or a Holy Sacrifice By Paul Dion, STL 1. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2. a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3. a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4. a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5. a time

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By Paul Dion, STL Welcome to all of you. We are living in the heat of the heart of the mystery of Christianity. We start at the moment of the last Seder Meal celebrated by Jesus with His disciples and we will end with the descent of the Holy Spirit into the hearts of the disciples. The first three days are called the Sacred Triduum and comprise Holy THursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday/

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By Paul Dion, STL The question of the week for the is one that you are going to have to figure out for yourselves. I don't think that there is a source that you can consult for the answer to this one. This question was presented to me by a member of my RCIA class, seeking Baptism through the Rite of Christian Initiation at St. Christopher parish, Moreno Valley, California. I deeply appreciate

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By Paul Dion, STL On the April 30, 2007 episode of the "The Sean Hannity Show" on the Fox News Channel, Republican presidential hopeful Sam Brownback cleared up his position on the abortion issue. Normally this is not an issue which ParishWorld.net discusses very often, but given the circumstances and the belief that there is much for us Christians to learn from this interchange between

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By Paul Dion, STL "Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,and the greed that is idolatry." (Paul, Colossians 3) "Idolatry? Who, me? Idolatry is for Pagans with Golden Calves. I'm not like that." Really? Then why do we "empty nesters" buy "Escalades" at age 70? Why do we spend $40,000 on a Quinceanera celebration? Why do we spend $35,000

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By Paul Dion, STL ‘When he heard this, the bloodthirsty, murderous and utterly abominable Antiochus gave orders to cut out his tongue. But the youth said, "Even if you remove my organ of speech, God hears also those who are mute. See, here is my tongue; cut it off, for in spite of this you will not make our reason speechless. Gladly, for the sake of God, we let our bodily members be mutilated."’

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By Paul Dion, STL This is a question that I have to answer because a) one of you asked it, and b) there is so much misunderstanding about this question in the Catholic Community. Therefore, don't dodge this question. Read it. Ask your Catholic acquaintances what they think, ask yourself what opinion you want to throw out on the table and we'll all be enlightened by the results. Is divorce a

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By Wally Arida Jesus asks Peter a question in this post-resurrection Gospel story, "Do you love me?" Peter answers that he indeed does. Jesus replies, “Feed my sheep.” Click here to read the story. How would you feel if he asked the same question of you? Stay with it. Think about it. Pray about it. Here's the Burning Question: Can we who are sinful be part of Jesus’ mission? We don’t have

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By Paul Dion, STL I thought that we might give the reader the opportunity to provide a BURNING QUESTION of the week every now and then. I am therefore brazenly presenting the following. I have been a Catholic all my life. I reserve the right not to declare my age. My father and mother were very devout Catholics. You know the type - more Catholic than the Pope. Well, my father lived his life

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By Paul Dion, STL You have all heard the expression, "cradle Catholic." You have heard it from all levels of Catholics, from the daily Mass-goer to the Christmas and Easter Mass-goer. You have heard it on television and in the movies, "I was baptized Catholic a few days after I was born..." You have also been in conversations where there was a lively give and take between those who were

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By Paul Dion, STL First, allow me to present a statement: We are now gaining about 1.5 minutes of sunlight per day, on average, since December 21. It will take until March 21 for the amount of sunlight to equal the amount of night. So don't try to hold your breath. Now we can get a little bit serious, but not too much. It is quite certain that most of you have seen the "abbreviated" form of

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By Paul Dion, STL We know a lot about the life of Jesus as an adult. We know that He gathered people around Himself and preached to them with authority. The story of Jesus' infancy in Matthew has a lot of indicators about where the source of this authority lies. I expect that many of you will point to the genealogy that is the hallmark of Matthew's gospel. There are several other markers in

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By Paul Dion, STL Editor's Note: This is Part 2 of our series on the Bible. It is an offshoot of the Bishop's Synod being held at the Vatican from October 5-26, 2010. Please follow this blog series and be enlightened on why the Bible needs to be part of our ongoing Christian life and experience. Below are links to the rest of the series:Part 1: What are your Personal Bible Habits? After the

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By Paul Dion, STLHere is a question that a young person asked me two weeks ago that I have decided to present to you. This is a thought provoking question that has more than one correct answer. So you should have no shyness about submitting what you think it should be. I will even give you a hint... All the answers that I will propose to you will be based on Scripture stories. The easiest one

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By Paul Dion, STLBible studies for Catholics are neither numerous nor well appreciated. Catholics are generally satisfied with complying with the obligation of attending Mass once a week on Sunday and then going on their way.Many Catholics (dare I say MOST?) don't know the difference between John 1;1 and Genesis 1;1. Careful, you all, that's a trick question. I do know that most Catholics know

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By Paul Dion, STLHere is the Burning Question of the Week: When Catholics talk about the Real Presence of Christ, what are they talking about? How many other forms of Christ's presence in our midst can you think of?Catholics among you should be able to answer the first one without difficulty. With a little thought and some prayer you should be able to answer the second question and come up with

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Why do we pray for the dead?Burning Question of the WeekBy Paul Dion, STLIt is the month of November. This is the month when we Catholics are reminded by the Church to keep the welfare of our departed loved ones in our prayers.Ah, yes, Catholics. We sure have a lot of things to think about. One of them is that we pray for our dearly departed, actually pray for them. It is one thing to pray for

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By Paul Dion, STLThe title line of this blog post is the source of the burning question for the week.This sentence comes from Saint Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, Chapter 5, verse 17: "Pray without ceasing." The Catechism of the Catholic Church has 350 paragraphs on the topic of prayer.What does "pray without ceasing" mean to you?Let us know what you think. Give us your comment. We

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By Paul Dion, STLThis week - the 28th Sunday in ordinary time - we are going to hear two impressive stories about lepers who get cured. One story comes from the Old Testament, the Second Book of Kings and the other is in the Gospel according to Saint Luke. Click here to view the Sunday Readings.As it turns out, the one in the Old Testament was Persian and of the the ten in the gospel story, the

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By Paul Dion, STLJesus said to the man who had invited Him: "When you make a dinner or a supper, don't call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; and you will be blessed, because they don't have the resources to repay you. For

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By Paul Dion, STLMost of the adults who read ParishWorld.net have jobs. Most of you pehaps have jobs in companies or enterprises that are generally quite moral. We all have heard of the immoral activities of certain companies and we tell ourselves how happy we are to be working for a "good" company.Every now and then, though, along our career path we find ourselves working in a company where

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"Does God Want You to be Rich?"By Paul Dion, STLMost of us think that it would be a lot better to be rich than poor. We would much prefer to be healthy than ill. We would much prefer to have high-achieving children than "street corner slugs."We are all familiar with some of the heroes of the Bible who thought that they were in high favor with God because they had 1,000 sheep, 500 cattle, 100

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By Paul Dion, STLWe received the following "Burning Question" from a regular reader, Laurence Gonzaga. He is someone whom we respect and this question of his is quite challenging. It is therefore good for all of us to toss it around in our minds. Laurence wrote:"I don't know if this 'burning question' ever crossed your mind, but here goes: "Is it appropriate for the congregation to hold hands

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Is Superstition a Sin? Superstition a sin? Why, that's silly! Everyone knows that it doesn't work, it's just a silly practice that doesn't mean anything.Think back a little bit and you'll remember hearing ( or thinking )words to that effect more than once in your life. Some of you may remember an older member of your exended family reminding everyone of a quasi-religious practice that had to

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Burning Question of the WeekBy Paul Dion, STL Welcome to the United States, the volunteer capital of the world. Statistics tell us that there are more volunteers per capita in this country than in any other country in the world. Volunteerism is a dynamic part of our culture. It seems that each and every one of us volunteers for something. As you read this, you are perhaps saying, "I don't."

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By Paul Dion, STLWe are staying with the Apostles' Creed for this week's Burning Question.The bishops who gathered in Rome for the Ecumenical Council of Vatican II, the only such event of the 20th century, had a lot to say about the Church. In fact that actually spoke from a position of collegial infallibilty about the Church in what is called "DOGMATIC CONSTITUTION ON THE CHURCH."This question

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By Paul Dion, STLYou will find the Apostles Creed just below this short introduction. This is a very old formulation of the essential Doctrines of the Catholic religion.This creed was developed as a guide to doctrine catechumens preparing for baptism. It developed into one of the most recited prayers in the Catholic Church. It is even accepted by other churches, some quite fundamentalistic in

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By Paul Dion, STLThis one will take us down a rather interesting theological and philosophical road."What is Virtue?"Tell us what you feel about this question from deep in your heart. Share your thoughts with us. If you feel too shy to post your name, you can sign it Anonymous.(Click here to view the many wonderful articles that await you in http://www.parishworld.net/, America's Catholic

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By Paul Dion, STLActs 7:55-60: As they were stoning Stephen, he called out,"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them;"and when he said this, he fell asleep.We invite you all to read Chapters 6 and 7 of the Acts of the Apostles, the story of St. Stephen. the first disciple who was martyred for the sake of the

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By Paul Dion, STLBrothers and Sisters,This question is meant to plunge you into a mood of "snuggling up to God." The "Catechism of the Catholic Church" devotes 60 plus pages to this topic, so I know that we will not exhaust it here. I also know that your answers will not contain erroneous statements or opinions. The reason why I am challenging you with this question is that I want to provoke you

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By Paul Dion, STL"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,with all your being,with all your strength,and with all your mind,and your neighbor as yourself."He replied to him, "You have answered correctly; do this and you will live." (Luke 10; 27)We have all heard the old saw, "You can choose your friends but you can't choose your relatives." As a matter of fact, we can't choose

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By Paul Dion, STLThis week's burning question is short and sweet. It's about a term we have often heard and used since we were small children.But do we really know what it means?Please reflect on the following the Burning Question:As the people of God, we are all called to holiness. What is holiness? What does it mean to be holy?Share your ideas and thoughts with us.

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By Paul Dion, STLLk 18:9-10: "Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else. " This is a very powerful lesson from Jesus Himself. He has jumped into the argument two millennia before many of us have either heard it or used it ourselves. We usually hear it when someone says, "Lord, you can take me now, I'm ready." Or as I have

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By Paul Dion, STLI am presenting you with an introductory topic that is directly connected to what is known as moral theology.What is passion? Is it good or bad?Tell us what you feel about this question from deep in your heart. Share it with us. If you feel too shy to post your name, you can sign it anonymous.(Click here to view the many wonderful articles that await you in http://

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By Paul Dion, STLWe are going to change the pace here a little bit. We are going to ask a question that comes straight out of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The reason why this is an important question because one of our charter parishes in Southern California was the site of a grand celebration of marriage validations on Saturday, December 29, 2007.There were fifteen couples who prepared

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By Paul Dion, STLWe Catholics are big into sacrifices. We use the word a lot, and rightly so. Well, this is Thanksgiving, the opening of the Holiday Season. It is the Magnificent American Harvest Festival.We at Parishworld.net have chosen this time to present the concept of sacrifice to you because it is fitting and challenging.The question therefore is, "What is sacrifice? Why consider it now?

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By Paul Dion, STLYou are reading this a day or two before Sunday, so you are being told now that this Sunday, October 26, has been designated "Priesthood Sunday" by the universal Catholic Church. And the "Burning Question" feature of your favorite Catholic magazine is jumping into the fray early.Rest assured that you are going to hear at least one of the following from the pulpit when you sit

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By Paul Dion, STLEditor's Note: This is Part 1 of our series on the Bible. It is an offshoot of the Bishop's Synod being held at the Vatican from October 5-26. Please follow this blog series and be enlightened on why the Bible needs to be part of our ongoing Christian life and experience. The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church"But you, remain faithful to what you have learned and

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It is not very often that we have the opportunity to receive communion more than once in the same day. Sometimes though, we find ourselves in a situation that looks somewhat like this. We participate at the usual 8:00 AM Mass on Wednesday and then participate at the funeral Mass of a friend at 10:30 AM on he same day.In this discussion we will give ourselves the benefit of the doubt and say that

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By Paul Dion, STL (18A)This week we have an interesting story about Jesus at the early part of his public life.Listen to this description: "When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself." (Matthew, 14;13) Does this make you think of another time when Jesus was touched by the death of a person close to Him? Remember when Jesus went to

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By Paul Dion, STL Lying is something that so many of us do. We do it regarding serious things and we do it regarding inconsequential things. We do it mostly to protect ourselves from suffering the unpleasant consequences of communicating the truth. Lying is the purposeful communicating of non-facts instead of the facts that we know. Lying is not mis-speaking in error. Lying is a willful act, not

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By Paul Dion, STLOrdinations to the priesthood are in the news lately. Most of it good. Greater numbers of priests are coming into the community. Greater numbers than before are of the "older" variety, some are in their early 60's and many are in the mid 30's and 40's. Some are widowers, some not. Many have imposing educational backgrounds and carry a solid portfolio of "secular" management

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By Paul Dion, STLMay 25, 2008On the occasion of the feast of the Sacred Body of Christ we present you a true question that has come to us from a real neophyte just six weeks away from Easter Vigil. In this time when communion under both species is not reserved to the priest in our Western, Latin Catholic Church, it is possible that even some fairly mature participants at the Holy Mass could

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By Paul Dion, STLThere is a question that has been presented on a couple of serious Catholic blogs that the editors of ParishWorld.net fits into the spirit of this week's readings, Acts, chapter 2, verses 14 to 41 and the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verses 1 to 10. The question addresses the state of mind of people who come to the Catholic Faith from other religions or from no religion at all.

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By Paul Dion, STL"A vigil service is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 302 E. Jefferson St., Iowa City. Funeral Mass for the family has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday. Burial will be at St. Joseph's Cemetery." Not long ago, March 26, 2008 to be precise a story appeared that described the murder of a family of four, wife, and three of her children by her husband

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By Paul Dion, STLBURNING QUESTION FROM MARC DION: Just before Easter Sunday ParishWorld.net received a telephone call from the elder son of our Theology Editor. As it turns out it was a rather well crafted question about what Catholics believe regarding the life of animals. This question surprised us somewhat because the questioner, Marc Dion (yes, that's a French "c" to match the "Dion") was

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I have a friend whose elder brother is a Lutheran Pastor. He has had large communities in Illinois and in the South. As far as I can tell, he is a holy person. I am quite friendly with his brother and I know that the family has its foundations set firmly on Christian morality. This story may or may not be about Pastor W..., but it could be.This came to me from Woody, Pastor W...'s brother, my

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By Paul Dion, STLWho Can Receive Communion? These are the words of Jesus as presented to us by St. John the Evangelist. "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. He

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By Paul Dion, STLFaithful Catholic, Faithful Citizen.The other day the Publisher and the Theology Editor of ParishWorld.net attended the joint vicariate meeting of the San Bernardino Diocese. It turns out that this is an annual event when at least one priest and the staff of every parish come together at the Diocesan Pastoral Center and have a day of conviviality, informational get together,

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By Paul Dion, STLHey, Bro, what sign are you?Aquarius, dude. You? Pisces. Slick and smoothe in your wave. What's your lady's sign? She's a Scorpio. Good fit, I'll say. My, my, what is going on here? This is a conversation that I overheard just outside the door of the Adult Confirmation catechism session. Two nice Catholic young men sizing one another up to see if they were going to be able to

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By Paul Dion, STLJanuary 20, 2008Last week we asked you if it was appropriate to hold hands during the recitation or the singing of the "Our Father", the "Lord's Prayer" during the Holy Mass. This question was brought to us by one of you and we appreciate it very much. We have to admit that it made us think of a related question that we decided to challenge you with this week. Close upon the

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By Paul Dion, STL"You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed." (Gospel of Luke, chapter 21, verse18) This is the story that will be read to us all on Sunday, November 18. ParishWorld.net is a Catholic Lifestyle Magazine. It is perhaps the only one in the world. It is a place where you can read about what it means to believe in God and to relate to

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By Paul Dion, STLThis morning I started a new curriculum about the relationship between the Bible and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I was quickly surrounded by 15 eager adults, wondering what I was going to say first. I did what I always do, I asked the persons in the group if they had any questions.The first question was, "What is a sacrifice". We discussed that for about 10 minutes. The

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By Paul Dion, STLThis week we move on from the study of the sacrament of Baptism to the study of the sacrament of the Eucharist.For the most part, we move into the knowledge of the Eucharist because we prepare for First Communion.Truth to tell, this preparation is the opening that we have to the "process" and the "obligation" of the Holy Mass. For the vast majority of us it is the first exposure

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Holy Baptism holds the first place among the sacraments, because it is the door of the spiritual life; for by it we are made members of Christ and incorporated with the Church. And since through the first man death entered into all, unless we be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, we can not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, as Truth Himself has told us.Because this is the very most important

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By Paul Dion, STLDominus Vobiscum!Being Catholic is a special calling. It is not easy to be Catholic. There are so many balls that we have to keep in the air at the same time. We have Saints, Martyrs, The Virgin Mary, Mass on every Sunday, Holy Communion, Holy Water, the Rosary, Priests whom we call "Father", House Blessings, a different "Ten Commandments", a different Bible, a Pope and

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By Paul Dion, STLOn Wednesday, August 15, Catholics around the world are going to be celebrating the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This day marks a moment in Catholic life that is very special. For centuries Catholics believed in the Assumption and celebrated its solemnly every year. It was a Holy Day of Obligation and the churches were filled with faithful. This celebration

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By Paul Dion, STLFREEDOMFREEDOMFREEDOMFREEDOM...Ah, yes, FREEDOM! Let me count the ways. We talk so much about freedom in this country of ours. We sing it in our Anthem, ..."the land of the free and the home of the brave." When we look around we see hundreds of people who have come here from other shores in search of freedom.In the same sweep of our eyes and our minds we also see hundreds in

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By Wally AridaPublisher & Editor in chiefAt ParishWorld.net we do our best to pr0vide our readers with articles and materials that we feel are relevant to our everyday practice of our Catholic faith.This article, "Catholic faith and Yoga," was originally published in ParishWorld.net May 24, 2007. As you can imagine, it generated some comments and questions from our readers who are practitioners

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By Paul Dion, STLAs you all know, we Catholics have a lot to look forward to every Sunday. We know that when we get to church we will meet our friends and companions in Christ; we will hear a new hymn or two (we hope), we will hear different stories from the Bible than we heard the last Sunday and lately, we have seen a lot of colors flash before our eyes during the ceremonies.This coming Sunday

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By Paul Dion, STLThere are a lot of fashions making the rounds in the celebration of Holy Week Solemnities. One of them concerns the washing of the feet of the "twelve Apostles on Holy Thursday. Some churches include women in the line-up of the twelve people who get their feet washed. ParishWorld.net has an opinion about this and so does the Church. What is yours? Do you think that the line-up of

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By Paul Dion, STLThe Church is a huge place and in it there are a lot of places to go, a lot of things to see, a lot of ideas to think and a lot of lives to lead. The Church is like a quilt, most of the pieces are about the same shape and size, but they are often of different texture and different color.The Church claims Unity as one of its marks. It is a mystery how God manages this Unity. How

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By Wally AridaIn a recent article, we found the following question regarding the offering of Masses for non Catholics specifically those who are publicly opposed to the teachings on the Catholic Church. We publisht hte question in its entirety. We also provide a link to the response that was published in response to this question.Here's the question:Q: I recently read in our parish bulletin that

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By Paul Dion, STLAsh Wednesday is a very popular day on the Catholic calendar. It is attractive to people for many reasons. Some of the attraction comes from the fact that many people don't have the slightest idea why the date of this popular Catholic event keeps changing from year to year. Another part of the attraction is that it gives Catholics the one chance in the year that they have to

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By Paul Dion, STLThere are some practices in the Catholic Church that are not universal. For example, in some countries the faithful do not genuflect nor do they kneel for adoration. In some countries there are several postures that become a part of the public participation at liturgy. Even some of the "standard" prayers are not as standard as we would believe. The "Our Father", for instance has

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By Paul Dion, STLAbortion is wrong. Abortion is murder. So many of us are in complete consonance with those two statements. Even many people with no real deep religious convictions believe that abortion is wrong. After all, abortion is bringing an innocent life to an end by stepping in front of God, the creator of all life. It is a rather distasteful subject, stark and cruel, so we have invented

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