What are good prayers to say after receiving the Body of Christ? I have prayed Anima Christi which I believe to be an amazing prayer. What do you think, Father?

The Anima Christi is a great prayer after Communion. There is also a wonderful booklet by the late Fr. Lawrence Lovasik called Communion Prayers. It was published by TAN publishing and may still be available. It also has some fine prayers before and after Communion.

I bought a new scapular. Does it need to be blessed?

If persons are already invested in Brown Scapular, the scapular doesn’t need to be blessed since the blessing and investiture is still valid, as the blessing is predominately for the person, not the scapular. If the person isn’t investitured, the blessing of the scapular occurs during the ceremony.

Say I was born in another country dominated by the Muslim religion and brought up the same way I was brought up in the Catholic Church. Before I could even come into reality I was circumcised, baptized, and led  to CCD, then on to Confirmation, all without me personally putting my approval for any of it because I’m underage, of course, and have barely been alive long enough. So my question is: Since false gods and idols are major sins, are these Muslims, who have been indoctrinated just like me into their Muslim religion in a similar way without much say, damned to hell for eternity because of it?

I will try to answer this question as I best understand it. Before I begin, just a couple of clarifying questions. Do you feel forced to be Catholic without much say on your own? Do you still consider yourself as Catholic? Were you circumcised too?  That's not part of the Catholic sacraments of initiation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states in a couple of paragraphs that the Church teaches that "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).  Translated God is not going to send someone to hell merely because they are not Catholic or any other Christian. For such people to be damned they would have to know that the gospel and the Church is truth and reject it through their own fault, refuse to sincerely seek God, be moved by His grace or refuse to do God's will as they understand it according to the dictates of their conscience. Also CCC 1037 states that "God predestines no one to go to hell.  Only the willful turning away from God by way of mortal sin and persistence in this state will damn someone to hell. I also must make it plain however that salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, even to those who lacked conscious faith in Jesus. The Scriptures stated that explicitly in Mt. 8:11, Jn. 10 and Heb. 11.

Father, in my Lenten devotional book they stated that when a person turns 60, the law of abstinence (abstaining from warm-blooded animal meat) is no longer in force for him or her. I've been taught that fasting ends at 60 but not abstinence. Am I right?

That's right, they're wrong. Fasting (no eating between meals and two lighter meals not equaling the regular meal) is no longer in force for those over 59. Abstinence is in force until death.

In the Catholic Voice dated January 22, 2021, there was an article about corporations and products that directly or indirectly provide funding for Planned Parenthhood. What is your advice on this matter? Thank you!

This is one of those rare questions that I feel I cannot not sufficiently explain within the boundaries of this webpage. I will direct your attention to an excellent article by Todd Agliaoro on the Catholic Answers website. Just google up "Catholic Answers boycott." He explains the efficacy and necessity of boycotts quite well and thorough, much better than I could. I will add this response. It seems that the little we do doesn't seem to make much of a difference. It does. Jesus started with 12 men and they weren't the biggest or the brightest. By your small act you evangelize by word and action and God sees YOUR faithfulness, not your success. There will be hardships to follow, both in the wallet and society as a whole, but your small part is real and can, perhaps, down the road lead to positive change. Being an evangelist isn't easy, but when was it ever?

What should I as a Parishioner do, if I can not attend Mass for a while, especially Holy Days of Obligation? 

In the Archdiocese of Omaha the dispensation from Sunday and Holy days of Obligation is still in force ONLY for those groups who are at risk from the COVID-19 pandemic and may not feel safe attending a public gathering. Those who are sick or have been exposed to COVID, either by currently having the disease or been closely with those who have had COVID over the last 14 days and are quarantined are among the groups dispensed. It is an act of charity to safeguard others' health by not going to Mass. Other groups include the elderly, people with underlying health issues, those who work in nursing homes, those with flu-like or other upper respiratory symptoms or families who live with the above-mentioned groups.

Now what to do in place of the obligation. The Archdiocese of Omaha has several parishes listed who do live-streaming of Masses, including our parish. EWTN also has the Sunday Mass several times during the day. Set aside some time before those Masses and prayerfully read over the readings for that day.  Make a spiritual Communion as well during Communion time at those televised Masses. Also consider going to a weekday Mass when the crowds are smaller.

I once heard your venial sins are absolved when you attend Mass. Is that true? If so, how does that happen since you didn't go to confession? Is the same true when you watch Mass at home on the TV or computer or do you need to attend in person?

Unlike mortal sin, which MUST be absolved in the Sacrament of Penance, venial sin does not rupture the relationship with God, but only damages it to a certain degree. As a result venial sin can be forgiven during Mass. Also the use of sacramentals, such as Holy water and the Rosary, etc., can be used as well. That said it is a good spiritual practice to recognize and confess periodically venial sins, and, since all sin damages our relationship with God, we want to bring them before God in confession (Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect anyone?). Furthermore uncorrected venial sins can lead to habitual and/or mortal sin (See The Catechism of the Catholic Church  para. 1458). As for TV Masses and Mass attendance unless one is elderly, sick, infirm or a caregiver that must stay with them or cannot reasonably make it to Mass, the TV Mass does NOT substitute for attending Sunday Mass. It is not the full and active participation in the Eucharist the Church calls for of her members. Christ wants you physically present with Him and His Church each and every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. Our Faith is not individualistic. After all, we start the Lord's Prayer with "Our" Father not "My" Father. Be physically present. We love to see you there to receive Our Lord really and truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

If a person does a fast of just bread and water, does that mean just a plain piece of bread, with no butter?

No butter, just bread.

Why can't a person go to confession over the phone? Wouldn't it be a way to eliminate contact with someone during this Coronavirus pandemic?

Church law makes it quite clear that Confession via phone or webcam is prohibited. There are a number of creative ways that priests have employed that stick to the proper way of hearing "individual and integral" confessions during this pandemic. I'm also very nervous about using electronic means for confessions (hearing aids and phone hearing aids in confessionals the exception). As much as we think we have privacy, there is always the risk of someone who knows technology too well to eavesdrop on any communication. As much as technology has exploded, I still recall the old Hank Williams, Sr. song, "Mind Your Own Business" where the line goes: "the girl on our party line's a nosey thing. She picks up her receiver when she knows it's my ring," is still quite applicable in our own times.

The opening prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, “Eternal Father, I Offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and the sins of the whole world” ... would you please translate these words as to what their meaning? I just cannot grasp the content very well and I really want to know what I am praying. The rest of the prayer is simple to understand. I guess it is the “I Offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity” part that is confusing to me.
Dr. Robert Stackpole, STD stated that when we offer Jesus in this way, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, it reflects the closeness of we disciples with Jesus. He belongs to us as we belong to Him. We literally become His Mystical Body on earth. When we offer Jesus to the Father, we offer ourselves in and with Him, and he is offering us in and with Himself. At Mass the priesthood of believers, the baptized and confirmed disciples of Jesus, according to one's own vocation, offer the sacrifice of the Mass (March 25, 2013). Although the ordained priests have the gift to consecrate the bread and wine into the physical Body and Blood of Christ, it is all the disciples present who offer this one perfect sacrifice to the Father. In other words that opening prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet is a summary of what we do at every Mass.

I usually go to the first Mass offered on Ash Wednesday. Should we leave our ashes on our foreheads all day, as we go to work, school etc.? I always wondered if it is wrong to rub them off. Thanks.

It is not required that a person wear the ashes for the whole day and they can be washed off after Mass, but many keep their ashes until evening as a reminder of the season started.

I know that the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit are the same. It seems that the Holy Ghost seems to be used years back in some prayers and the Holy Spirit is used nowadays. Any reasoning on this. Thank you

First of all we need to remember that both terms refer to the same name. "Ghost" is Anglo-Saxon for spirit and both Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit were used well before the twentieth century. However, the modern understanding of "ghost" has evolved over the last several centuries. The word began to be associated with phantasms or, worse, demoniac appearances which shock and terrify. Nowadays there is a popular show called "Ghost Adventures" on the Travel Channel. "Spirit" comes from the Latin for souls, vigor or breath. Here we have images of God breathing on the waters at the dawn of creation or Jesus breathing on the Apostles saying "Receive the Holy Spirit" before giving them the power to forgive sins. Again both terms refer to the same Divine Name, and, certainly in private prayer, there's is not anything wrong with using "Holy Ghost." It's more linguistics than theology.

Why does the Church require to pay a small stipend to have a Mass said? Is this something biblical?
Actually the Church does not require everyone to pay for a Mass, the indigent comes to mind, but the practice does have some Scriptural backing. In 2Maccabees 12:39ff Judas Maccabees found under the tunics of the dead Jewish soldiers sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which were forbidden to Jews to wear. Judas took up an offering to be sent to Jerusalem as a sin offering that the dead might be delivered from their sin. In the New Testament we see in the Gospel of Luke Jesus proclaiming that a laborer, his seventy disciples, is deserving of his wages (10:7). In 1 Corinthians Paul proclaims that those who preside at the altar share the altar's offerings. No parish maintains a "schedule of fees" for Mass stipends. That is determined by the bishops of a particular province (c.952.1). The fee is ten dollars right now, though some pay more. One thing is for sure, Church law makes it very clear that any appearance of trafficking or commerce is to be entirely excluded from Mass offerings (c.947). Parishes are also not to take more stipends than what they can satisfy in a single year. Usually excess stipends get sent to retired priests for their Masses or to the missions. People seem to think this is a big moneymaker for priests and the Church, but it just doesn't add up. A priest can only keep one stipend, save Christmas Day, with any other stipends to be turned over to the diocese for whatever purposes is needed. In the Archdiocese of Omaha they go to the Seminarian Fund. Translated a Mass stipend is less than hourly minimum wage. That said, we pay for a lot of garbage with ten bucks that has us with buyers' remorse later on. Ten dollars to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for a loved one is a priceless gift that we won't know its importance until we reach eternity.

We attended a funeral Mass and during the homily the priest mentioned before the lady passed away of cancer he gave her an apostolic pardon and that she was assured of heaven. Who can receive an apostolic pardon and if anybody can why don’t we all receive them prior to our passing? Can a person simply ask for an apostolic blessing?
 
An Apostolic Pardon is a blessing with an indulgence that happens at the conclusion of the Anointing of the Sick if the recipient is in danger of death. The usual process is confession then anointing of the sick and it's concluded with the Apostolic Pardon. Confession forgives the eternal punishment for sin, the indulgence attached to the Apostolic Pardon takes care of the temporal punishment. This is done at the hour of death while the dying person invokes the Holy Name of Jesus, and, at least, makes a mental act of reservation to the will of God. Now here's the clincher - it does NOT guarantee the dying person will go straight to heaven, but clears the path, if one chooses to go to Jesus.

Could you explain about purgatory and the poor souls? Who goes there and why? When do they reach heaven?

Purgatory is a place or state of final purification for those who die and are in God's friendship, but are imperfectly purified. They are assured of heaven, but need that holiness necessary to enter into heaven (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1030). Purgatory is a temporary state. Once the last soul needing purification has been released, purgatory will cease to exist. Purgatory is also a place or state where any unremembered venial sins are forgiven. Jesus in Mt. 12:32 stated that unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit (final impenitence and unbelief) will not be forgiven "either in this age or in the age to come." Why "age to come?" If in heaven the person has already been forgiven. If in hell forgiveness is not forthcoming because the person does not want forgiveness. As for poor souls, I am reluctant to call them by that name since they are on their way to heaven. I like "holy souls" better. Remember we can help these souls by our prayers, alms-giving and penitential works and, the best prayer, the offering of a Mass or Masses for their souls. It's the best investment you will ever make since, one day, those souls may return the favor of helping you when in heaven.  

A blessing is a ritual in which the Church, through the proper minister and formula, dedicates persons, places or things to a sacred purpose or attaches to them a spiritual value. Once something is blessed, it can only be used only for a sacred purpose intended, and not in any profane way. Furthermore, they never lose their blessing if broken and repaired or lent or given away. Only when they are totally destroyed or sold. The chief blessings of the Church are for persons such as bride and groom, women before and after childbirth, congregation after Mass, places like churches, oratories, cemeteries and houses and things such as religious objects or objects for sacred worship. Even animals can be blessed on the day of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4). Once an object that is blessed can no longer be used, it must be destroyed, burned or buried.

Was Noah's Ark a story in the Bible or did it actually happen?    

Noah's Ark is in the Bible because it actually happened. The flood was probably a local one and only the animals of the region were saved. We do not have to believe that all living animals were represented nor that all the animals outside the Ark were killed. The flood truly happened and Noah's family were the sole survivors, but like the flood itself, humanity had not yet spread itself far and wide, but all that were there in that area were killed in the flood. That much must be literally accepted. However, the various secondary details surrounding the story do not have to be, and definitely not exaggerations of those secondary details. Remember God is capable of doing this and He said that He did it and this is from the God who cannot deceive nor be deceived.

I have a concern in regards to receiving communion in the hand versus on the tongue. I notice at times that there are crumbs from the host in my hand. I try to consume them, but I'm sure I miss some. Wouldn't it be better to go back to receiving the host on your tongue instead of possibly having some of the host fall from your hand to the floor?

I commend you for your wonderful reverence for the Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament. We need to remember that Communion in the hand was the normative for the first few centuries of the Church. In the sixth and seventh centuries Communion on the tongue became the universal practice as to give communicants a better understanding and devotion to the Real Presence. Communion on the tongue is still the universal practice of the Church, but some countries, like the U.S., have received a dispensation to receive either in the hand or on the tongue. Either way is allowed, but not required. As for the particles of the Blessed Sacrament still in your hand, it used to be the practice of the priest celebrating the Mass to hold his two fingers together that held the Host from the moment of the consecration to the ablution (cleansing hands after Communion). That practice was discontinued as a liturgical law, although some priests still practice it. The idea was that priests, if conscience of particles of the Blessed Sacrament on their fingers, would purify them properly. A practice that I, and a number of priests do is to rub those fingers together into the chalice or ciborium, even before the ablution. I would say if you notice particles of the Blessed Sacrament on your hands, consume them, but only if you notice them. Weigh a certainty against a doubt and do not torture yourself over unseen particles. I'm sure the Lord knows your devotion to Him in the Blessed Sacrament. If it still concerns you, maybe you should receive on the tongue to ease your conscience.

How does a Saint become or get the title Doctor of the Church?

There are three requirements for being recognized as a Doctor of the Church. First a life of holiness. If a proposed Doctor did not have a love for Christ and His Church and practiced heroic virtue throughout his or her life, a declaration as being a Doctor of the Church will never be forthcoming, no matter how brilliant the person's doctrine may seem. Walk the walk as well as talk the talk. As a result they are canonized saints. Interestingly enough Pope Benedict XVI, when making Hildegard of Bingen a Doctor of the Church first had to formally canonize her as a saint. Not that she was not recognized as possessing a life of holiness. She just was never formally canonized. Second their body of doctrine, whether in Scripture, theology or spirituality, must truly stand out and help others to be holy in every age. Finally, of course, the Church must formally declare the person a Doctor of the Church. It starts with the local bishops petitioning the Holy See, who will consult with other bishops around the world. This takes time. The pope also consults the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the College of Cardinals and theologians.There is no time limit. It could be a relatively short or long time. We currently stand at 35 Doctors of the Church, but I do not think we are done yet.

While praying the Our Father during Mass I notice some people hold hands with other family members, others keep their hands together (as in prayer), while still others hold their hands up like the priest. Isn't the priest the only one who should hold his hands up during this time or is any of these postures correct to use?

Liturgical law does not permit the laity to mimic the gestures of the priest/presider as he is saying the prayers proper to him. These are known as presidential prayers. The Lord's Prayer is not a presidential prayer. It used to be before the current Mass that the priest would say the Lord's Prayer alone and the people would chime in in the end the "deliver us from evil." To the best of my knowledge, neither the U.S. bishops nor the Holy See has said anything regarding this traditional gesture of prayer for the Lord's Prayer during the Mass. I also do not find it in the rubrics of the Sacramentary. I find it curious that many in the laity do not bow during the Creed when it mentions Jesus being born of the Virgin and became man, but I digress. As for holding hands, while certainly fine for spouses and individual families to do, no priest may force the practice among the congregation as a whole. Canon Law makes it quite clear that no one may add anything to the liturgy on his own initiative ( c.846.1).