Category: Bulletin Articles

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 2-25-24: Is there a reference to Purgatory in the Bible? Or in Jesus’ teachings? Could you state the passages? Purgatory is the most common of all question topics that I receive in the “Ask Deacon Joe” box or through emails. This particular question struck a chord with me when I received… Continue reading Purgatory in the Bible

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 2-18-24: In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:7, Jesus talks about not praying many words like the heathens, that God knows what we need, so pray the Our Father. As Catholics we have hundreds of prayers recommended for this or that, novena, etc. How does this scripture coincide with these… Continue reading Do Not Babble

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 2-11-24: Why to the Orthodox Churches celebrate Easter on a different date than Catholics? Ash Wednesday is this week, and of course the date for Ash Wednesday is back-calculated from the date of Easter which is the key for determining other moveable feasts. So we can start our discussion by explaining… Continue reading Date of Easter

Bulletin Q&A article; Published 2-4-24: If you pray with a rosary that is not blessed, do the prayers still “count”? When items, such as rosaries, are blessed, they become sacramentals. The Baltimore Catechism states: “A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to increase devotion” (Question 1052).… Continue reading Blessing of Rosaries

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 1-28-24: What are your thoughts on reading non-canonical texts such as the Book of Enoch? With so many options, and so little time, it is important for us to make wise choices about what we should select to read. I think there are two basic questions we can ask ourselves. First,… Continue reading Reading Non-Canonical Texts

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 1-21-24: My friend belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Church and they celebrated Christmas on January 7th. Can you explain? Well actually, the Orthodox Churches do celebrate Christmas on December 25th, but some of them use a different calendar. Most of the world uses the Gregorian calendar, but some of the Orthodox… Continue reading Christmas on January 7th

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 1-14-24: What does “the communion of the saints” in the Apostles’ Creed really mean? We often recite our prayers without actually thinking about the words we are saying. But if we recite the Apostles’ Creed from memory, it is still important to understand what it is we say we believe. And… Continue reading Communion of the Saints

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 1-7-24: Why are there 6 candles at a TLM high Mass? Is there something significant about that number? Fr. Hurley loaned me a booklet, Candles in the Roman Rite, that gives a little history of the use of candles in the Church. In the early years, candles were used purely for… Continue reading Six Altar Candles

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 12-31-23: The gospel passage for the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother Mary (September 8) was the reading of Jesus’ heritage. Noah’s family, as the story goes, was the only survivor on earth after the flood. Yet Noah was not in the lineage read. Do I have this wrong?… Continue reading Different Genealogies

Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 12-24-23: What child is this? He is no ordinary child. This, this is Christ the King! One of our grandchildren asked us to name our favorite Christmas carol. It was a tough question, but ultimately I decided upon What Child is This?. I like the melody, the traditional English tune, Greensleeves.… Continue reading What Child is This?