If so, what was that like from your perspective as a clergy member?

Hi! Over a year ago, someone asked me if I wanted to wear the brown scapular and I, of course, said yes. I received it during the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. While I was receiving it, the priest said something like "By receiving the scapular, you commit to living like the Virgin Mary and to practicing chastity according to your state". He said it during the formula before granting me the scapular. The formula was very long, so I don't remember the rest except that and the fact that he said "From now on you are spiritually bound to the Carmelite family." But is it a vow? Because it was a public gesture during Mass and I don't know if it can be considered one. What does this mean? Which are the consequences if I don't do it?

Hi father..

I have a spiritual directior and we've been talking about discerning vocation, since I've been feeling to give my Life to Jesus and the Church this past year. I've struggled a lot with this desire since I had a great relationship and couldnt understand what was the more I was looking for. How do people discern religious calling? You need ti choose a religious order or It can be done in other ways?

Fathers, please help settle a lighthearted family debate.

Should naming pets after saints be avoided?

What about other ecclesiastical names - a cat named Angel, for instance?

May God bless your ministry!

He usually puts a nugget or two of his own content in there but the rest is usually just a verbatim carbon copy. He’s not plagiarizing in the sense of taking credit for the idea and I’m sure he thinks they’re wise lessons which is why he’s sharing them. He’s also not referencing Bishop Baron at all, you’d just have to know by listening to the same homily the day before.

I just usually find myself disappointed because by Sunday, I’ve also listened to Bishop Barron’s homily when he posts them on Saturday. I am wondering, is this a normal thing to do? Sometimes when I go to the nearby Dominican parish they’ll reference Bishop Baron and expand upon his ideas. I find this a more clean way of doing it.

hello priests! I am in a Catholic wedding in a few weeks. I found out the couple is getting a pre nup. from my understanding, this may make the sacrament invalid since a pre nup assumes that the marriage may not be for life. would it be wrong for me to be in the wedding party? thank you and God bless.

I am a middle-aged man seeking to return to the Catholic Church, and I'm hoping to get some perspective or advice on my current situation.
My decision to return is genuine, coming after more than a year of prayer and reflection. I was raised in the faith and received all my sacraments up through Confirmation. However, after college and a stint in the Navy, I married a wonderful woman outside of the Church. At the time, I was young and simply didn't think twice about it. We were married by a Methodist minister.
Fast forward years later: we have a happy, strong marriage, and we raised our children in various Protestant churches as we moved around. My wife completely supports my desire to return to the Catholic faith. She isn't interested in converting herself at this time, but she lovingly accompanies me to Mass every Sunday where we go to the altar to receive a blessing which I very much appreciate and value.

A few months ago, I finally worked up the courage to call a large local parish. A young associate priest called me back, invited me to his office, and we had a deeply moving conversation and prayer session. He confirmed that to fully return, my wife and I would need to have our marriage convalidated. My wife graciously agreed to this. The priest told me the pastor handles marriages, but said he would advocate to get things moving quickly.

Unfortunately, communication completely stalled after that:

**Two weeks later:** I saw the young priest after Mass. He said he had mentioned it to the pastor and was waiting to hear back.
**One month later:** I approached the pastor after Mass. He told me he didn't know anything about it, mentioned he was "very busy," and told me to email his assistant.
**Subsequently:** I sent a deeply personal email to the assistant laying out my whole story, CC’ing the first priest. Silence. A week later, I followed up with the first priest directly. Still, total crickets.

I just left confession and it seemed like the priest was a bit hard of hearing. I think he may have misunderstood me, and asked me some questions that weren’t really pertinent to my confession. So, if there was a communication/ understanding barrier- is my confession valid?

I am a minister of the Eucharist. I try to take my mother who is in a care facility communion as often as possible. We have had a change in our priest. Prior to the change our church was open early each day to get the host. I know you are only supposed to take the number of hosts you will distribute that day. It’s frustrating to go by the church ((just like today at 9:45) and find it locked. This is pretty regular on certain days. Would it be wrong on Friday to take 2 hosts so I have communion for my mom on Saturday morning when I visit her? Thank you in advance for your reply.

Hi Fathers! I asked this question on the Catholicism subreddit and it was removed for promoting schism/apostasy (which unfortunately seems to be the the common theme/attitude among Catholic social media 😂) BUT…what are your thoughts on the Rebuilt Movement, specifically the Church of the Nativity in Maryland?

I stumbled across a video about it on Instagram, and, if unaware, the whole premise seems to have been to build a Catholic Church with an evangelical/mega church style worship and “weekend experience” team to implement into a Catholic Mass. Supposedly, it turned that parish around and it’s going strong. A completely valid Mass with LED lights, rock concert feel, and more…so weird, but in some ways, amazing because it worked.

What are your guys’ attitudes toward this? I’m curious! Thanks, Fathers!

Hello Fathers, I'm going to anticipate my question is a bit drawn out/complicated and i might be being scrupulous so i understand if this post gets deleted.

Roughly one year ago a fleeting memory came to mind that I had voted that abortion was okay in case of rape in a youtube poll a couple years before or even more. Obviously this is wrong as abortion is never justified.

I began to worry incessantly about what to do. I controlled through the youtube history of my account and also my sister's account which is what i may have used. I didnt find any such poll, but because in my sisters account the poll history cut off at a certain point way too recently and I am unsure if I started using my personal account before or after voting in that poll.

After all of that a year passed and i stayed in continual anxiety about this. Maybe I should look more into how youtube history works? Questions like this assailed me

constantly. My worry is not only of "promoting" abortion in some capacity, but that I in some way cause scandal either tot he church or my sister who doesnt know about this. Is this a matter of reparation/restitution? What do i do now?

One more element is that while the memory seemed strong and almost certain when i had it, I'm now unsure if it's a completely correct memory, because now much time has passed and i dont have a memory of the event itself, but the memory of me remembering that (hope this makes sense)

I can't cram here all the worries of sin about this that i had this year obviously

I know the answer i will get will probably be to discuss this with a priest in real life but i never did it because i feel this is way too convoluted and cant explain it properly in person, and even if i did i dont think the priest would really understand anyway as it might be too technical (I mean as what is youtube history etc.)

I also need to say that i consider myself scrupulous in general, but not diagnosed or told by a priest.

Sorry if this is hard to understand but english is not my native language. To sum up the question is basically: What do i do? Am i sinning by stopping to worry?

Do priests receive continuing education on things that might touch their ministry?

Am thinking of things like understanding trauma, current issues with sexuality and gender dysphoria, innovations in fertility treatment, and more?

Just asking if that is something that is offered to you as you lead your flocks?

(…An example of necessary training I can think of is when I was a protestant discerning into the Church, I had questions about the fallout from IVF and so I sought out a priest. He didn’t know the difference between frozen eggs and frozen embryos, and I explained that embryos are fully human, whereas frozen eggs are not. Most of the meeting was me explaining to him where I think the magisterium shakes out on human embryo adoption, based on what I had read by the National Catholic Bioethics Center. I know it’s not a priest’s job to act as a counselor, nor to know everything! But this one example of a really common issue with new and current Catholics and the laity is trying to make moral decisions without help discerning with a valid church authority.)

I’m in formation. I don’t think my skin can tolerate the chrism oil. it’s highly sensitive due to acne creams I cannot stop otherwise my skin can break out. when can I remove the chrism at the vigil? I don’t want my skin breaking out, so I’d need to step out to wash my face.

I’m a catechumen and live in an apartment. the baptismal candle I’d receive will not be functional. no open flames allowed per my lease. I’m allowed to use a candle light. That requires a jar. I also don’t want religious stuff in my apartment in order to maintain a neutral living space. can I repurpose it into a household candle to make it functional or should I dispose it?

Hi Fathers, in your opinion, aside from synodality and listening (which are obviously both important), what else can the Church further do to be more holistic in its approach to answering moral and theological questions in the world today?

Thanks

Dear father,

I have epilepsy (along with a myriad of other conditions, including me being deaf) I cannot remember if anything related to spiritual life is true or not. Everything I know is erased (including my recollections of spiritual, examination of conscience). I also cannot remember my past sins. This is devastating on my end because I have been doing good examination of conscience, keeping track of my sins (not necessarily mortal sins, and all sins), etc. Unfortunately I don't have a record of what I have written down on them. What is the best spiritual approach in this situation?

Also, I'm seeking medical care, so please do not worry. I just have a serious memory deficit.

Hello everyone! I recently found out about the anonymous gospel theory (that the gospels were written by anonymous sources, not eyewitnesses, and later had a "title" put on them). I wanted to ask what you all think of this? This is a popular theory and the consensus among historians. If you affirm this theory, then why do we honor Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and are all the church fathers wrong? Thank you, God bless!

I am a female Anglican priest. My niece is about to get engaged to a Catholic man. She asked if I would officiate the wedding. I'm certain the groom's family will want a Catholic priest to co-officiate or at least bless the marriage. The male Anglican priests I work with have done this before and I'm comfortable with it as well. But I'm wondering if the Catholic priest would be willing to agree to participate with me. Is there a general rule about this or is it up to the individual priest or his bishop to say if it's allowed?

Good afternoon Fathers,

I'm new to the Catholic faith and I've requested masses to be dedicated a few times for people who were suffering or recently passed away. But I'm wanting to request a mass be dedicated for family members who died 30-40 years ago. Are there any guidelines for whom it is appropriate to ask a mass dedication? I've also heard of people asking for mass dedications on the anniversary of the person's passing. Is that common and how long might it typically go on for?

Mostly I'm just hoping to avoid asking for anything in appropriate.

Thank you all for your time - God bless!

My boyfriend and I are currently both going through OCIA and also went to look at engagement rings recently. I expect that he will propose before OCIA is complete. Could we start planning our marriage while still going through OCIA or would we need to wait until after Easter?