<![CDATA[S.A.L.T | St. Aloysius Lifeteen - Ask Fr. Jakub]]>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:11:31 +0700Weebly<![CDATA[Easter Vigil Mass]]>Tue, 12 May 2009 03:20:06 +0700http://saltonline.weebly.com/2/post/2009/05/easter-vigil-mass.htmlDoes going to the Easter Vigil fulfill my Easter mass obligation or will I still have to go to mass on Easter Sunday?

Hey anonymous thanks for the question - its been a long time since anyone has asked me anything!! The Easter Vigil definitely counts for your Easter Mass obligation - that is like the highpoint of Eucharistic celebrations during the year. Its a long Mass with the blessing of fire and Paschal Candle, the many readings, Baptisms, Confirmations and Receptions into the Church - and its long for a reason. Its a beautiful way to celebration the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter.Another point for your consideration: when you go to Mass on Saturday night (anytime after about 4PM), that usually fulfills your Sunday obligation - its called the Mass of Anticipation - anticipating Sunday. But, if you go to a wedding on Saturday afternoon that does not (on most occasions) fulfill the Sunday obligation - hope that helps, thanks for the question.
Pax et bonuum. 
Fr. Jakub

]]><![CDATA[The Catholic Church]]>Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:23:36 +0700http://saltonline.weebly.com/2/post/2008/09/would-the-catholic-church-be-angry-or-upset-with-me-if-they-found-out-i-had-left-the-church-to-follow-christ-in-another-religion.htmlWould the Catholic church be angry or upset with me if they found out I had left the church to follow Christ in another religion?

Chelsea,
This is an important question and it really gets to the heart of what the Catholic Church is all about.  The Catholic Church believes that She was founded by Jesus Christ and that Christ gave power and authority to the Church to teach in His name.  As Catholics we believe their are certain spiritual realities that can only be attained in the Catholic Church b/c Christ gave them to the Church.  The Eucharist being the prime example - we believe that the Eucharist is the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ - only the Catholic Church has that gift.  Same thing with the Sacrament of Confession.  In that Confession our sins are truly forgiven, no where else we can go to get that.  So to walk away from the Catholic Church is to walk away from the Church that Christ founded.  The Catholic Church is not perfect, there are all sorts of problems in the Church.  Why are there so many problems, b/c the Church is made up of people and people have problems.  There is no Church that does not have problems, but their is only one Church that was founded by Jesus Christ Himself.  Thanks for the question. 

Veritas vos liberabit.  FJ
 



]]><![CDATA[How do you know that God cares when I see so much suffering?]]>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:51:37 +0700http://saltonline.weebly.com/2/post/2008/07/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit1.htmlHow do you  know that God cares when I see so much suffering?  He doesn't answer my
prayers and sometimes I wonder why we pray for God's will if that is what  he is going to do anyway.  Why do we go to confession if we can ask God to  forgive us?
-Mark

 Mark - thanks for the question and a pretty difficult one at that..  Suffering in the world is one the hardest things to make sense out of, especially when innocent people go through some pretty bad stuff.  Suffering can be caused by a lot of different things.  1) Sometimes we suffer b/c of the choices that we make.  If you live life apart from God and how God intends you to live, then you are not going to experience the happiness and joy God wants to give you, i.e. you suffer in a way.  Actions and choices have consequences.  2)  Sometimes we suffer because of the actions of other people.  If we stand up for what is right, people may make fun of us and laugh at us etc., those people can cause us to suffer, even  when we tried to do the right thing.  One step further, and this is difficult, think to 11 Sept. 2001 and all the innocent lives that were lost and the sufferings that resulted.  That suffering was caused by those who chose to do those horrible acts.  God did not cause the suffering, but He was there to guide us after that tragedy, especially those who were directly affected.Let me tell you prayer DOES work - but not always as we intend.  If we are praying for something that is not really good for us, then God cannot give us what we want, even if we keep asking.  Think about a little kid who asks his parents to let him drink Clorox, the parents will always say no no matter how much the child asks, why, b/c the effect will be bad if he drinks Clorox, no matter how good he may think it is.  God knows what is really good for us, on the other hand, we don't always know what is good for us.  God can only give us those things that are truly and eternally good for us.  So He is always listening, but he answers by giving us what is really good for us.  That is why we should always end our prayers by saying 'God not what i want but what you know is good for me - not my will your will be done.' This answer is to long, so write back in a week and i will answer the Confession question.  Thanks for asking, great question, it's hard to make sense and see things from God's perspective, but keep trying, keep asking and God will listen and will act in your life - BE OPEN TO RECEIVE.

 Pax Christi..







]]><![CDATA[Fasting during Lent]]>Sat, 12 Apr 2008 07:08:26 +0700http://saltonline.weebly.com/2/post/2008/04/fasting-during-lent.htmlWhy during lent we give something up that we really love and then on sunday we can have it? What the point of that? -Matthew Marzorati

Matt - thanks for the question, even though we are in Easter it is important to know why we as Catholics do the crazy things we do.  Lent is the liturgical season when we seek a deeper conversion in our relationship to the Lord.  In Lent we focus on turning away from sin and turning towards the Gospel.  To do that we take something we like (TV, internet, texting, video games etc.) and we give that up for the Lenten season.  In doing that we offer a sacrifice, meaning we do away with something we like to show that we love God above everything else in our life - even more then TV, internet and texting - i know its crazy but we should love God more then those things.  By giving up something we like, we detach ourselves from material things in order to focus on higher, heavenly, things.  On Sunday's we can use the thing we gave up in Lent b/c Sunday is a Solemnity and typically we don't fast on Solemnities.  It's funny once you give something up you really want and long for whatever it is that you gave which makes the sacrifice all the greater.  God works in mysterious ways. Victimae Paschali... Fr. Jakub

]]><![CDATA[What do we do after recieving communion?]]>Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:29:05 +0700http://saltonline.weebly.com/2/post/2008/03/what-do-we-do-after-recieving-communion.htmlI'm not a member of this youth group but I have a question anyway. When are we supposed to sit down during communion? We always kneel at my parish, but I'm never sure when to sit down. Is just sitting OK? Do we have to kneel? What about standing up? Thanks.                                          -Vincent Hart


Vincent - you can still ask questions even though your not part of SALT.  There really is no official rule in the Church about when you are to sit after receiving communion.  There is a reason why we stand, kneel and sit during Mass.  Standing during Mass is a sign of respect - usually you stand when meet someone important and they enter the room - in Church we stand while Gospel is being proclaimed, Creed recited, procession into Church etc.  Kneeling is a way of expressing honor and adoration - kneel after communion to express adoration of mystery we have just received.  Sitting during Mass is a posture of listening - listening to God speak (why we sit for Scripture readings and Homily).  At St. Al's we recommend that people sit down after the Tabernacle door has been closed or the priest sits down, either is acceptable.  Some people choose to sit after receiving communion because of age or health and that is acceptable.  Thanks for the question.

Pax Christi..
FJ

]]><![CDATA[How many days of Christmas are there?]]>Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:24:45 +0700http://saltonline.weebly.com/2/post/2008/01/8-days-of-christmas.htmlAs Catholics, Christmas isn't over yet. But what is the difference between Christmas season (end/beginning), the 8 days of Christmas, and the 12 days of Christmas? I know they all mean something...but what's the difference?

- Jill

Jill thanks for the question - its after Christmas as I answer this, sorry.  Christmas as we all know is the celebration of the birth of Christ.  Christmas gets celebrated for 8 days, from Dec. 25 - Jan. 1, and is called the Octave of Christmas.  Each of those 8 days are celebrated just like Christmas day (we do the same thing at Easter, celebrate Easter for 8 days).  The Christmas season ends with the Baptism of the Lord (this year that was Sun. Jan. 13).  The 12 days of Christmas was a song that was written in England when it was a crime to be Catholic, so all the things in the 12 days are hidden references to aspects of our faith.  So it is like a catechism in hiding so that people could still express their faith without going to jail.  When you read what each stands for it is really cool.  Do a google search!  Thanks for the question - hope NY is going well. 

 Pax Christi..  FJ

]]><![CDATA[Pax Christi]]>Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:03:33 +0700http://saltonline.weebly.com/2/post/2008/01/pax-christi.htmlI noticed you sign everything with Pax Christi. What does that mean? -Megan

Finally someone noticed - let's give Megan a million dollars!  Now to the answer, Pax Christi is a pretty simple Latin expression.  Pax means peace, Christi is the Latin declension of Christus with means Christ.  So in essence it means the peace of Christ.  I put it at the end which means the peace of Christ be with you.  Thanks again, maybe now I'll try some better expressions!


Pax Christi..

]]><![CDATA[Could satan ever go back to heaven?]]>Wed, 19 Dec 2007 02:42:17 +0700http://saltonline.weebly.com/2/post/2007/12/could-satan-ever-go-back-to-heaven.html Could satan ever go back to heaven? - Amanda Wood

Amanda, thanks for the question.  Angels (satan/devil was an angel that was created good by God) are different from humans.  Humans have their whole life to make choices, according to their conscience (another topic), to live the plan that God has in store for them - or they can reject that plan.  Angels were also created with the ability to choose, but they choose only one time, to either live God's plan or reject that plan.  Those that chose to reject that plan are demons, satan being the 'leader of the pack' so to say.  Once angels made that choice, for either good or evil, there was no going back on it.  But it was still their choice and decision.  God always allows us to choose - he won't force us.  For humans there is no more choice after death; why this life is so important.  Angels had one choice, for good or evil, and they cannot go back on that choice.  It is always a choice (for us and angels) that is freely made - God does not force us - love can't be forced or else it is no longer love!! (See Catechism of the Catholic Church - #391-395)

Pax Christi....
Fr. Jakub

 

]]><![CDATA[Why non-Catholics cannot receive Communion in a Catholic Church]]>Mon, 26 Nov 2007 10:56:05 +0700http://saltonline.weebly.com/2/post/2007/11/why-non-catholics-cannot-receive-communion-in-a-catholic-church.html

Can you please explain why non-Catholics cannot receive Communion in a Catholic Church and vice/versa?  Thank you. - Maria Wood

Great question and an important one.  If someone is not Catholic the reason that they should not receive the Eucharist is because they do no believe what we believe about the Eucharist (if they did they would become Catholic).  As Catholics we believe that the Eucharist is the real presence of Our Lord - body, blood, soul and divinity.  If people do not have the same belief then they should not receive Communion.  And to go one step further, when we say Amen and receive Communion we are also saying that we agree (or are struggling to understand) everything that the Church teaches.  In the Eucharist we say Amen to the whole teaching of Christ and the Church.  If we as Catholics go to another Christian church for some event, we do not receive at their church because we do not believe what they believe.  It really is a respect thing!!  One step further - if as Catholics we are in a state of mortal sin then we also should not receive Communion until we first go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  The Eucharist is a great gift and so it must be treated that way!!!

Pax Christi,
Fr. Jakub

]]><![CDATA[How bad is it to get mad?]]>Tue, 03 Jul 2007 11:07:11 +0700http://saltonline.weebly.com/2/post/2007/07/how-bad-is-it-to-get-mad.html

Though we all know that Jesus is God, as a human He also got upset and at times very angry. So my question is - is it a sin to lose your temper and do we need to go to confession when we do?     -Maria Wood

The CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church - you have to get one and read it) tells us that anger is an emotion that is not wrong/sinful in itself (and thank God b/c I'm always getting angry...although that's probably not good)  It becomes sinful when someone allows the feelings of anger to come out in unhealthy ways (like hitting things - or saying things to others in angry tone - saying things about others to get revenge for what they have done/said to us).  Jesus did express anger in the Temple when overturned the tables - this would be righteous anger because he saw how God's house (Temple) was being misused and this caused him to be angry and to express that anger.  The big difference between His anger and ours is that he gets angry for good reasons (b/c His Father's house was being desecrated) - Jesus motivation for anger is that the Father is not being given his proper props..  Good question and it can be difficult to determine when anger is just an emotion that is not wrong and when we cross the line by acting on that emotion in unhealthy/sinful ways..  Read the Gospel of John 2:13-16 about Jesus in the Temple...

Pax Christi..
FJ   

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