01	Misericordia et Misera - The apostolic letter of Pope Francis at the closing of the Jubilee Year of Mercy - Read more..........
02	The Summary of Post synodal Exhortation of Pope Francis on Family - Read more..........
03	Bishop Gerard Holohan's Easter Message - Read more...........
04	The Lenten Message of the Holy Father - Read more........
05	The Pope decrees that not only men may be chosen for the washing of the feet in the Liturgy of Holy Thursday - Read more....

 

Question 01

I've heard priests talk about being judged at the moment of death and then going to our eternal destination ... ie either straight to Heaven if we are good enough, or else to be cleansed until we are ready for Heaven. I have also heard priests talk about our departed loved ones as being 'asleep' and in waiting to be welcomed into Heaven.

Answer.

To answer it well, we need to keep in mind that a human person is a permanent union of a mortal body and an immortal soul. At the moment of death, our souls are separated from our bodies. So, it is in our immortal souls that we are referred to Christ for particular judgment according to what we have done (Mt 16:27; Rom 2:6; Catechism 1021-22). The Last Judgment, however, also involves the resurrection and reunification of mortal bodies with immortal souls (Jn 5:28-29; Catechism 1038-41). Thus, in the Last Judgment, we shall be whole again, body and soul, and given our full share of eternal reward or retribution. But those who have already died and are awaiting the Last Judgment have already been judged, and their immortal souls are now either receiving the reward they will receive for all eternity or are being prepared for it by purification. We can aid them by our prayers, good works and indulgences.

      This temporary disintegration of the human person at death, the occasional separation of the soul from the body between death and the Last Judgment, has presented Christian authors with the challenge to describe it in appropriate ways. Those who have died are not like us; their bodies lie in the earth in expectation of the Last Judgment. So, St Paul, for example, said they are "asleep" until the Day of the Lord dawns (1 Cor 15:6, cf Eucharistic Prayers I and II), and that their bodies have been "sown" in the ground like seeds to bear fruit in a new life (1 Cor 15:37). This symbolic language is a help to us who must prepare for death and judgment to describe the mystery of our passage to the eternal life in Christ.

 

 Question 02

In John 20:22, Jesus breathed on his apostles and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit " This was just after the resurrection and before the ascension of Jesus. So, it seems that our Lord needs to first ascend to his Father and be glorified and then the Holy Spirit will come during the Pentecost- if so how do explain John 20:22 where the Holy Spirit was given to the apostles there before the ascension?

 Answer

The simple answer is to realise that the Gospels are not history books and therefore are not meant to have an historical accuracy that we would expect from an account of the Second World War for example.
That is not to say that they are not the truth; indeed they express the very profound truth of Jesus Ministry on earth.
The Holy Spirit is the procession of God's love into the world, commencing with the Apostles and then to all. John's Gospel expresses this in a different way to the synoptics (Matthew, Mark and Luke) and is a more theological work. Just as the Holy Spirit is with us always but we receive that Spirit in a particular Sacramental way at Baptism, Confirmation and other sacred moments in life, so too the Spirit was always with the Apostles but in a special way at the first Pentecost.
I guess the most important part is for us to realise that the Spirit gave gifts to the Apostles which we also inherit and which gives us the responsibility, like them, to proclaim the Good News.

Question - 03

It is said that every person both alive and dead (but risen at the rapture) will be judged by God. Will God reflect on the good things that we have done and ignore the sins, even if we haven't done a confession before the rapture? Or will we be punished forever owing to the sins we've committed and ignore our good deeds?

Answer

There is no "rapture" in Catholic teaching, this is a term used by some groups of Protestants.

When we die we are judged according to what we have done. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:

"No.1021- Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works and faith. The parable of the poor man Lazarus and the words of Christ on the cross to the good thief, as well as other New Testament texts speak of a final destiny of the soul -a destiny which can be different for some and for others."
Then, there is the Last Judgment, when both those dead and living will have a final judgment. This last judgment will not change the decision already given for those who had previously died and received their individual judgment, but it will be the first and last judgment for those still alive at the time of the Last Judgment. The Catechism of the Catholic church explains that:
"No.1038- The resurrection of all the dead, "of both the just and the unjust," will precede the Last Judgment. This will be "the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear [the Son of man's] voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." Then Christ will come "in his glory, and all the angels with him .... Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.... and they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
At the time of judgment our good deeds will not be ignored, but our sins will also be taken into account. If at the time of death, or for those alive at the Last Judgment, a person has unrepented or un-confessed grave sins then their souls are in grave danger.

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Question 04.

I was wondering what the difference between a Catholic Bishop/Archbishop and a Patriarch, for example, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. I was also wondering what the difference between these Patriarchs, the Othodox Patriarchs and the five that use to exist - Rome, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria.

I've heard that the Catholic Patriarchs are essentially Cardinals, but I'm not sure much more than that. And also, who is the Ecumenical Patriarch that Pope Francis met in the Holy Land recently?

Answer.

Dear Friend,

The title of patriarch comes from the Greek "patriarches", that means chief or head of a family. It is a title given to some metropolitan archbishops. Metropolitan comes from another Greek word meaning "mother", so it is used to refer to dioceses that have a certain importance, either because of their size or for some historical reason.

Patriarch is a title used predominantly in the Eastern churches. There are those that used to exist, as you mention, but due to historical changes the Christian population in some of these cities ceased to exist or was reduced to a minimal presence.

A patriarch is the title of a bishop with the highest possible rank and means he is superior to all the other bishops within the area that is responsible for and is only answerable to the pope.

The five sees you mention were the five main centres of the Church in the early centuries. In 325 the Council of Nicea gave first place to the patriarchs of Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome. Later Constantinople and Jerusalem were added to the list at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, by taking away territory from Jerusalem.

The Pope was previously referred to as the Patriarch of the West, but Benedict XVI dropped this title in 2006.

Currently there are a number of Patriarchs, for each one of the Eastern or Oriental rite Churches.

I think the Patriarch you refer to during the visit by Pope Francis is that of Constantinople - Bartholomew.

Also, why are the Patriarchs, e.g. of Jerusalem, called Patriarchs and not Metropolitan Archbishops? Are Metropolitan Archbishops, e.g. of Melbourne, considered the same rank? Since they are the highest possible rank, can they vote for the Pope?

I think that from what i mentioned before it is clear that the title of Patriarch is given because of some special importance, either for historical reasons or because it represents a particular rite in the Church. A patriarch is a higher title than a metropolitan, but of course they only have authority within their specific area. Only cardinals participate in a papal conclave.

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Question - 05

What does the Church say about the state of limbo??
Does it still believe in this teaching or was it abolished?
Also, what does the Church say about infants who die before they receive baptism?
Because although they have not committed any sin of their own, they do still have the original sin.

Answer

Limbo was never a defined dogma, but more of an opinion by some theologians. A few years ago the International Theological Commission published a document on the matter. The problem is how to reconcile the need for baptism, because of original sin, with the mercy of God. This is part of what the statement said.

"The conclusion of this study is that there are theological and liturgical reasons to hope that infants who die without baptism may be saved and brought into eternal happiness, even if there is not an explicit teaching on this question found in Revelation. However, none of the considerations proposed in this text to motivate a new approach to the question may be used to negate the necessity of baptism, nor to delay the conferral of the sacrament. Rather, there are reasons to hope that God will save these infants precisely because it was not possible to do for them that what would have been most desirable— to baptize them in the faith of the Church and incorporate them visibly into the Body of Christ."

Basically, therefore, the current state of theological opinion is that, yes, baptism is necessary, but we also have hope in God's mercy to save those who never had a chance to be baptized.

ABOUT FR JOHN FLYNN

The Questions are Answered by Fr John Flynn Through Xt3.com. Fr. John Flynn is a member of the congregation of the Legionaries of Christ. Originally from Sydney, he has been living in several countries in past years, but has returned to Australia. He was based in Rome from 1989 until March 2008,