Tag: Question Box

By Thom Hennen
Question Box

Q. If a man and woman marry outside the Catholic Church, what do they need to do to have their marriage recognized in the Catholic Church?

A. This situation comes up frequently in parish ministry. Perhaps a couple’s faith was not as important to them at the time they got married as it is now. Maybe they had a “destination wedding” or for a variety of reasons decided to get married only in a civil ceremony at the time. Later these couples may wish to have their marriage “blessed” in the Church. However, it is not as simple as just calling a priest or deacon and asking for a quick blessing after Mass.

A couple in this situation should present themselves to their parish priest and explain their situation. Hopefully, the priest and the parish’s pastoral staff will be welcoming and accommodating in working with the couple. Nothing causes me to grind my teeth more as the vicar general than when I hear of someone trying to do the right thing only to be ignored, sent away or treated rudely by clergy or parish staff.

Yes, couples may be at the beginning of a deeper conversion process or may not have a realistic understanding of what is entailed in asking to be married in the Church, but if they are coming to us at all, we have reason to celebrate. The “new evangelization” is as much or more about handling these kinds of pastoral situations well as it is about preaching inspiring sermons or mastering social media.

Even if a couple has been civilly married for a number of years or already has children, they should go through a process of formation for marriage. From the perspective of the Church, this is not just a “blessing” or “renewal of vows,” it is truly their marriage in the Church. This process needs to be tailored to the couple’s circumstances, but adequate time is necessary to complete at least the basic components of marriage preparation as outlined by the diocese. This ensures that the couple is truly ready to make this spiritual commitment.

If either party has been married previously, they should make this known and will need to receive an annulment for the previous marriage before they can be married in the Catholic Church. Often, the couple can pursue this process parallel to their marriage preparation. Couples in this situation should also strive to exercise the virtue of chastity in keeping with their state in life (effectively, “unmarried” in the eyes of the Church) and, while continuing to participate in Mass, they should refrain from receiving Communion until their marriage in the Church.

Couples in this situation may worry they will have to shell out a lot of money and have a “big production” wedding. This is more a product of cultural expectation than any expectation of the Church. From the Church side of things, weddings are cheap — and even minimal fees may be waived in cases of genuine need. I have told couples in this situation that the ceremony can be as simple as the two of them, two witnesses, and me. Afterwards, they can go home for a celebratory grilled cheese sandwich if they like. Alternatively, they can “do it up” as a way of marking this truly important moment in their life together in relationship to God, the Church and each other. Paradoxically, as a culture I think we often make too big a deal of weddings and not enough of a big deal of marriage.

(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and Vicar General for the Diocese of Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)

By Father Thom Hennen
Question Box

Q. What are Ember Days and Rogation Days?
A. I am ashamed to admit that before receiving this question I was not really sure myself, so this forced me to hit the books. Thank you! The fact that I was largely unaware of these days is telling,

as previous generations of Catholics would have been familiar with them. Both Ember Days and Rogation Days were removed from the official Church calendar in the reforms following the Second Vatican Council, though particular parishes may still observe them in some fashion.

Basically, these are extra days of prayer and penance throughout the year. Rogation Days were celebrated around the time of spring planting. The major Rogation Day was April 25 and three minor Rogation Days were observed on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to Ascension Thursday. The word “rogation” comes from the Latin rogare — “to ask.” This was a time to ask God especially for favorable weather and conditions for planting, in hopes of a fruitful harvest. Various litanies were prayed and fields were blessed. The Ordo (calendar) booklet that parishes use today notes on April 25: “Today … the Greater Litanies were formerly celebrated. These public prayers implored God to preserve us from calam­ites and to bless the crops. The Order for the Blessing of Fields and Flocks may fittingly be celebrated today or some other convenient day in rural communities.”

Ember Days were four sets of three days that roughly corresponded to the seasons of the year. They were the Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following the first Sunday of Lent, Pentecost, Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sept. 14) and the feast of St. Lucy (Dec. 13). Following the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the Ordo notes: “Formerly, the Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday following the Feast of the Holy Cross were observed as Ember Days, a time to give thanks to God for the first fruits of the harvest. Rural communities may wish to celebrate the Order for a Blessing on the Occasion of Thanksgiving for the Harvest on one of these days or on some other occasion.”

Rogation Days and Ember Days are another expression from our tradition of our sacramental approach to the world. We observe the changing of seasons, recognize our connection to the land and dependence on God for all things. We ask God to bless our labors and we pray with our whole bodies — through practices such as fasting, abstinence from meat, pilgrimages and processions. Maybe something we have lost in “downgrading” these days is the idea that such practices are not limited to one season or Ash Wednesday and Good Friday but may be practiced year-round.

While we’re at it, people often mistakenly assume that Vatican II did away with weekly Friday penance. It did not. While significant changes were made to the rules surrounding fasting and abstinence in 1966, the Code of Canon Law still states: “Abstinence from eating meat or some other food according to the prescripts of the conference of bishops is to be observed on every Friday of the year unless a Friday occurs on a day listed as a solemnity” (can. 1251). The U.S. bishops added their own clarification, giving first place to abstinence from eating meat but allowing for another form of penance on Fridays throughout the year.

Of course, it is always good to remember that we do these things not because we are punishing ourselves or trying to earn God’s love but as a participation in the perfect sacrificial love of Christ and to open ourselves more fully to God’s grace.

(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and Vicar General for the Diocese of Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)

By Father Thom Hennen
Question Box

Q. I recently read that Pope Francis “conferred the ministry of lector” on some lay people. What does that mean?

Yes, on Jan. 22 of this year, Pope Francis conferred this ministry on seven lay people, five of whom were women. This follows a Motu Proprio (an edict issued by the pope “of his own initiative”)

from January 2021 in which Pope Francis modified the Code of Canon Law to open the ministries of lector and acolyte to women.

But wait, haven’t we had women lectors and acolytes (“altar servers”) for a long time? Yes, in practice this has been the case in most parishes since the 1970s and more officially since 1994. However, most Catholics may not realize that there is a more “official” ministry that, up until this change, was conferred on men only and generally only on those in the process of formation for the diaconate and priesthood. These ministries were part of what used to be called the “minor orders.”

Prior to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, there were five minor orders: porter, lector, exorcist, acolyte and subdeacon. These were seen as “steps” to the major orders: deacon, priest, bishop. Interestingly, in the main chapel at University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, the names of the orders in Latin are actually emblazoned on the steps ascending to the sanctuary. Following the council, the orders of lector and acolyte were kept and renamed “ministries” and the others were abrogated.

With the 2021 Motu Proprio it is now possible for women to receive these official ministries of the Church. What does this mean in practice in a parish setting? If you had an option between an instituted lector or acolyte, regardless of gender, and a non-instituted reader or server, the preference would generally be for the instituted lector or acolyte to exercise that ministry. Also, while all those who exercise these roles in the liturgy, whether officially instituted or not, should be qualified and trained to carry out this service well, instituted lectors and acolytes should especially receive appropriate formation.

These official ministries are also intended to be more stable. It is intended that parish volunteer readers and servers exercise those ministries for a limited period of time. Instituted ministers, on the other hand, are called to serve as lectors or acolytes in a more permanent way. Typically, instituted lectors and acolytes would also vest in an alb (the “baptismal garment”) for these ministries. If you have come to a major diocesan liturgy, you may have seen this, as often a seminarian or deacon candidate who has been officially instituted may vest and fulfill these ministries.

In addition to opening the ministries of lector and acolyte to women, in another Motu Proprio in May 2021 Pope Francis instituted (or really restored) the ancient ministry of catechist. Again, we have had volunteer catechists serving our parishes for a long time but, like those ministries of lector and acolyte, this is more official, more stable, will have more specific duties and requires more intense formation.

Why don’t we have these more official ministries in our diocese yet? As this is still a relatively recent change in the long life of the Church, we are still awaiting more specific national directives for the implementation of these ministries as well as a translation of the rites themselves. Once we have those, we will then need to decide as a diocese how best to implement these ministries, figure out some process for the selection of candidates and how best to go about providing the necessary formation — so stay tuned!

(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and Vicar General for the Diocese of Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)

By Father Thom Hennen
Question Box Column

Q. Why do we make the sign of the cross with the right hand?

A. I think the answer lies simply in the fact that most people are right-handed. Also, there was a long-held idea that the right was the side of goodness and the left was somehow evil. In fact, the

word for “left” in Latin is sinister. Of course, there is nothing inherently good about the right or “sinister” about the left.

I always get a kick out of watching little kids come into church and dip their fingers in the holy water font to bless themselves. Sometimes a kid will reach in with the right hand, sometimes with the left. Sometimes they will bless just the forehead and forget the rest. Sometimes it’s just an opportunity to splash. I know they’ll get it eventually and I’m just happy to see them trying, in imitation of their parents and older siblings. These are little ways in which the faith and our traditions are passed on.

Hence, there is no wrong way to make the sign of the cross, except to do so irreverently, as though swatting flies. I admit I am guilty of this myself at times, particularly in praying before a meal if I am alone — the hungrier I am, the faster I seem to pray.

Of course, there could also be good reason for using your left hand to bless yourself if you are unable to do so with your right hand due to injury or disability. In those cases, by all means make the sign of the cross with your left hand.

A related issue is which shoulder comes first? In the western, Roman/Latin tradition it is customary to go from forehead to chest, then to the left shoulder and end on the right. To me this seems a more natural motion for a right-hander, but there is undoubtedly some muscle memory at play here. In the eastern tradition, however, it is customary to go from the right shoulder to the left, effectively mirroring the gesture of the priest (as you are facing him) and he gives the blessing from (his) left to the right.

Yet another related question is how many fingers and in which formation? Generally in the Roman tradition we bless ourselves with the whole hand, all five fingers. In the eastern churches the index finger, middle finger, and thumb (symbolizing the Trinity) are held together and the pinky and ring finger are folded together into the palm (symbolizing the two natures of Christ, divine and human). Again, I don’t think there are wrong ways to do this, just different ways. That itself is testimony to the beautiful richness and variety of expression that exists within our faith.

Q. What is a role of a pastoral associate in a parish?

A. A pastoral associate is typically a lay person (though it could also be a deacon) who assists in the pastoral care of a parish. It is not a title found in Canon Law, though some dioceses have developed formal job descriptions. In looking at our most recent directory for the Diocese of Davenport, I count 11 parishes (out of 74) that list a pastoral associate. It tends to be a “catch all,” but as the word “pastoral” indicates, it is less focused on administration and more focused on ministering to the direct needs of the people. This is also different from a “parish life coordinator,” who is entrusted in a more formal way with the day-to-day running of a parish without a resident pastor.

(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and Vicar General for the Diocese of Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)

By Father Thom Hennen

Q. I have been Catholic all my life but have never heard grace explained. Can you help me?

A. I can certainly try in just a few words here. Yes, “grace” is a word that we throw around a lot in the Church, and yet I would bet if you were to ask a room full of practicing Catholics what grace is, you would discover silence and not a few puzzled looks. Grace is something we only seem to have a sense of when it is experienced or when we have no other way of explaining some good in our lives.

I think the best, most succinct definition of grace from the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” is simply “a participation in the life of God” (para. 1997). In other words, it is a sharing in or a kind of “tapping into” God’s own divine life.

At the heart of the concept of grace is the idea that it is pure gratuitous gift. While we can open ourselves to this gift (for example, through prayer and the sacraments), it cannot be bought or earned. I think Catholics, in particular, can fall into a trap of thinking of God like a “vending machine” of grace. We go to church, we put our money in the basket, we say our prayers, we do something nice for someone and then we expect God to give us our grace. And, when he doesn’t (or we don’t immediately perceive the grace that is given), we kick the “machine,” grumble and walk away feeling ripped off.

However, God is not a vending machine and “owes” us nothing. That being said, it is in God’s nature to love us. Grace is an expression or overflowing of that love in our lives. It has more to do with who God is than anything we have done.

This touches also on the concept of “merit” in Catholic theology. However, even here the Catechism states, “With regard to God, there is no strict right to any merit on the part of man … for we have received everything from [God], our Creator. The merit of man before God in the Christian life arises from the fact that God has freely chosen to associate man with the work of his grace. The fatherly action of God is first on his own initiative, and then follows man’s free acting through his collaboration, so that the merit of good works is to be attributed in the first place to the grace of God, then to the faithful” (CCC, paras. 2007-2008). In other words, even my hopefully generous response to God’s gift of grace is itself the working of grace, a gift from God. The only adequate response is thanksgiving, which happens to be the meaning of the word “Eucharist.”

The Church further distinguishes between “sanctifying grace” and “actual grace.” Sanctifying grace (received at baptism) is a “stable and supernatural disposition,” whereas actual grace refers to particular “interventions” of God (cf. CCC, para. 2000). All analogies “limp,” as they say, but you might think of sanctifying grace a bit like being “plugged in,” like a lamp in your home. As long as there is power (and with God there always is), the grace is “flowing.” Actual graces are like “pulses” that enable certain things to happen when needed, like God “turning on the lamp.”
I know that is a lot to ponder (and probably doesn’t begin to scratch the surface), but I hope that helps as we all strive to understand better and open ourselves more to the gift of God’s grace.

(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and Vicar General for the Diocese of Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)

By Father Thom Heenen
Question Box

Q. Why didn’t John the Baptist recognize Jesus, even though they were cousins?
A. This is something that has always puzzled me, too. I think we could reasonably assume that, as second cousins, they would have known each other. Perhaps when Jesus’ family traveled from

Nazareth in the north to Jerusalem annually for Passover and other celebrations they would have met up with or even stayed with their family in the hill country south of the city. Yet, when Jesus shows up to be baptized in the Jordan, we get the impression that John did not really recognize him as his relative, let alone as the longed-for Messiah.

In Matthew’s Gospel, from prison John even sends his disciples to ask if Jesus is “the one who is to come” or if they should look for another (Mt 11:2-3). But earlier we find John protesting that he should be baptized by Jesus and not the other way around (Mt 3:14). It certainly seemed that John knew who Jesus was then, so why second guess himself later? Luke’s Gospel indicates that John recognized Jesus even before they were born, as he leapt in his mother’s womb at the sound of Mary’s greeting at the Visitation (Lk 1:41). John’s Gospel has John the Baptist immediately and confidently pointing out Jesus as the “Lamb of God.” Yet, twice John says, “I did not know him” (Jn 1:31, 33). It is confusing.

I think it is important to remember that we are trying to meld together different but corroborating accounts. The fact that they are not exactly identical adds, in fact, to their overall credibility. It does seem that John knew Jesus and even understood something about his identity and his mission, but that does not mean he knew or understood fully. As with Jesus’ own disciples there is a sense of gradual revelation. In this way, I think we can identify with John the Baptist. After all, we know Jesus and yet we don’t know him. We are always striving to know him better, to believe more wholeheartedly that he is who he is and to allow that faith to bear fruit in our lives.

Jesus’ answer to John’s query from prison is simply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them” (Mt 11:4-5). John would have recognized in this reply the words of the prophet Isaiah and had his answer. This may have been a coded way for Jesus to reassure his cousin and it was undoubtedly an important way for the Gospel writer to establish Jesus’ identity for a largely Jewish audience and for future generations.

Q. Given all that Jesus suffered for us, why must I do penance for my sins? Wasn’t Jesus’ redemption enough?
A. The redemption that Jesus won for us by his passion, death and resurrection was absolutely enough, more than enough in fact. But doing penance following confession is not about “paying for” our sins. If that were the case, we would be trying in vain to save ourselves. Rather, penance is meant to be medicinal, like applying salve to a wound. It is not punishment, but a way of opening ourselves through prayer or some small denial of self to the healing work of Christ the “Divine Physician.”

(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and Vicar General for the Diocese of Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)

Fr. Thom Hennen
Question Box

Q. What are the requirements for godparents and confirmation sponsors?
A. Canon Law states that insofar as possible there should be a person to assist the person to be baptized “to lead a Christian life in keeping with baptism,” and similarly, “to take care that the confirmed person behaves as a true witness of Christ” (Can. 872 and 892).

What we typically call “godparents” are simply called baptismal “sponsors” in Canon Law and you don’t actually need two. One sponsor of either sex is sufficient, though if you have two, one is to be male and one is to be female (Can. 873).

Sponsors for both baptism and confirmation are to be at least 16 years of age, must “have the aptitude and intention of fulfilling this function,” must themselves be fully initiated Catholics (having received the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist), and very importantly, must “lead a life of faith in keeping with the function being taken on” (Can. 874). Further, they should not be bound by any canonical penalty and cannot be the parent of the one to be baptized or confirmed (Can. 874).

A person who is not Catholic is “not to participate except together with a Catholic sponsor and then only as a witness of the baptism” (Can. 874 §2). In other words, if you have a baptized but non-Catholic “godparent,” that person cannot technically be the sponsor for baptism. Typically, the baptized non-Catholic party is listed as a “Christian witness.”

Such was the case for me personally, as my sister and brother-in-law were my “godparents.” At the time, my brother-in-law was not Catholic, though later came into the Church. So, as an interesting aside, when he was received into full communion with the Church, did he then officially become my baptismal sponsor too? I don’t know, but in either case, I absolutely consider him my “godfather” and he has more than capably fulfilled the role. I later asked him to be my confirmation sponsor as well, which I learned is actually the preference of Canon Law. Canon 893 §2 states: “It is desirable to choose as a [confirmation] sponsor the one who undertook the same function in baptism.”

Many people still mistakenly think that the “godparents” are responsible for raising and supporting the child in the event that the child’s parents would die. This may have been the long held cultural practice in the past and the expectation of some still today, but Canon Law mentions nothing about this. Again, on a personal note, if this were still the expectation, I would really be in trouble, as I am the baptismal sponsor/“godfather” for five children. (By the way, family and friends, I am capping it at five, as that is what I can count on one hand or five decades of the rosary.)

Perhaps at the heart of this question is what qualities are ideal in a baptismal or confirmation sponsor? Apart from those more concrete canonical requirements, ideally baptismal and confirmation sponsors should be people who truly live a life of Christian discipleship, which is not to say they are perfect, but that they are believers striving for greater holiness. They should be a good example of the faith and someone who can really help the young person in their journey of faith. Rather than just choosing a relative or family friend out of a sense of social obligation, parents and confirmands would do well to really discern this choice. And if you are baptized and confirmed, pray for your sponsors, whether still living or deceased.

(Father Thom Hennen serves as the pastor of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport and Vicar General for the Diocese of Davenport. Send questions to messenger@davenportdiocese.org)