Ask a Franciscan
When Did Jesus become a Catholic?
Q: A few years ago, I overheard a Catholic woman ask her friend, “When did Jesus become a Catholic?” A few of us laughed but did try to explain that Jesus was the Christ. He was born Jewish and died Jewish.
One of my Jewish friends asked me, “When did Jesus become a Christian?” Soon after that, a relative asked me, “Well, when did he become a Catholic?” Please address these questions in your column.
Is Social Justice Marxism?
Q: I am a big supporter of Glenn Beck and all the work he is doing to save the country. On one of his programs, he was discussing social justice, which is Marxism, and how the government is trying to absorb the ...
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Aren’t Martyrs Automatically Canonized?
Q: The feast of Saint Charles Lwanga and companion martyrs (June 3) recently raised a question for me. On July 17, 1794, 16 Carmelite nuns were guillotined in Compiègne, France, for their faith. As a secular Carmelite, I have always considered them ...
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Admitting Gross Historical Injustices
Call it tribalism, but I’ve always cast a skeptical eye on the Dominicans ever since I learned about their role in the Inquisition. Do you have any advice for thinking about historical misdeeds?
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Still a Leper?
In Matthew 26:6-13 and Mark 14:3-9, we read that Jesus was eating at the home of “Simon the leper” when Jesus was anointed with costly perfumed oil. Did Jesus heal Simon of his leprosy?
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One of Life's Great Losses
How do I understand and find peace in the death of a parent? Please accept my condolences on the death of your father or mother. Allow yourself to grieve properly but without being absolutely consumed or paralyzed by this death. ...
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Who Informed the Biblical Writers?
How did the gentlemen who gathered together to write the Bible do so? Where did their information come from? The holy Bible is beautifully written. When was it written? How did they know all the details? Ultimately, God inspired them ...
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