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Is it a sin to place a bet on a horse race? What about lotteries or betting on sports contests? What does the Catholic Church think about playing slot machines? At times it seems that the Church opposes gambling, but isn’t bingo a form of gambling?
Q. I’m having a difference of opinion with a friend who says that scrupulosity is a sin. I say it is not. What does the Catholic Church teach on this?
Q. Is there a minimum age before someone can be designated as a reader at Mass? Must that person be confirmed?
A. There is no minimum age, and having received the Sacrament of Confirmation is not a requirement. Carrying out this service to the Church is a matter of someone’s ability to read effectively in a faith-filled way during public worship.
Q. During Advent we hear Gospel readings about John the Baptist and his ministry. This month we celebrate Jesus’ Baptism by John. This, however, was not a Jewish practice, was it? Why was John baptizing in the first place?
It is difficult to say if my love for all creatures, great and small, developed because I was named after Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment. Or if I was born with an innate understanding of Saint Francis’ deep love for animals, the environment, and life.
The pope was speaking about injustice and oppression, saying that transformation and conversion come with “tears that purify our gaze and enable us to see the cycle of sin.” He had come to the border at the end of his sixday pastoral visit to Mexico. In solidarity with migrants, he appealed for mercy for those forced to leave their homeland, “expelled by poverty and violence, by drug trafficking and criminal organizations.”
Mired in grief over the loss of her husband, this college professor found a kindred spirit in another widow: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
I realize now what a stupid idea it was, but at the time it seemed appealing. It was my youngest daughter’s brainstorm: To mark the advent of 2000, she said, we should all go up to the highest hill in the city and see the first sunrise of the new millennium.
It didn’t take the horrors of September 11, 2001, to convince Eboo Patel of the importance of working toward interfaith understanding, cooperation and service.
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