Jenna Marie Cooper

Catholics believe in a state called purgatory, which is a place of purification specifically in preparation for heaven.

We could describe the beginning of the Book of Genesis as a sort of “theological history,” because it tells us, in narrative form, some real and important things about the nature of God and his relationship to creation.

When Jesus was “resurrected” in the proper sense of the term, he moved totally beyond death and could never die again.

When we confess our sins to a priest in the sacrament of penance, we can know with confidence that our sins are forgiven, because of Jesus’ own words.

Even in the heavenly life of the world to come, we retain our human nature.

Calling something like an unlikely sports comeback a “miracle” is using quite a bit of poetic license, since there is a readily discernible natural explanation for the victory (namely, the skill of the athletes, which the athletes acquired through their own human efforts).

Even in an emergency, non-ordained laypeople are not able to confer absolution; nor can Catholic deacons, even though they are ordained.