Question Corner: Why is Mary’s perpetual virginity so controversial for Protestants? January 1, 2025By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner The church has constantly taught the belief in Mary’s perpetual virginity from her very foundation, this teaching has also been somewhat of a “hot topic,” even in ancient times.
Question Corner: What is the point of the Mass reading about the genealogy of Jesus? December 18, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner God uses the lowly, the humble and the unexpected to achieve his purposes. It perfectly sets the stage for the greatest “surprise” of all, that the King of Kings should come to us in humble circumstances, born of a virgin and laid in a manger.
Question Corner: Could Jesus sin? If not, was he truly human and free? December 11, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner If we consider sin as a turning away from God or breaking God’s commandments, then it would seem to be a logical impossibility for Jesus to sin. Jesus, as God, cannot turn away from or betray himself. And we know that Jesus never did sin in actual fact.
Question Corner: Can my son be baptized? December 4, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner, Worship & Sacraments In a beautiful way, the church’s law in this area echoes the words of Jesus himself: “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Mt 19:14).
Question Corner: Does marriage transcend death? November 26, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Marriage & Family Life, Question Corner As our Catholic funeral liturgy reminds us, for God’s faithful “life is changed, not ended” with bodily death; and by analogy we can also conclude that although the love of spouses may be changed into something different from specifically married love, this does not mean that this love no longer exists.
Question Corner: Is Dec. 9 a holy day of obligation this year? November 20, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner, Worship & Sacraments The solution for competing solemnities is to transfer the liturgical celebration of the non-Sunday holy day to the first subsequent available date. Thus, in the year 2024, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated in our liturgy on Monday, Dec. 9.
Question Corner: What’s the scriptural basis for praying for dead and venerating relics? November 13, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner, Uncategorized The Catholic customs of praying for the souls of the dead, praying to the saints who have gone before us in earthly life, and of venerating relics are based primarily in the church’s long-standing tradition and theology rather than explicit scriptural “prooftexts.” However, the Bible does indeed allude to these practices.
Question Corner: What is an indulgence? November 6, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner Indulgences are deeply rooted in several key Catholic theological concepts, such as the nature of purgatory, the church’s authority, the spiritual power of prayer and sacrifice and the communion of saints.
Question Corner: Do most people make it to heaven? October 31, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner Jesus was trying to explain the goal and some possible pitfalls to avoid. He never suggests that he was giving us a breakdown of who attains salvation in terms of percentages.
Question Corner: What is church’s teaching on transgender issues? October 23, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner The church is against any “gender ideology” that would separate the concept of psychological gender from biological sex; or which would propose that one’s sex could be changed through medical or surgical means; or which would hold that one’s bodily sex could be somehow wrong or mistaken in light of one’s self-perception of one’s gender.
Question Corner: If most of us go to purgatory at death, are Catholics ‘saved?’ October 16, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner Although purgatory is not exactly a “punishment” in the way we would tend to use the term today, traditionally purgatory has been understood to involve a degree of suffering.
Question Corner: What are ‘non-sacramental’ marriages? October 9, 2024By Jenna Marie Cooper OSV News Filed Under: Commentary, Question Corner A valid marriage is essentially a marriage where the wedding “worked,” and produced a true bond. In contrast, an attempted marriage where one of these necessary elements was absent would be considered an “invalid” or “null” marriage.
