In order to ensure that declarations of nullity are not simply “rubber stamped” or “cop outs,” the church has a specific process, carried out through the ministry of diocesan marriage tribunals, for investigating whether or not a marriage was invalid.

Some seminaries attach the wearing of clerical clothes to a specific stage of formation called “candidacy,” but candidacy can also occur at different times in different places.

If a parish is able to have at least a weekly Sunday Mass, then there would likewise seem to be enough of a priestly presence in that area to allow penitents to have their individual confessions heard within a reasonable time frame.

While a spiritual communion might be a praiseworthy aid to one’s spiritual life, it is not the same thing as a physical, sacramental Communion.

The Church permits cremation, provided that it does not demonstrate a denial of faith in the resurrection of the body.

This can be a hard truth, but it is good to understand that this inability to receive Communion is part of a consistent theological rationale, as opposed to being something arbitrary.

Looking at the crime of abortion specifically, one meaningful phrase in the relevant canon is that the penalty applies to those “who actually procure an abortion.” We can read “actually procure” as meaning: “directly and intentionally bringing about an abortion in a specific instance.”

While the church expects confessions to be heard in a designated confessional under ordinary circumstances, there are times when it would be permissible to celebrate the sacrament someplace else.

I don’t think it would be wrong to see this episode as one more illustration of Jesus’ humanity — i.e., Jesus was hungry and then disappointed at the lack of figs.

The first few weeks of Ordinary Time occur during the winter, until it is interrupted by Lent and the Easter season. After the Easter season closes with Pentecost, Ordinary Time resumes and carries on through late spring until early winter with the beginning of Advent.