In my Parish every 3 years or so we get a new priest in charge.

Sometimes when I am praying the Rosary, someone comes up to me and asks me a question for something not related to the Rosary. Is it fine to talk to the person and resume the Rosary, or do I have to start all over? In other words, if there is an interuption in the rosary, do I have to start all over again?

I have read in r/Catholicism of people getting turned away at mass for not adhering to a dress code they were not aware of. Like they were expected to wear suit jackets and they arrived in a Tommy Bahama shirt & shorts.

If one attempted to go to mass, but was refused entry by an usher or greeter, what is the protocol? Do they have to go to confession for missing mass? Are they automatically absolved because they attempted to go?

I recently moved to Austin Texas and one of the churches I've been going to has a priest who appears to be around my age (early 30s).

It got me thinking, I wonder who he hangs out with when he's not doing priestly things. Does he have buds he goes to dinner or movies with? Curious how this works and if it's hard for priests to make friends because of a perceived position of authority they have among laypeople.

Hello Fathers,

Long story short , I’ve turned my life around and opened my heart to God.

Will my tattoos stop me from becoming a Permanent Deacon ? Nothing above the collar line , on my hands or anything offensive.

Worst case scenario I can get them removed but I just wanted some clarity on where I stand as I’ve seen conflicting answers to this.

I have been wondering this. I am currently saying the surrender novena and litany of trust in order to try to keep my own wants and goals in line with God’s will but a tiny fear in the back of my head keeps wondering that even if I want to get married, I may never find the right husband. Is this something that happens, that people want to get married but never find the right person?

I guess a part of me just really worries that what I want is not what God wants and that scares me. I know God’s will is better than what I want but a part of me fears I won’t be happy with it.

Hello Fathers 🙏🏻!

I have just started the OCIA process at the particular parish school where I work and where my daughter goes to school.

Is it generally okay to go to a closer afternoon mass on the days they don't plan to have an after-mass discussion at the parish I chose? The director of religious education guiding me through OCIA did advise me to go to confession at a different parish because our Priests are super involved with the OCIA folks and present in the school, and it is just less awkward that way. She's not available or else I'd send an email!

Thanks so much and God Bless!

Hello,

I have some theological questions that have been bugging me quite a bit. I've tried finding answers myself but I haven't found anything satisfying. Multiple people I know have told me I should ask a priest, but the problem is, I don't feel like I can ask the priest at my parish because I feel like his answer wouldn't be theologically sound. While he's a nice person, he doesn't really follow the church on a lot of things(letting a layman given the homily, telling people to stand during the consecration, affirming gay marriage).

With that said, there's a parish near-ish to me that has a reputation for being theologically orthodox. I would like to talk to one of their priests, but I worry that would be rude of me as I'm not one of their parishioners.

Hi! My friend that is an Athiest wants to try coming to church with me to tey and see if he can feel something with the church (I am Catholic). I of course think it would really benifit him, soI was wondering if there was any advice anyone could give me about how to make this experience best for him? I really want him to enjoy it, and I know a lot of people don't like church, I personally love it, but yea not too sure how to make it the best for him that I can, any advice would be greatly appreciated. God bless

For people considering priesthood, how important is it for them to learn the original manuscript languages?

Hello Fathers, I've checked with my catechist and he isn't sure. Thanks in advance.

This might be an obvious no because he’s part God. But also part man?

We are a Catholic family (married in the Church) and had a baby recently. Unfortunately we have been lax about going to Mass the last year or so (have plans to go tomorrow and will be better about this). My husband is concerned that we will not be able to get him baptized because of our lack of attendance. Is this going to be an issue?

We know the godparents need letters and they do go every week so that will not be an issue. It's just us parents.

In my home country, Singapore, a priest was recently attacked during the distribution of children’s first holy communion , so I have a question on how the mass is ended in such a situation.

I have some questions re baptism by a laic person. am the mother of a two month old baby girl, a practising Catholic, and I am married to an atheist man. My husband does not want to baptise my baby "without her consent". He will be ok to "let her" receive baptism if once she is older she asks for it. I am and will be raising her in my faith and she will attend a Catholic school which my husband has reluctantly agreed to. However I was understandably very uneasy about having my baby not baptised. It would be impossible to convice him (believe me, I tried, using the old argument of "if I'm right we are saving her soul and if you are right it's just a bit of water so where is the harm") but he is death set on not "inscribing her in the sect without her consent". He will also not let her baptised if she was in danger and could not consent. So... even though she is not currently in mortal danger I went and baptised the baby myself at home with water over her head, saying "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit I baptise you". My questions are:

• is this baptism valid?
• is what I have done a sin and do I need to confess it?
• I will not be registering this baptism as this would mean my marriage would be over if he found out and my main goal was saving my babys soul. Would it be a theological issue if in the future my baby asks to be baptised? Would there be any harm done to her soul if she received a second baptism?

If feel uneasy about what I have done and need some guidance. Thank you

When is incense too much or too little? I hear people complain when there is incense and complaints when there in no incense. Is there a middle ground?

At the point of Communion, I tend to hunch over, as it helps me appreciate who's before me before receiving Our Lord in his flesh and Blood. As I went for Communion in daily Mass recently the other day, the Priest, after giving me Communion, told me to stand straight in a negative tone. Is it wrong for me to assume this posture before taking Communion? I take standing on the Tongue so I don't see it being an issue in terms of reception The Eucharist, and it did upset me to be rebuked in front of other people during Communion. I will, for respect of him, stand upright in future when he's the Celebrant. But I more wanted general advice to see if this is acceptable, and if not, why?

Just recently, I saw someone taking out the Eucharist from her mouth, put it in her hand, and walking out towards the exit. I was able to catch up with her before the entrance and ask her to return the Eucharist. Is this the right thing to do? What would be the more appropriate way to handle this situation?

Hello. Little back story, just lost my grandfather 8 days ago. He was a devoted catholic and one of the kindest men I’ve ever known. Unfortunately in the 80’s he got divorced but has since repented and been faithful to God. Based off of what I believe, he’s either in purgatory or Heaven. Here’s where I’m struggling. I had my first communion but admittedly have not been a good catholic. I maybe attend mass once a year, don’t pray like I should, have sinned, etc. I very obviously am grieving and have been looking up things. I saw that today is the last day for plenary indulgence. Is this something I can participate in? I missed All Saints Day and haven’t had a confession since, honestly, my first communion. I don’t know where to start. I’m pretty lost. Part of me wants to speak to him but I know that’s frowned upon. I just have a million thoughts roaming through my head, and want to do this right, if anyone could help me….

Glory to Jesus Christ!

I am stuck in a dilemma, specifically - is buying religious goods, such as icons, from Eastern Orthodox churches morally okay? Considering that, from our perspective, the EO Churches are schismatic, possibly even heretical. Would this constitute material cooperation with evil?

God bless.

I recently heard a homily from a priest at a retreat about the first commandment. He very strongly condemned the likes of yoga (which I agree with) and Harry Potter. He talked about having done extensive research into Harry Potter and JK Rowling’s inspiration etc and stated a lot of her writing was straight from actual witchcraft. He advised us to go home and burn all Harry Potter books.

Now I care a lot about the salvation of my soul and my children’s, and I don’t want to break the first commandment. However my children just adore Harry Potter, and currently are peaking with their interest. They have the books, watch the movies (as age appropriate), have some Lego sets, and one recently had a Harry Potter themed birthday. I came home from the retreat in a massive pickle and if told my children to get rid of their books they would have thought I was crazy! Now I’m happy to let the interest fizzle out, and won’t be pushing it too much, however number 1 on their Christmas list to Santa is tickets to Harry Potter studios (we’re in UK). I would really like other priests opinions on this if possible. Can we book this for our kids, or would we totally being going against what was preached to us, and what could potentially damage our soul?

Of note, as much as they love Harry Potter they understand it’s fiction, understand the ‘magic’ isn’t real, understand that God and their faith is more important than any book. They were waiting on me coming home from the retreat ready to say our nightly rosary as usual, and are prayerful kids.

For personal reasons we would like to invite the least amount of people humanly possible to our wedding (I think by law it's 2 witnesses).

If we had legal/paperwork marriage, would we be considered marriaed in the eyes of the church?

Please don't try to convince me to have a ceremony, there a lot of painful personal reasons as to why we don't want to invite people.

Thanks.

Can a baptism bring about physical healing? I did an emergency baptism once before and the baby snaped out of their downward sprial the moment that the baptism happened. A person nearby joked that it must have been the baptism, but I was a little dumbfounded about it.

We just had a 6 week ultrasound and there is a li’l baby in there. But also an empty sack. The doctor said it was a “vanishing twin” or something. I don’t believe a sack can form without a conceived baby, but its body couldn’t survive even at just a few cells.

What is the Catholic teaching on what to do for the poor soul since it wasn’t baptized? I want to offer a set of Gregorian masses for his/her soul. But I don’t even have a name for the poor child - if it did exist.

I’d like to err on the err of caution since the fate of one’s soul is too great to ignore. God needs this child back.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I’ve been studying both Orthodoxy and Catholicism as I would like to join one of these two in the future. Recently I started to pray the rosary daily, which, as I was taught, uses imaginative prayer. I absolutely loved it and was doing it daily since Halloween. On Halloween, I visited my relatives graves to pray the glorious mysteries and something strange happened. I smelled flowers as I was praying. I looked around and saw nothing. No people or flowers. Nothing. I didn’t think much about it but just thought of it as a fruit or “miracle” while praying the rosary.

Fast forward a few days later and I come across a Orthodox warning me of the dangers of imaginative prayer. I listen to an Orthodox Priest and he essentially while speaking about it he describes exactly what happened to me and he connects it to demonic influence. Another Orthodox pointed me to the story of Saint Nicetas of Novogorod, and how he perceived the demons “gifts” as from God but it was actually the demon deceiving him. It seemed like a decent parallel to what was happening to me.

I am very new to Christian spirituality, despite wanting to be Catholic my entire life (my family wasn’t very religious. I was never baptized or went to Church. But I’ve been inquiring about Orthodoxy for a little over a year. Before taking classes to become a catechumen, I wanted to explore Catholicism like I wanted to as a kid). So any direction when it comes to imaginative prayer would be appreciated. The Orthodox claim the Church Fathers spoke against it as well. The whole situation has me questioning the Catholic Church as Orthodox claim imaginative prayer opens you up to demons. So it makes me wonder if even some of the Catholic saints I love, like St. Francis of Assisi, actually had a vision of a demon and his stigmata actually came from a demon. Thank you for any help.

I have tried to set up meetings with a couple Priests but I’m not sure if it even works that way. They seem to be busy either way.

I’m posting this here as I didn’t want to offend those in the Catholic Reddit and I didn’t want an echo chamber from the Orthodox Reddit. Thank you again and please pray for my discernment.

I have been reading about the lives of saints and most of them have spiritual directors. St Faustina, in particular, has been asked by God to seek a specific a spiritual director. Is this exclusive to nuns and priests? If not, how can I get one? I really think that this would help me a lot. Thank you.

This is mostly out of curiosity - but what should a priest do here if it isn't practical to go to confession before they next have to say mass. Can they say mass and not receive communion themselves? (Iirc this isn't valid) Cancel the mass? Say the mass including recieving communion as long as they have a resolve to go to confession at the next available opportunity?