CatholicAnswersLive

  Questions Covered: 04:00  - When we are in heaven, will we see others or will we be so enamored by God that we see only him?  07:32  - My son is almost 20 and is not practicing his faith right now. How can I talk to him about the faith and help bring him back to it? He asked me how he can want a God who required such a sacrifice of his own Son.  08:15  - Is a couple who qualifies for an annulment required to get one?  22:00  - I am a fan of the show Wanda Vision, but I realize one of the characters is a witch. Should I stop liking it? Is it contrary to God?  38:00  - Is doing penance earning your forgiveness?  44:32  - You said earlier that angels and saints can hear our thoughts. Does that also mean that demons and Satan can hear our thoughts, since they are fallen angels?  49:39  - What is the significance of Peter, James, and John? Were they more important or blessed than the rest of the apostles?  52:5...

  Questions Covered:   03:09  - Is the old tradition of the early Church the same as Roman Catholic tradition?   10:30  - What is the reality of matter if it requires consciousness to be defined? He mentioned the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.   14:40  - Who are the  Eudist  fathers? Are they legitimate? I just went to confession with one of their order the other day.   16:40  - How long have nuns existed in the Church and who started the tradition of religious sisters?    22:11  - How much responsibility do we have to educate younger Catholics on moral topics in the Church, like the ideas of cooperation with evil, the precepts of the Church,  etc ?   29:15  - How would you advise me? I am afraid of complete commitment to God.   33:00  - How does paragraph 2010 in CCC relate to the parable in Luke 18:9-14 about the tax collector and the temple?   41:38  - Why do bad things happen ...

  Questions Covered: 11:10  - As a new convert, how do we cope with Judas’ treachery when he was chosen by Jesus himself?   20:10  - We know crucifixions happened through the wrist, so how do we reconcile that with the Gospels, private revelation, and the stigmata indicating Jesus had wounds in his hands?   24:10  - How did Jesus’ death and resurrection bring us over into the new covenant?   36:35  - How can Jesus allow horrible things to happen to innocent people?   47:26  - Why are the resurrection accounts so short compared to the rest of the Gospels? It seems like that’s a  really big  deal that the authors would have talked about more.   50:36  - What is the connection between Peter’s confession of faith and his subsequent attempt to prevent Jesus’ death?   Resources Mentioned: Making Sense Out of Suffering  by Peter Kreeft

  Questions Covered: 07:31  - How should I defend against the Orthodox claim that Peter is only the bishop of Rome and not of other places he lived in?   16:25  - What tips do you have for talking to someone who identifies as an agnostic materialist?   20:45  - How do you defend faith against the atheist claim that quantum mechanics prove that there are uncaused causes?   29:00  - How do we defend the premise in the cosmological argument that says there can’t be an infinite causal regress?   35:30  - In our arguments, should we look more at the methodology of our discussion partners instead of going straight to the evidence?   44:15  - How do I articulate the Catholic stance on justification?   49:05  - If existence is goodness, how does that account for things like torture devices? Resources Mentioned: Five Proofs for the Existence of God  by Ed Feser

  Questions Covered: 04:00  - In cases of intersex people who have ambiguous chromosomes, how do you determine their sex? How does the Church view their sexuality?   15:23  - What are the signs of the mark of the beast? Is there evidence that the covid vaccine is the mark of the beast?   19:31  - What is the difference between atheist and agnostic?   21:28  - How do I respond to a skeptic who says that the Church is sexist?   30:50  - What is the reliability of the New Testament? Wasn’t it written anonymously?   41:12  - There seems to be a lot of controversy around St. John Paul II. On the Vatican website, it says that he prayed for the protection of Islam. Is that true and can you clarify what it meant?   46:35  - What is the historicity of Exodus?   51:13  - If abortion becomes illegal, how should perpetrators be disciplined? Resources Mentioned:   When Harry Became Sally by Ryan Anderson Israel in E...

  Questions Covered: 05:49  - Why be Catholic and not just Christian?    12:12  - I am the last atheist who called yesterday. Can we discuss teleology more today?   31:15  - Why was it storming when Jesus died on the Cross?   34:12  - Why did the belief about the Assumption of Mary develop so late?   41:45  - My husband is Catholic, but he has left the Church and has been going to a megachurch. He says the Catholic Church is boring and not with the times. How can I talk to him about this? 46:40  - Were early Christians still practicing Jews?   49:24  - Was Mary as important to the early Church as she is to us?   Resources Mentioned:   A Biblical Walk Through the Mass by Edward Sri  

  Questions Covered:   06:28  - I am an atheist because that is the default we are born to and I have yet to be convinced out of that position.   18:08  - There is a popular apologetics method called presuppositional apologetics. Is this a good route to take with atheists as a Catholic?   31:12  - I am atheist. I am open to the concept of God and have been very convinced about the historical resurrection, but have questions about the atonement.    42:14  - How do you address animal suffering and evolutionary evil with atheists?   50:03  - I am an atheist. I have problems with teleology.  

 Bishop Donald Hying speaks about how we can renew the Catholic Church. Questions Covered:   16:57  - How do I explain to my teenage daughter how President Biden can receive the sacraments when he is pro-abortion?    22:35  - How do encourage fathers to direct their children to be in the world but not of the world?   31:42  - Why can’t the Church have the strength of conviction like the secular institutions do? Why don’t we preach God to the world anymore?   44:10  - What are your thoughts on how critical race theory is being put into the schools now?   49:36  - Given that the early priests of the Church were married, what is the likelihood of the married priesthood coming back?    

 Chastity is for every person, in every stage of life, in every vocation. How can this be? Jason Evert explains. Questions Covered:   16:44  - I spoke with someone today who’s kid is struggling with the Church’s teaching on homosexuality since the Church also says to love everyone. How can she explain the chaste love that the Church is  teaching ?   21:43  - I came into my faith in the last three years. My husband is not Catholic. I feel like my relationship with my husband does not have chastity. How can I begin to make this a part of our marriage when he is not Catholic?   29:23  - I am a convert. We are having a hard time explaining to family about NFP and our desire to be open to children. They don’t want us to have kids right away. How can we  open up  this conversation?   32:50  - In a marriage, if one partner is not interested in sexual activity and the other is, how can there be chastity in the relationship when someone...

  There is a profound problem in the world with assisted suicide and eugenics. How can faithful Catholics help to oppose these issues? Questions Covered: 28:48  - I am a survivor of three attempted suicides and I am  really glad  assisted suicide is not legal by me, because I probably would have used it.   32:33  - Pro-choice people seems to use nomenclature that obfuscates the truth. How can we speak plainly in clear language about these life issues?   35:20  - I am a legislator in North Dakota. I just heard a bill on assisted suicide and was able to defeat the bill. I think it was crucial that we had the right arguments so that we prove that a bill like that was just wrong.     47:00  - I see people not wanting hospice care because they see it as assisted suicide. How can we differentiate in those difficult end of life situations what is proper hospice care and what is ending a life earlier?  

  Questions Covered:   04:15  - What does Hebrews 5:7-10 mean? Is it referring to when Christ was young?  11:05  - Why do the dates of Ash Wednesday and Easter move every year?  18:30  - If both forms of the Mass are attended reverently and performed reverently, is one more important or weighty than the other?  21:51  - When is it permissible to lie?  33:33  - What is the Church’s stance on developing a human organ in an animal, to then transplant the organ into a human body?  37:45  - Would the Catholic Church see the superhero, the Vision, as a human?  43:20  - In the book of Ezra, the importance of a tabernacle has become clear to me. Why aren’t all tabernacles in the same place in all Catholic Churches? Is there a way for my Church to move the tabernacle directly behind the altar?  47:20  - How can I reconcile Matthew 6:1 and Matthew 5:16? They seem to suggest two different ways of living.  49:...

  Questions Covered:   08:14  - Why is there no reference to the communion of saints in the Nicene Creed?   18:50  - What did God do before he created the world?   29:28  - What do we mean when we say that the mother of God is the mediatrix of all graces?   35:40  - Are there any artists now who are comparable to the greats of the Renaissance? What caused  all  those great artists to emerge during that time?   46:20  - Hebrews 5 implies that Jesus had to learn obedience and be perfected. This confuses me. Could it be true?   52:35  - During communion, when you take the host into your hand, is there a concern of particles being left on the hand? I see that the patent is cleaned very specifically on the altar, so how are hands meant to be cleaned?  

  Questions Covered: 02:00  - If the soul is immaterial, how can it be separated from the body in death?   16:16  - Why should we listen to the Bishop of Rome over all the other bishops of the Church?    22:14  - Why do people suffer, even if they are Christian and doing good? What is the point of believing in God if you’re just  going  to suffer ?   35:45  - Why is it that the Catholic Church only allows men to be priests?   46:37  - Does the Church have a formal view of cremation as opposed to traditional burial?   Resources Mentioned: The Immortal in You by Michael Augros   What We May and May not Do with the Body After Death by Karlo Broussard

  Questions Covered: 12:15  - Why do Catholics abstain from meat and fast on Fridays?   15:21  - Who rules over purgatory?   17:01  - What are the Catholic arguments for the existence of God?   29:11  - Why does the Catholic Church not allow the spreading of a deceased person’s ashes?   36:45  - What does the phrase “the sacrifice of the Mass” mean?   43:35  - What does the Catholic Church teach about unbaptized persons and purgatory and salvation?   48:35  - Why does the Church use the phrase “like the dewfall” in the 2nd version of the Eucharistic prayer?    50:43  - Why does the second paragraph of Nostra Aetate, from Vatican II, say that Buddhists can attain perfection?    Resources Mentioned: 5 Proofs of the Existence of God by Ed Fesser   Aquinas’s Way to God

  Questions Covered:   05:14  - Why do Catholics light candles in front of saints or Jesus in their church?   11:41  - What is the limit to culpability to sin? If you pay money to a college that doesn’t uphold Catholic values, how culpable are you in their sinful behavior?   17:45  - Can a Catholic read the King James bible?   30:33  - It seems like Moses changes God’s will in Exodus 32:14. How are we supposed to understand that as Catholics?   36:24  - How are we meant to understand what Jesus said to Mary and John when he was on the Cross?   43:45  - How did Jesus fulfill the prophecy about Jesus gathering the lost tribes of Israel?   50:02  - How can I explain to someone why we pray the rosary?

  Questions Covered: 06:29  - How do you respond to a Protestant who believes in soul sleep? When I present the story of Lazarus and the rich man, they say it’s purely symbolic.   16:50  - My uncle is divorced and remarried. Could this be valid? How should I behave toward his family?   22:40  - In what order did the Annunciation, Visitation, and Joseph’s dream happen? Did Joseph accompany Mary to Elizabeth’s home?   28:36  - How can we best understand the mark of the beast?   33:18  - Can a baby be baptized still in the womb in an emergency?   36:15  - I have heard people mention a break in the Trinity. What is that? It is evidenced by Jesus saying God has abandoned him on the cross.   43:45  - If Mary did not know that she was immaculately conceived, then what did she mean by calling God her savior in Luke 1:47?   50:22  - I am a new convert and I don’t understand what a plenary indulgence is. Can you expla...

  Questions Covered: 04:32  - How does a Catholic deal with some of the hard passages of scripture like 1 Samuel 15:3, in which God seems to be advocating genocide?   15:57  - What do Catholics mean when they talk about a “broken world?”   22:22  - Are video games that include things like demon hunting okay to play?   24:07  - Does the Bible ever use false images to represent the truth?   28:45  - Based on Genesis, wouldn’t every animal in paradise be a vegan?   33:48  - What’s the Catholic stance on fasting?   42:47  - What’s the difference between the deity of Christ and the divinity of Christ?   44:18  - What is the Catholic view on predestination?   48:48  - What happens when a Catholic receives the Eucharist in a state of mortal sin?   Resources Mentioned: jimmyakin.com/fast   Chosen by God by Jimmy Akin

  Questions Covered:   13:54  - Was the historical Reformation a lost cause?   22:00  - If the physical body is a manifestation of your identity, how do intersex people or people with chromosome abnormalities identify? Are gender and sex synonymous in the Catholic faith?   29:42  - If Peter was married and the Eastern Catholics can marry, why do Roman priests have to be celibate?   35:15  - If the Marian doctrines are so necessary to Catholicism, why did none of the epistles cover them?   44:36  - How do you know if you’re in purgatory? And is purgatory the dark night of the soul?   49:03  - Why do Catholics think Protestants are wrong about the Eucharist when the early church seems to resemble Protestantism more?    

 Jimmy answers a variety of questions on Sacred Scripture. Questions Covered:   00:59  - Is there biblical evidence for Confirmation that I can share with my daughter who is supposed to be Confirmed this year?   06:37  - Why  has the understanding of  idolatry changed over time? It used to be more about images and physical items and now it seems like it’s about greed or putting things above God.   14:55  - In Mark 2, Jesus misquotes the Old Testament about the name of the high priest. Why does he do this?   20:16  - What does the Bible say about fraternal correction?   28:29  - How can I address the laws of the Old Testament, when people say that they are immoral?   35:30  - The Greek word in the original Lord’s Prayer that is translated as ‘daily’ in Catholic Bibles seems to be a vague translation. Would it be more correct for it to say ‘supersubstantial’?   43:12  - Why wasn’t Genesis written first? W...

 Jimmy answers a variety of questions on Sacred Scripture. Questions Covered:   04:05  - Are there additional sources that would tell us about Jesus’ life prior to his public ministry?   11:40  - How do we know that Genesis 1-11 is a different genre than the rest of the book of Genesis?   19:26  - What is the Catholic interpretation of Ephesians 2:8-9?   24:45  - What is the meaning Matthew 7:14? Does it mean that only a tiny minority of people will go to heaven?   34:08  - In the Old Testament, Abraham is tested by God in sacrificing his son Isaac. Why would God ever ask a father to sacrifice his son?   44:01  - What is the correct translation of Acts 12:4? Why is it so often incorrectly translated?   49:09  - How can we tell the difference between the lying signs and the true ones mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:9?   49:09  - How can we tell the difference between the lying signs and the true...

  Questions Covered: 03:30  - How can we trust that the New Testament accurately tells us the words of Jesus when so much can be lost in translation?   07:56  - Trent recently debated on the existence of God and his opponent said that he couldn’t use the “fine-tuned universe” as evidence because Trent has never known another universe to compare. How would you respond to this?   17:00  - I know cloning humans is wrong. Is cloning animals unethical?   23:04  - I struggle with feeling like everything I do is sinful. How can I deal with this scrupulosity? Can I be sinful by association, just working with non-Christians?   32:02  - My friend believes that he has been cursed by an ancestor who was a Mason. How can I comfort and clarify the truth for this person?   41:50  - I just started a  master’s  program at a Wesleyan college near me. How can I keep my faith and minister to people while I am attending this two-year...

 What do Catholics believe about the Eucharist? Questions Covered:   19:28  - At the Last Supper, there is not a mention of the “lamb” in the Bible, so how are the apostles confused by that?   29:29  - I find holes in your argument that Jesus wouldn’t break the law or command something that was previously commanded by God in Leviticus,  in regard to  consuming flesh and blood. Is it enough to say that God would not contradict or command different things?   41:35  - Is Christ speaking metaphorically or literally when he says, “Unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you cannot have life within you”? If it is literal, then does that mean that people don’t have life without it?   46:35  - What does it mean when the disciples respond to Christ and he asks if they will leave him as well? They respond, no, Lord, you have the words of eternal life.   52:55  - I am Catholic but my parents are Protestant. They are so offended by...

 Give up worry for Lent, with Gary Zimak. Questions Covered:   16:49  - I have been an oncology RN for 20 years and today my brother-in-law was diagnosed with cancer. How can I be there for my family and not worry? How can I call and comfort them when I have seen  all  the effects of cancer?   18:16  - I just came out of adoration. I am an anxious person and adoration really helps me.   24:11  - During adoration, what is it exactly that you should pray to help us to connect or concentrate, or is it just a moment of silence with the Lord?   31:15  - I have an anxiety disorder and scrupulosity. Do you have any tips on how to deal with that?   36:35  - Didn’t Mary and Joseph have considerable worry when they lost Jesus? Also, aren’t there some positive elements of worrying? I know some people who have no worries, and their lives are a mess.   47:30  - How do we know when we are doing enough so we don’t hav...

  Questions Covered: 02:52  - Are the popes truly infallible?   12:36  - What is the historical evidence for Jesus? Why You Can Trust the Gospels   19:31  - If Catholics don’t worship Mary, why does paragraph 971 of the CCC say that “devotion to Mary is intrinsic to Christian worship”? What does the phrase “ totus   tuus  Mariae” mean?   28:27  - Do you believe that the three days of darkness are real? There are aspects of it that really don’t feel right to me.   34:10  - When is the pope infallible?    40:37  - What did the Israelites do to cause God to make the commandment to “honor thy father and thy mother”?   43:05  - Romans 3:10-11 are used by Calvinists to teach total depravity. What is the Catholic thought and response to this?   47:06  - Is it true that receiving the host in the hand was started by a diabolical priest in the 1960s?   50:01  - What is the difference between i...

  Questions Covered:   03:13  - With  all of  the virus stuff going on, does the Church allow for couples to marry legally at court and then  convalidate  later when things die down?   07:10  - What language did Jesus speak?   13:49  - Was there an artist or sculptor during Jesus’ life who might have created an image of  him?   16:44  - How does the fall relate to human evolution? Did  homosapiens  interbreed with  neanderthals ?   20:23  - Was there some change in Jesus’ nature that occurred during or after the Resurrection?   28:54  - What is the best way to learn about the correct interpretation of the Bible?   36:38  - Scholars claim that some of the epistles in the New Testament were not actually written by who they are attributed to. Does this affect inerrancy in Scripture?     43:30  - Is it true that the most ancient rite in the Church ...

  Questions Covered:   11:46  - What are the essential elements of the Mass? 13:43  - How did the different rites of the liturgies develop? 19:32  - Why don’t we use the Gloria during Lent when it has a penitential segment in it? 23:14  - Is the whole Mass condensed into the high priestly prayer in John 17 (“Glorify your Son, that your Son might glorify you,” etc)? 24:20  - If we attend an Eastern rite Mass, does that count for our Sunday obligation? 33:00  - When we refer to “the Lamb’s supper” is that referring to the eucharistic liturgy or the whole thing? 34:50  - Where do we get incense and what is the purpose behind it? 36:06  - Why did the Mass translations from a few years back need to happen? 43:10  - How much liberty can the priest take in changing the words of the Mass? 47:50  - Back in the ‘50s I remember the idea being tossed around of translating the Latin Mass into the vernacular. Why didn’t that happen?

  Questions Covered:   05:03  –  Can animals receive sacraments? 12:28  - After Vatican II, did the communion rails and east-facing churches go away immediately, or slowly over time? 16:00  - Jesus says not everyone who says “Lord, Lord,” will be saved. How do I know I’m not one of them? 22:18  - Why do Catholics have a crucifix and Protestants have a bare cross? 23:52  - I’ve heard that the Latin Mass focuses more on the sacrifice and the Novus Ordo focuses more on the meal. Is this true, and if so, why? 30:11  - What is the significance of women wearing veils? 34:22  - My niece doesn’t want to make her confession to a priest. Is she still eligible to receive the other sacraments? And how can I explain the importance of confession to her? 41:04  - Am I allowed to take a job in a very remote area where I know I won’t be able to make it to Mass for a few weeks? 44:55  - What have you found are the best ways to encourage people t...