Questions Answered

Questions Answered – November 2024

Understanding Heresies: Their Nature and History Question: Dear Father Cush, I was the person who asked if there were any Trinitarian theology before the First Council of Nicaea. Thank you for your very thorough answer last month, but I am … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – October 2024

The Trinity and Valid Baptism Q: Dear Father Cush, My coordinator of faith formation accepted someone who was a Mormon as a “candidate” for the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults in our parish program. As the pastor of the parish, I ha … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – August 2024

What Is Necessary to Belong to the True Church? Question from the reader: Who is a member of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, and what is required for full membership in the “heart” of the Church? What is the relation of this C … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – July 2024

How Do Sacraments Work? Question from the Reader: What does sacramental causality mean? My parish priest mentioned this concept in our adult education class on the sacraments and never explained it. Can you help me understand it? Answer … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – June 2024

By Rev. John P. Cush, STD, consulting with Fr. Timothy Eck What Can Chalices Be Made Of? Question: My priest uses a Waterford Crystal Chalice and Paten for the celebration of Holy Mass. Is this permitted according to the 2002 General … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – May 2024

Farewell and Thanks to Fr. Mullady For many years, Fr. Brian Thomas Becket Mullady, O.P., has been the author of HPR’s “Question and Answers” column. Fr. Mullady entered the Dominican Order in 1966 and was ordained a priest in Oakland, Cali … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – April 2024

The Mission of the Family Question: The government seems to be usurping more and more of what are traditionally rights of the family. What is the Church’s teaching about this? Answer: The family has four dimensions which grow out of the … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – February 2024

Intentions in Jesus’ Moral Teaching Question: A Christian teacher states that the Sermon on the Mount contradicts the classic division of sin into mortal and venial. It does this by giving greater and greater punishment for lesser and l … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – January 2024

Examination of Conscience: Permissiveness vs. Scrupulosity Question: I was recently reading an examination of conscience for confession and it struck me that I must be guilty of every sin (at least as either mortal or venial). I asked the … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – December 2023

Christ’s Action in the Liturgy Question: The priest is said to act “in the person of Christ” during the Eucharist prayer. Is this true only at the words of institution or during the whole Mass? Answer: As a ritual, the Mass is heaven on … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – November 2023

The Place of Communion in the Mass Question: During the 40s and 50s, come Communion time at Mass, very few people walked up to the altar rails. Yesterday I read that one’s attendance at Mass is not complete without receiving the Eucharist ( … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – October 2023

The Reasons for Marian Devotion Question: Would Fr. Mullady please explain the Church’s emphasis on Mary? Since the answer could be lengthy, recommending a few core texts would be very helpful. It seems that Marian devotion is a wonderful g … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – September 2023

What American Education Lost Question: What is the bottom line in the almost universal rejection of objective truth in American education today? Answer: This problem is twofold. One is the destruction of Western Civilization. The other … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – August 2023

Question: Does an erroneous conscience bind a person to act since it does not correspond to reality? The most difficult problem in contemporary morals is not the doubtful conscience, but—given the tendency in the subjectivism of the p … [Read more...]