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Catholic Answers Live

#12002 Ask Me Anything - Joe Heschmeyer

Catholic Answers Live

Catholic Answers

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.82.2K Ratings

🗓️ 31 December 2024

⏱️ 55 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Questions Covered: 05:24 – Isn’t it correct to say that some good works are necessary to retain our salvation? Isn’t Jesus listing grave sins of omission that imperil salvation at the end of Mt 25? Isn’t a grave sin of omission a failure to do an obligatory good work?  12:35 – What is the basis between mortal and venial sin in scripture and tradition. Is 1 John 5’s talk of sin that leads to death about mortal sin or the unforgivable sin? If it is about mortal sin, are we not to pray for the forgiveness of someone’s mortal sin (i.e., that they go to confession?  19:40 – In your book The Early Church was the Catholic Church, you cite how strong belief in baptismal regeneration was, to the point of people delaying baptism until the end of life to avoid sinning after baptism. This doesn’t seem like behavior we would expect if the sacrament of confession was passed down from the apostles. What early evidence do we have of the sacrament of confession?  24:56 – I hope it is not too late! Who are the Apostolic Fathers? Who are the Church Fathers? What’s the difference among them?  29:18 – I know the usual line for “sin” committed in dreams is that they cannot be mortal sins since in a dream you do not have full consent of the will, but would that also apply to Lucid Dreams? Lucid Dreams are ones that you can control, and there are methods to get this to happen intentionally. Would this increase of conscious control over the dream allow it to become a Mortal Sin?  33:35 – Was Jesus Christ Himself actually the first pope?  Didn’t He actually established the Church through His ministry and the selection of His Apostles?  Or is this a really meaningless distinction?  37:19 – How can we understand when the words (direct speech) of God are quoted in the Old Testament? Was it, for example, some kind of inner hearing of God? Or a direct revelation of God? How did the characters know that this was what God was saying to them?  45:09 – Are Sacramentals (such as holy water in Anglican churches) blessed by either Priests not in communion with Rome or Non Apostolic priests Valid?  49:30 – Can you help me answer people who think that the pope arose in the early church because of politics? For example, I know someone who thinks that when Clement was telling the (Corinthians, I think?) to not dismiss their leaders in direct contradiction with Scripture in order to gain power.  52:36 – My question is…are you ready for Jesus?!  …

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome back to Catholic Answers Live. Merry Christmas. I didn't say Merry Christmas. I forgot. I can still say Merry Christmas in the Catholic Church. Christmas goes on. We always do this. It goes on for eight days, and then it goes on for

0:26.8

more days after that. And then if you want, you can still do Christmas for, you can probably go to February

0:32.2

and still say Merry Christmas and be consistent with a pretty solid Catholic tradition.

0:39.0

Although it is, do we want to get technical on?

0:41.9

Yeah, I do. Yeah, get technical. Let's hear. What is the Catholic tradition?

0:44.4

Okay. So in 1969, it's changed. Until 1969, the presentation was kind of the end point.

0:54.6

And that's February 2nd, which is why Groundhogs Day was celebrated that day, because,

1:00.3

okay, look, this is ended, and so winter is over, and so we're looking for signs of spring.

1:05.6

And so you had like the 12 days of Christmas going from Christmas to Epiphany, but then you had this longer period

1:12.7

where it stretched the full 40 days from the birth. But now that is no longer the case. And so

1:21.4

Christmas time now ends on either the vigil of the Epiphany or the following Sunday, depending on whether your

1:29.7

diocese has moved it, which is very confusing.

1:31.8

I hate those ones where it's like it's a consult the, I don't even know where I'm

1:37.5

supposed to consult.

1:38.3

They don't, it's like they put it on the website.

1:40.3

Right.

1:41.3

And so, sorry, I said that wrong.

1:42.8

So this Sunday either after Epiphany or the Sunday, because Epiphany can move. Either way, it's the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. So that's where Christmas now ends. And then you begin kind of focusing on the ministry of Christ. And so I get kind of why that is. It's less seasonal and more

2:01.4

focusing on like, where are we in the Bible right now? Whereas the older dating is more

2:07.3

like, well, during the winter, we want to keep all of this is kind of Christmas time or Advent.

2:11.7

So now we go into ordinary time after Christmas? Yeah. And then we're in ordinary

2:16.9

time until the beginning of Lent? Or? And sometimes it's a very short amount of Christmas? Yeah. And then we're in ordinary time until the beginning of Lent?

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