Open Forum

The callers choose the topics during Open Forum, peppering our guests with questions on every aspect of Catholic life and faith, the moral life, and even philosophical topics that touch on general religious belief.

Questions Covered:

• What’s the difference between God’s foreknowledge of our salvation and being predestined for salvation? Is it possible to desire and seek salvation, but not earn it because you are not predestined?
• Why is it that the Rite of Blessing of holy water is not done at every Mass before the penitential rite? Would it be allowed for a U.S. priest to celebrate the Ambrosian or the Mozarabic rite in order to give Italian and Spanish Catholics a taste of home?
• Why aren’t there women priests? 
• My friends asked me to explain what Lent is. I wasn’t sure what to say. How should I have answered them?
• Is it correct to say we are not only declared righteous, as in a courtroom, but also made righteous by God’s grace?
• My friends have been praying to have a child for a couple of years. They are beginning to despair. Do you have any advice as far saints to pray for intercessions or ways I can pray with them?
• How can I explain the Trinity to someone who says it is not biblical and that the verse in Matthew 28 was added by the Catholic Church?
• I am Evangelical and have been considering converting. As I listen to all these talks on the radio and evaluate, I’m surprised that many on Catholic radio are not priests. Can I really rely on the answers I hear and to know they are representing the true Catholic position? I want to be sure I have the correct information to base my decision to convert.
• Do we know how Mary’s name was pronounced in her native tongue?

Resources Mentioned:

• A Daily Defense: 365 Days (plus one) to Becoming a Better Apologist by Jimmy Akin