Open Forum

Questions Covered:

• 06:00 - Does the physical material (for example, bone or hair or tooth or whatever) of a given saint’s relic bear upon its Wonder-Working Providence? 
• 11:56 - How can one better understand the trinity without falling into one of the many heresies there are? Why does it seem like there is a hierarchy when Christ says that the Father is greater than Him when all are equally God? 
• 17:23 - Is God “complicated”? It has been bandied about that God has “His” time to call us home. Regardless… I’m not sure that I think this. 
• 22:15 - When a new saint is canonized who identifies the attributes that one sees in depictions of that saint? This assumes that there is an actual selection, as opposed to a tradition arising that “sticks” by attrition as the years go by. Similarly, who identifies the patronages, if that’s a real word. Example: When St. Jimmy is canonized one day, who will decide that you’re always to be depicted wearing a cowboy hat, and that you’re the patron saint of philosophers from Arkansas? 
• 28:48 - Protestants call certain parts of Scripture apocryphal and we call them deuterocanonical. I want to understand why. It seems to me there is one canon of scripture and when I looked up deuterocanonical, it means second canon. Why do we have a second cannon of scripture when there should be just one cannon? 
• 31:50 - People advise people in difficult marriages to draw on the graces of the sacrament. For those with annulled marriages, were there any? 
• 33:00 - I am having a discussion with a protestant who claims that power to forgive or retain sins was given to more than the apostles that night of Jesus’ resurrection. He bases this on Luke 24:33 (that says others were present) and John 20:19-23 being the same appearance. How do we know that these two appearances were not the same? Or were they? 
• 41:45 - In Robert Hugh Benson’s book “Lord of the World” the Pope establishes the “Order of Christ Crucified” in which the goal of the members are to seek out martyrdom. Is there a sense in which seeking martyrdom can be contrary to the Faith? 
• 47:27 - Why are Catholics seen as “haters” when we stick to our guns on items of faith, sacraments, and morals? I hate no one but I know there is a standard we are all held to 
• 50:24 - Can a practicing Catholic go to a Protestant Mass with a friend who is of this particular denomination as a friendly gesture? I know that the Catholic Church would not recognize the Eucharist within a Protestant service as being properly consecrated and thus null. Also, I do believe it is against church teaching to say some Protestant prayers that go against Catholic teaching. Can I have some clarification and guidance in regards to wanting to be friendly and charitable but within the parameters of Catholic responsibilities?