Answers to Your Deepest Questions

I should have known better than to ask for questions, because I got what I asked for.

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1. “I’m curious about the Lucky Charms” –Dawn

Dawn is asking whether or not it is lawful for seminarians at Kenrick to eat Lucky Charms. One year, probably during Lent, the bin of Lucky Charms disappeared from the refectory (cafeteria) here at Kenrick. The rector (the guy in charge) thought they were too sugary, unhealthy, and wanted them gone altogether. But recently our rector had to admit he was wrong when he discovered that granola, which is also served, has more sugar than Lucky Charms. He publicly announced his error during a house meeting. For his humility and fine example of leadership, we are grateful.

Therefore, while never completely forbidden in our refectory, they were not served for a period of time. The “magically delicious” Charms have since reappeared in the bins of cereal, much to the joy of hungry seminarians.

While it is thus lawful for seminarians to consume Lucky Charms, such consumption must be accomplished with a proper mindset. While the cereal’s leprechaun claims that the marshmallows are “magically delicious,” we must remember that belief in magic is contrary to Christian belief. Thus, if any seminarian saith that consumption of Lucky Charms provides magical help, let him be anathema. If any seminarian saith that consumption of Lucky Charms curries the favor and help of magical leprechauns, let him be anathema.

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2. “The Leonine Sacramentary: neither Leonine nor a sacramentary. Discuss.” –Joseph

My friend and neighbor Joseph has posed an interesting question, though I am sure we are all already familiar with the Leonine Sacramentary, so the answer is obvious, right?

First, many of my readers may wonder, “What’s a sacramentary?” A sacramentary is one of the books used during the Catholic Mass. It contains the prayers and directions for the celebration of Mass, but does not contain the readings from Scripture, which are contained in other books known as the “lectionary.”

Secondly, what is the Leonine Sacramentary? The Leonine Sacramentary is the oldest so-called “sacramentary” we have. There is only one known manuscript, and it was published in the 7th century. In the 1700s this document was given the name “Leonine,” after Pope Leo the Great who was Pope from 440-461. The name was chosen somewhat arbitrarily by an Italian scholar. The document contains a collection of prayers for use in Mass, but does not contain the “order” of the Mass, which are the instructions on what is to be done, among other things.

We can thus conclude that the Leonine Sacramentary is not actually a sacramentary at all, given the definition of “sacramentary” I quoted above, because it does not contain the order of the Mass. We can also conclude the Leonine Sacramentary is not “Leonine,” because Leo the Great is not its author and because it is from the 8th century, not the 5th century, when Pope Leo the Great actually lived.

I'm sure there is more to the story, but that's enough for this blog. For more info: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09296a.htm

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3. “If God is all-powerful, can he make a rock he can't lift?” –John

Ah, one of those seeming paradoxes people use to show an omnipotent God is logically impossible. Anyway, without too much research on this subject, here are my thoughts:

If God truly is all-powerful, as the premise of the question asserts, he can lift any size of rock if he wishes to do so.

Some of you might be thinking I missed the point of the question. Can God limit his power and, thus, not be all-powerful? Can he? At first I thought that perhaps, in creating and respecting our free will, God had created “a rock he can’t lift.” But in my opinion (I’m sure theologians have written extensively on this, and I haven’t read their works) he did not have to respect our free will. He could obliterate it, but chooses not to because to do so would defeat the entire reason for our existence in the first place. He created us free so we could love him in return, which is only possible if we can freely choose to love him.

In summary, I guess my answer to this question is that no, God can’t create a rock he cannot lift. He may, however, create a rock that he chooses not to lift.

If some reader has a better answer, bring it on!

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4. “What I am wondering is whether the chicken or the egg came first?” –Jesse

Come on! I mean, really!? This question, again? A few years back I took classes from the respectable Medieval Philosophy professor, Dr Jack Marler, who teaches at St Louis University. He definitively answered this question for us (no joke!), but alas I have forgotten the answer. It is buried somewhere in my hundreds of pages of hand-scribble notes, but I can’t seem to find it.

Stepping out of deep philosophy and into biology, I’ll take a stab. The egg had to be first, right? I mean, at some point in the chain of evolution we crossed the line into what is classified as a chicken from whatever preceded “chicken.” And that first chicken came from an egg. So I say the egg came first.

And if I want to get particular, I would say some pre-chicken forms of life came from eggs, right? So eggs came before chickens.

There, solved that riddle.

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5. “How do they decide which parish a priest is assigned to. Do you get to choose where you want to go?” -Dodey

Finally, a serious question someone is actually curious about!

Bishops are given charge over a geographic territory and have authority over that territory. The bishop makes use of the priests he has at his disposal to serve the entire diocese. Unlike parishioners in the pews, or even individual priests themselves, the bishop sees the overall picture in the diocese and knows where the needs are. He moves priests around as needed to ensure everyone under his care is provided for.

The priest, during the ordination ceremony, promises obedience to the bishop and to his successors. The priest is promising to humbly go where the bishop needs him, whether he personally likes the move or not. These moves are healthy for the Church, but not easy. The priest becomes like family to those in his parish. But when the bishop calls, the priest must go. The priest can, of course, discuss the move with the bishop and make his opinion known. Bishops want happy priests, but they also need to ensure that the entire diocese is served.

The bishop usually consults a “personnel board” consisting of priests from the diocese to help plan the moves that will take place each year as priests are ordained, retire, etc. In my own diocese, and I assume elsewhere, priests can request to be moved or to stay where they are. Their wishes are seriously considered in planning, but they may not always get their wish. There are a fixed number of parishes to fill, and a fixed number of priests, after all.

So, in short, yes, the bishop does have the last say.