The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-01-15
May Catholic eat frogs legs on
Friday?
He may.

A child is to be baptized. The fa-
ther is fallen away Catholic, the
mother a Protestant. Is it right for
Catholic to refuse to stand sponsor
for this child?
Ordinarily speaking, no one is oblig-
ed to stand sponsor for child in bap-
tism. In a particular case it is we'll to
speak to some priest and explain all
the circumstances.
DO priests have to go to confession?
II so, are they obliged to go every
week? "
A person who has sinned MORALLY is
obliged to go to confession. Practical
ly speaking, every Catholic is so oblig-
ed. This duty applies to the laity, to
the priests, bishops and the Pope: no
one is exempt. There is no rule oblig-
ing a priest to confess once a week,
although priests do go to confession
very frequently. The more tender
ones conscience is the more often will
he avail himself of this privilege of
confession. ..r.
Is Purgatory place or only con-
dition of the soul? .s ....
The full faith of the Church in the
matter of Purgatory is contained in the
decree of the Council of Trent:
whereas the Catholic Church, in
structed by the Holy Ghost, has from
co inf vi
tradition of the Fathers taught in
Councils, and very recently in this
Ecumenical Synod that there is Pur-
gatory and that the souls therein de-
tanned are helped by the SURFACES of
the faithful, but principally by the ac-
ceptable Sacrifice of the Altar"
Have we a full history of the life of
Christ in the New Testament?
We most certainly have only limit
ed portion of Gods revelation in the
Bible. There is nothing in the Bible
itself to indicate or to intimate that it
contains Gods full and complete re-
velation to men. The Apostles were
never commanded to write, nor were
the people commanded to read. The
commission of Christ to His Apostles
was to teach by preaching, and the
people were commanded to accept this
Apostolic teaching. This is clearly set
forth by Saint john But there are
also many things which Jesus did;
which if they were written every one,
the world itself, l think, would not be
able to contain all the books that
should be written A score of times
We find the same thought in Saint Paul
In his Epistle to the Thessalonians we
find mention of both written and un-
written revelation: Hold the tradi-
lions which you have been taught
whether by word or by our epistle"
He commands that both be received
with equal authority. He also COM
mands the Christians not to associate
with those "who walk disorderly and
not according to the tradition which
they have received of u.s. Addressing
the Corinthians, he says: "Now praise
we that hold fast the traditions even as
delivered them to YOU" The early
Fathers of the Church not only COM
mended the Scriptures to their people
but urged them to hold fast to the ira
ditions that were handed down by the
Apostles as priceless heritage to the
Church. Though Protestants claim to
take their whole faith from the Bible,
as matter of fact they do not If
they accepted only that which is in the
Il
observe Sunday. AS matter of fact
the non-Catholic Christian has abso-
lutely no reason to believe that he has
the written revealed word of God.
Why is it that there is so little de-
Votion to the Third Person of the
Blessed Trinity?
1t is unfortunately true that there
is not the devotion to the Holy Ghost
that there should be. The Holy Ghost
occupies in the mind of the Church a
position equal with the other Persons
of the Blessed Trinity and all her
prayers are offered up in His Name as
well as in the Name of the Father and
of the Son. Every time we make the
Sign of the Cross we call upon the
Holy Ghost, together with the Father
and the Son. We should have special
devotion to the Third Person of the
Adorable Trinity In the economy of
salvation it is His distinctive work to
sanctify the souls of the faithful, souls
that were created by the Father and
redeemed by the Son.
How can one figure whether he has
contributed his portion to the support
of the Church?
Each one is supposed to contribute
to the support of the Church accord.
ing to his means. If your conscience
troubles you present your case to your
confessor, telling him how much re
venue you receive each year and how
much of it you give to God. He will
then be in a position to advise you.
Will you kindly advise ME who was
the mother of st. James, one of the
disciples of our Lord? Please also tell
me If I can get any book giving St
James life?
There were two Apostles bearing the
name of James-7St. James, the Great
er, the son of Zebedee, and ST. James
the Less, the son of Alpheus. Ou1
questioner is more than likely refer
ring to the latter, st. James, the Less