Catholic Answers Live

Questions Covered:

03:19 – How do we understand what Mary is doing for us, and how should this reflect in the language of our prayers? E.g. do we ask Mary directly for graces on the interpretation that God has given her authority to dispense these graces (& if so, how can we be confident this is accurate/appropriate), or do we ask Mary just to pray on our behalf for God to give us those graces? I guess the same question can apply to other saints too, like St. Anthony when we’re searching for lost things. Whether or not we ‘need’ to add extra words to make clear that we’re just asking them to pray for us, should we be mentally holding that concept? Or are there ways in which any saints (particularly Mary) can be known to actually dispense graces so we can just ask that saint for that grace directly without adding qualifiers about how what we’re requesting is for them to pray to God about this? 

06:24 – Is bruschetta a valid appetizer? 

10:24 – The possible prophet who predicted Trump being shot in the ear 4 months ago. Is this for real? 

14:04 – How would you rebut the belief that the early church fell into idolatry immediately, e.g the Eucharist, and is heretical, and because Israel fell into idolatry immediately in the desert there’s a biblical pattern/ example for this 

16:05 – I wish to have a more convincing answer for this question ¿What prevents us from believing that Catholicism is but a development of Christianity as understood by St. Paul, thus lacking validation since he was not a direct witness of Christ’s teachings? So far my faith-based answer is that 1) the 12 disciples were around and they would stop Paul if he was teaching false doctrine; 2) Peter acknowledges Paul’s wisdom even if he’s “hard to understand” (2 Pt 3,15-16); and 3) Jesus allowed the development of doctrine guided by the promised Holy Spirit. However, these reasons may not be enough for a non-believer: 1) the 12 might not be always auditing all of Paul’s letters; 2) being hard to understand in fact includes the risk of passing as true something that is not; and 3) teachings that do not contradict those of the Founder do not mean that were meant by the Founder. Thank you Jimmy. I like your apostolate a lot. Greetings from Panama. God bless you. 

22:17 – I’m sure you’ve heard this one before, but I don’t know a good answer. If we assume (hopefully) that someone with invincible ignorance of the faith may receive God’s mercy and avoid Hell, is it possible we’re sending people to Hell by trying to evangelize them, knowing that they may in fact reject our attempt? Or, even worse, we are bad witnesses and we actually push them away from the faith? (The example I have heard applied to an Eskimo, but it could apply to anyone who is far removed from any church or believers.) Thanks again Jimmy. Peace be with you. 

29:31 – I would love to know where the Tradition of the Assumption comes from. I was just baptized this last Easter, and though I am familiar with the teaching itself, I’m very fuzzy on why Christians believe this. If there is a scriptural basis we can turn to as well, I’d love to know it! Thanks for everything you do, Jimmy! 

34:36 – To what degree should we take saints’ teachings and beliefs as Catholic doctrine?  Both for topics involving our faith & for non-religious ones (e.g. thoughts on raising children). Thank you! 

37:43 – Thanks Jimmy. I know this is a basic tenet of the faith, so I know I’m missing something: How did Jesus ‘save’ us? If he had not been incarnate, how would our lives be different? Or, say he was scheduled to arrive 100 years from now, instead of 2000 years ago? Would we not be able to be ‘saved’? 

49:10 – Many religions and religious sects arise from a type of prophet or chosen one who begins to claim that the