Q: During Lent, more people than usual attend daily Mass in our parish. We have two assigned priests. For some reason, when the pastor celebrates Mass, the associate doesn’t concelebrate but sits in a pew with the congregation. Then, when it is time for holy Communion, a lay minister helps the pastor distribute, and the associate walks up in the regular Communion line.

Q: I recently joined a small parish where the entire congregation holds hands together at the Our Father. I feel uncomfortable holding hands with people I don’t know; so instead, I put my hands in a prayer position as a signal to others not to grab for my hands. There is no other parish close by, and I don’t know how to handle this. (Charleston, West Virginia)

QUESTION CORNER Q: I am a Catholic who will be marrying a Methodist (baptized and confirmed) who now attends a Christian church. We have decided to have her Christian pastor marry us at a “neutral” venue outside of either faith’s church. However, it is still very important to my family and to me to receive […]

Q: In the Bible, Jesus says: “Do this in memory of me.” But he doesn’t say that it has to be done every Sunday and holy day. So many young people are falling away from the church because of its rigidity. Please explain why we are obligated. (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)

It is my understanding that the Catholic Church, along with other religious organizations, is helping to relocate Syrian and other Middle Eastern refugees, of whom more than 90 percent are Muslim. Shouldn’t saving persecuted Christians from this region be the priority?

QUESTION CORNER Q: Regarding your recent column on forgiving ISIS: Must forgiveness be predicated on remorse and repentance by the offending party? I am thinking of Christ being crucified and saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing” — or St. Stephen forgiving those who had stoned him. (Greenwich, Connecticut) Q: […]

Question Corner Q: In our parish, there was an elderly man, a faithful parishioner, whose brother had come to live with him due to ill health. They were told that our parish visiting team could not come to visit the sick man and bring him Communion, since technically they lived outside our parish boundaries. This […]

Q: What is the Christian response to ISIS? (Harrisonburg, Virginia) A: The Christian response to ISIS is to deplore their violence and to seek the most effective means to stop it. In March 2015, in what was seen as an unusually blunt endorsement of military action, the Vatican’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva […]