Episode Details

Fr. John-Mary Bowlin serves as Parish Priest at St. Jude Catholic Church in Gun Barrel City, Texas. He served in the U.S. Army and was ordained a priest in June of 2012.     In Today's Show:

• I just wanted to know the extent to which I need to pray, and the extent to which I need to confess, act, and behave in order for me to do what is right, to achieve what is good? I also want to understand why some people who don't pray and don't live a good life have all that they need, achieve good grades, etc.
• How can one discern what God's will is and determine what's coming from God and what might be coming from elsewhere?
• If, over the years, you confess something too generally, or leave something out because it haunts you and you don't remember confessing it before and so you do it again, how do you make sure that you have done what you need to do to be right with God and are forgiven? I recall things and wonder, did I confess that? I would appreciate your help.
• How does one make the jump from deism to theism? I struggle to think of a personal God rather than a simple creator.
• How does Christ work through the saints? Can you please clarify the role that the saints should play in our spiritual life?
• I am a college student. Praise and worship music is played during my university's weekly Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Should Adoration be treated as more of a devotion, a liturgical service, or a quasi-liturgical service? Are there specific rules anywhere for how adoration should be performed, specifically regarding sacred music?
• I have a bunch of prayer cards that I touched to the relic of St. Jude Thaddeus. Would it be prudent of me to laminate them and to write on the back that they are third class relics?
• Does one immediately fall into a state of mortal sin if they have what might be considered "inappropriate" thoughts about the opposite sex, even if those thoughts are consciously ignored and never acted upon?
• What is having a Devotion to a Saint versus being Consecrated to a Saint?
• How does the church view material success? Is wealth bad?

 

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