Dear Father

The Church bases her belief in the Real Presence on divine revelation in both Scripture and tradition. Since a majority of Christians recognize Scripture as part of divine revelation, I will begin here.

Q: Why does Jesus, particularly in St. John's Gospel, call Mary 'woman' and not 'mother'? 

There are two places in St. John's Gospel where Jesus refers to Mary as "woman." The first is at the wedding feast of Cana, after Mary informs Jesus that the newly married couple has run out of wine. Our Lord responds by saying, "'Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come'" (John 2:4). The second time is at the crucifixion when Jesus entrusts Mary to St. John; He says, "Woman, behold, your son" (John 19:26).

Q: Where can I find the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament?

We can first find the Holy Spirit's presence in the Old Testament, and really in the entire Bible, in His inspiration of the sacred authors of the text. The Spirit inspires the prophecies of the Old Testament, sees their fulfillment in Christ and confirms the Church in the truth of Christ through the writings of the New Testament. While He inspires the biblical authors, He is also actively at work in the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments.

The Our Father is an eternally beautiful prayer that is cherished by all Christians. Yet this sacred prayer, which came from Our Lord, is one place where sad divisions of His Church are seen. How can we make sense of the division in the ending of this prayer between Catholics and many other Christians?

Q: What do we mean when we say Easter is a season? 

When I was growing up in the 1960s, I loved to watch the movies that were set in biblical times, but I found myself wistfully repining to have lived in those sacred days of yore when Divinity walked the earth. I don't think I was the only one. It seems that Jesus anticipated that and took measures to make it possible for us, who live 20 centuries too late, to have been eyewitnesses to the events of our salvation as they occurred. To become partakers in them, nonetheless.

Q. Are those who die in a spiritual form or in a bodily form, like our Blessed Mother and Christ? 

At the moment of our death, our body lies in death, but our soul is summoned before our Lord for judgment. This judgment is, in the words of St. John of the Cross, to be a judgment on how we loved during our lives.