Q: A question please? What is the bare minimum in terms of administering the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick when the situation is urgent or time is pressing? Is it reasonable to lay hands and anoint forehead and upturned palms of  hands saying some appropriate words whilst doing so, such as “may you feeling the hands of the Lord Jesus upon you and receive the healing you need in body, mind and/or spirit”? Is it correct to suggest that this sacrament is not really intended for the death bed, when someone is palliative, but is conferred in the …

Q: As always, your posts I get on email are a huge service and I learn from your skillfully worded answers. I stop everything I’m doing and open your posts first. I hope this is not overextending a question. We typically have Mass each week in our school and we work to make a gym look prayerful. One of the projects our development office is proposing and has raised a little more than half the money needed is a renovation or what architects call a “refresh” of that space. My question is about a floating Cross that will mechanically drop …

Q: We have only one priest, and with Monday as his day off it is also the only day the community does not celebrate Mass. Monday is also our School of Religion night, and we are considering offering a Communion service possibly once a month as our opening prayer. Here is my question…does the minister who leads the rite also need to be the one who offers the Gospel reflection, or can that be someone else? == A: The rites of Pastoral Care and of the Sick permit a layperson to give a reflection when bringing communion to the sick …

Q: I have a wedding on Saturday evening of Pentecost weekend. Do I wear red vestments or white? == A: You would wear red and celebrate the Mass of the Pentecost Vigil with its presidential prayers and readings. You drop the wedding ceremony into the middle of it.

Q: We celebrate infant baptisms both during and outside of Mass. The baptisms outside of Mass take place immediately following our masstimes. Much of the time the baptism family does not attend the Mass just prior to the baptism. But sometimes we do have the family at Mass. Several months ago we had a guest priest celebrate the baptisms of several babies from the same family. The whole family had also just attended the Mass (the priest was not the celebrant). Instead of beginning with the rite of reception followed by a liturgy of the Word, the priest went straight …

Q: I received a call inquiring about a catechumen who will have 38 weeks of RCIA instead of the normal 42 weeks by Easter Vigil. May they be baptized with the proper instructions and not have to wait another year?  I looked in the RCIA book #76 and there is no reference to time specific… says could be several years and “should be long enough for the conversion and faith of the catechumen to become strong” == A: There is no “normal 42 weeks” for the RCIA. The paragraph you cite is the correct one. In the US, the National …

Q: If the auxiliary bishop carries the pastoral staff, is there any difference in the direction of the crozier for him vs. an ordinary? == A: CB 59 says that the bishop holds the pastoral staff, “its curved head turned away from himself and toward the people.” Traditionally, anyone assisting the bishop who temporarily holds the pastoral staff points it the other way. There is no distinction, however, between bishops and auxiliary bishops. All hold the pastoral staff as CB 59 describes.

Q: I get these questions and usually don’t have the answer. I have an idea for the second question, but no idea for the first question.  Posed from a parishioner:  Why do we say the Mass is ended … instead of the Mass has ended. (Someone caught me, inadvertently, saying the latter and corrected me. I’m not losing sleep on this, but I am sure there is something there. Another:  Why do we say “we dare to “say” (instead of we dare to “pray”) before the Our Father (Priests often change the line to say the latter as they say the Mass). == A: …

We have been using the Sprinkling Rite during the Easter Season in place of the Penitential Act. I realize the Sunday of Easter takes precedence over the Confirmation texts. However, given the Renewal of Baptismal Promises and Professional of Faith is stated during the Rite of Confirmation, it almost would seem that one would use one of the other options for the Penirtential Rite and use the Sprinkling after the Renewal of Baptismal Promises, just like on Easter Sunday. Given Google these days, there are Confirmation documents galore from various dioceses throughout the world on how to and how not …

Q: Can you help us clarify some of the protocols around auxiliary bishops?  My sense is that only the bishop of the diocese should use the cathedra, and that when an auxiliary bishop presides in the Cathedral he would use a different presidential chair. I also wonder about the use of the crozier. When he is celebrant, does an auxiliary use a crozier always—or sometimes? Thanks and take care! == A: The Ceremonial of Bishops #47 says this about the cathedra: “Apart from the cases provided for by law, only the diocesan bishop, or a bishop he permits to use …