#12458 Does Anointing of the Sick Remove Mortal Sin? Confession and Sacraments - Tim Staples

Summary

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Catholic Answers Live Episode #12458

Date: November 14, 2025
Main Theme: Does Anointing of the Sick Remove Mortal Sin? Confession and Sacraments
Primary Guest: Tim Staples
Fill-in Host: Edgar Lujano
Guest Apologist: Tom Nash

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Overview

This episode of Catholic Answers Live focused on Catholic sacramental theology—with particular attention to the effects of the Anointing of the Sick (“Last Rites”) on mortal sin and entry into heaven, requirements for receiving Confirmation in a state of sin, and a wide variety of questions concerning sacraments, religious orders, Bible translations, and evangelization. Tim Staples and Tom Nash delivered the answers, blending biblical references, Catechism citations, personal experiences, and practical advice, all with their characteristic clarity and warmth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sacraments in a State of Mortal Sin

[01:15] Tom Nash on Confirmation & Mortal Sin:

• A person can validly receive Confirmation when in a state of mortal sin, but “it would be in vain,” as mortal sin creates a grave impediment to the effects of the sacrament.
• Analogy: Two people can validly marry without going to Confession, but their relationship to God is impeded if they are in sin.
• Being confirmed while in mortal sin means not benefiting from the graces—the individual is “being an obstacle to God whose graces you are supposedly willing to be open to receive.”
• Quote:
  "You can be validly confirmed and still not make it to heaven precisely because you are not in right relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ."
  — Tom Nash [02:54]
• The Church encourages Confession before Confirmation to ensure proper disposition.

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2. Anointing of the Sick, Mortal Sin, and the Apostolic Pardon

[04:13] Caller Julie’s Question:
If a person receives last rites/anointing of the sick during active dying—do they go straight to heaven if not in mortal sin? How does it work if they are in mortal sin?

[04:46] Tom Nash’s Response:

• God is not bound by the sacraments, but sacraments are the normative means of grace (see Catechism 1257).
• Temporal punishment may remain even after forgiveness (analogy: window broken by child—father forgives, but the window still needs fixing).
• Apostolic Pardon—when given by a priest, remits not only sin but also temporal punishment, providing confidence that the soul will go “directly to heaven.”
• Personal Example: Suffering and long illness may fulfill or lessen purgatorial needs (“doing his purgatory for himself ... and maybe a few other people doing his redemptive suffering.”)
• “Only God can say for sure what happens ... but normatively speaking, yes, if they do receive that apostolic pardon, you can have confidence they’re going to heaven very soon, directly.”
• Quote:
  “We talk about how somebody, a father, can forgive his kid for breaking the window, but there’s still a broken window and there’s a certain temporal restitution that we have to do our part to make things better.”
  — Tom Nash [05:23]

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3. Explaining the Real Presence to Children

[08:32] Patricia’s Question:
Advice for explaining the Real Presence in the Eucharist to granddaughters making First Holy Communion.

[08:53] Tom Nash’s Teaching Points:

• Use Old & New Passover analogy:
  • In the Old Covenant, Jews ate the Passover lamb after sacrificing it—marking their doors with its blood.
  • Jesus is the New Covenant Passover Lamb. His bones weren’t broken (John 19:36, Exodus 12) in fulfillment of prophecy.
  • As Israelites ate the lamb, so Christians receive Jesus—the Lamb of God—in the Eucharist.
  • Cite John 6:53-58 (eat my flesh, drink my blood), "it is his body and blood, soul and divinity."
• Bread and wine as priestly sacrifice:
  • Jesus is a priest “according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:7, 10; Genesis 14:18–20). Melchizedek offered bread and wine, foreshadowing Eucharist.
• Undivided Real Presence:
  • Breaking the host does not divide Jesus; He remains whole and undivided in each piece.
• Sacrificial & Heavenly Aspect:
  • The Mass bridges earth and heaven; it’s both a meal and one sacrifice, re-presented.
  • “Nowhere more profoundly are those words of the Lord’s prayer ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ more fulfilled than in the holy sacrifice of the Mass …” [15:32]
• Quote:
  “So it is his body and blood, soul and divinity. That's why if you break a consecrated host, even though it's two pieces, our Lord is present in a whole and undivided manner …”
  — Tom Nash [09:48]

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4. Receiving Sacraments with Intellectual Disabilities

[17:54] Dan’s Question (via Host):
Autistic son cannot sit through or comprehend sacramental prep—may he receive Eucharist/Confirmation?

[18:11] Tim Staples’ Answer:

• The “bar is very, very low” with intellectual disabilities.
• Personal Story: Tim’s son, “quite severely autistic,” with limited comprehension, was able to receive with pastor’s approval.
• Discuss with pastor; the child only needs some acknowledgment, not full theological understanding.
• In the Eastern churches, infants receive all three Sacraments of Initiation.
• Quote:
  “A baby can't comprehend at all and can receive the sacraments. But for an adult convert, there does need to be some acknowledgment...again, the bar is very, very low.”
  — Tim Staples [19:55]

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5. Religious Orders, Monasteries, and Biblical Roots

[21:07] Eric’s Question:
What are Augustinians, Little Sisters of the Poor, religious orders, monasteries? Do women have monasteries? Who are monks and nuns?

[21:08–38:29] Tim Staples’ Comprehensive Answer:

• Biblical roots for diversity of ministries and religious orders:
  • Matthew 10:40–42—Hierarchies and gifts in the Church (apostles, prophets, “righteous men,” “little ones”; all rewarded for service/living in their name).
• Early monasticism: Desert monks of 3rd c. Egypt as example.
• Orders coalesce around charismatic, holy figures—St. Benedict (Benedictines), St. Francis (Franciscans), St. Dominic (Dominicans), and women founders (Mother Angelica, Mother Teresa).
• Following a “rule” or spiritual charism is not subtracting from Jesus; it's a participation in the gifts Jesus bestows.
• Quote:
  “This is the biblical foundation for the idea of religious orders that recognize particular gifts ... to act in the name of a disciple, like the Franciscans acting in the spirit of St. Francis …”
  — Tim Staples [31:48]
• Women participate—e.g., nuns in monasteries founded by women religious.

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6. Bible Translations & the Liturgy

[41:48] Robert’s Questions:
How long for new Catholic Bible translations to take effect? What should we expect?

[41:48] Tim Staples’ Answer:

• Translations are committee efforts, often taking “12 to 15 years on average,” but often more—“sometimes as much as 25 or even 30 years.”
• Approval process: Committees, bishops’ conferences, Vatican. Even then, ongoing review leads to revised translations.
• Liturgical translations are especially meticulous—Pope John Paul II expedited changes on specific texts (e.g., “full of grace” in Luke 1:28).
• Quote:
  “It's not that it was an incorrect translation. It was just really weak. And it didn't get at the beauty of the fullness of grace that's being communicated about the Blessed Mother.”
  — Tim Staples [46:31]
• Each update aims to better reflect the scriptural and theological tradition.

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7. Evangelizing Family & Addressing Anti-Catholic Bias

[49:10] John in Fort Worth’s Story & Challenge:

• Grew up in a highly exclusivist Pentecostal group; wife wary of Catholicism; seeking advice on sensitive evangelization.

[52:17] Tim Staples’ Advice:

• Share personal story with humility and love.
• "Scratch where it itches"—let the other person raise their primary objection; focus on that one issue before moving to others.
• Most important: listen, love, and testify to the transformation and depth you’ve found in Christ through the Catholic Church.
• Quote:
  “The most important thing is to love people and to tell them, look, I love Jesus. I have found the fullness of the gospel in the Catholic Church, but I love Jesus the same, even more now than I ever did. Let's talk.”
  — Tim Staples [54:32]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “God, who has bound salvation to the sacraments, is not himself bound by the sacraments.” — Tom Nash [04:46]
• “You can be validly confirmed and still not make it to heaven precisely because you are not in right relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.” — Tom Nash [02:54]
• “If they do receive that apostolic pardon, you can have confidence they’re going to heaven very soon, directly.” — Tom Nash [06:32]
• “We have fathers, priests. We have fathers, heads of religious orders. In the spirit of St. Paul, he’s a father to the Corinthians ... those gifts come in lots of different ways.” — Tim Staples [35:54]
• “There is a pretty low bar when it comes to what you’re able to comprehend when you’re talking about mental disabilities.” — Tim Staples [18:21]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:15] – Can one receive Confirmation in a state of mortal sin?
• [04:08–07:05] – Does Anointing of the Sick remove mortal sin/purgatory? The apostolic pardon explained.
• [08:32–15:56] – How to explain the Real Presence to children (First Communion).
• [17:54–20:17] – Sacraments and intellectual disabilities (children with autism).
• [21:07–38:29] – Religious orders, monasteries, biblical roots, and holy founders (with Scriptures).
• [41:48–48:58] – Bible translations for Catholic liturgy: process, history, and impact.
• [49:10–55:04] – Evangelizing anti-Catholic family/friends, patient dialog, and personal story-sharing.

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Tone & Style

• Warm, approachable, and pastoral; Tom Nash and Tim Staples mix personal anecdotes and theological precision.
• Frequent biblical and Catechism citations.
• Supportive and affirming, especially with callers facing challenges (intellectual disabilities, evangelizing loved ones, etc.)
• Gentle humor and camaraderie between hosts and callers.

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Summary Table

| Segment | Topic | Speaker | Key Takeaway | |---------|-------|---------|--------------| | 01:15 | Confirmation in Sin | Tom Nash | Valid but fruitless unless in grace | | 04:08 | Anointing of Sick | Tom Nash | Apostolic pardon may remove even purgatory | | 08:32 | Eucharist to Kids | Tom Nash | Old/New Passover analogy, Real Presence | | 17:54 | Autism & Sacraments | Tim Staples | Bar is low; pastoral discretion | | 21:07 | Religious Orders | Tim Staples | Scriptural roots for diverse gifts/orders | | 41:48 | Bible Translations | Tim Staples | Slow, rigorous; continual improvement | | 49:10 | Evangelizing Family | Tim Staples | Listen, love, address their main objections |

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For full understanding of any sacramental question, listen to the referenced segments for practical and theological depth with real-life examples and scriptural backing.

Transcript

[Tim Staples]

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[Tom Nash]

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[Tim Staples]

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[Edgar Lujano]

Foreign welcome back to Catholic Answers Live. I am Edgar Lujano filling in for Cy Kellett. Today it's been a great day. And you know what? We're just having way too much fun with Tom Nash. We told we called Tim and said, Tim, you know what, Stay home. Don't even worry about it. Tom Nash has it from here. He's grabbed the bull by the horns and he's like, let's tackle this. So instead of just continuing and asking me anything sacraments, let's just open it up to all Catholicism questions. So any question on Catholicism, go ahead and give us a call. Tom will answer him and his masterful knowledge. And we have a couple of lines open. So if you want to give us a call, 888-318-7884. That's triple eight 31 truth. Ask your question, any question you want on Catholicism. Tom, do you have something to say?

[Tom Nash]

Yes. John in Oklahoma City had talked about whether somebody could receive receive the sacrament of Confirmation validly in a state of grave sin, mortal sin. And I think the argument could be that they would, but it would still be vain. It's like two people could be validly married and consent to marriage, but it would be counterproductive that they could be validly married if they hadn't gone to confession and still be validly receive it. But one has put a grave impediment if one received the sacrament of confirmation in a state of sin. I'm looking at one of my reference books and it talks about, you know, a person must believe, know and believe the mysteries of the faith. It doesn't say, though, that someone as far as sacrament, excuse me, being in a state of grace. However, to receive confirmation when you're being called to go out and be a witness to all people, to receive it in a state of grave sin is to be even though valid, you are putting a huge block. You're receiving it in vain because you are being an obstacle God whose graces you are supposedly being willing to be open to receive. So valid but not good for the person who's receiving it and not good for the person who knowingly confers that sacrament, knowing that the person is living in a gravely wrong relationship. God in his mercy can do all things. But when you are aware that somebody is living in A grave relationship, gravely wrong relationship, that person is not up for benefiting from the sacrament. Well, again, God can work through all situations. But when you receive a sacrament, you want to be disposed to benefit from the grace that accompanies that, the gift from God in receiving that sacrament. So if you're going to be confirmed, that's why they have you go to confession, so you could receive it validly, arguably, but you won't be benefiting from the graces that God gives you in terms of you're still in a state of mortal sin. It can't change that fact. You've got to be disposed. Now, once you get back in a state of grace, then you can benefit from those graces of confirmation. But you don't want to be presumptuous saying, hey, I'm getting confirmed and I'm living a life contrary to the gospel. That's not a good thing to do because you can be validly confirmed, but you are not going to be benefiting from those graces in a crucial way. And indeed, you can be validly confirmed and still not make it to heaven precisely because you are not in right relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

[Edgar Lujano]

John in Oklahoma. The John in Oklahoma. Hopefully that was helpful and that clarification helped. All right, Tom, let's go ahead and jump back into the calls. Let's go over to Julie in St. Louis, Missouri, listening on the Covenant Network app. Julie, welcome to the show. You're on the air.

[Tim Staples]

Hi. Thanks, guys. Really enjoy your show.

[Edgar Lujano]

Thank you.

[Tim Staples]

I just had a question about last rites or AKA anointing of the sick. If. If a patient, like someone was actively dying and then the priest gave them the last rites, say if they did not have any mortal sin, then would we believe that they would go straight to heaven and not go to purgatory? And would the answer be any different if they were in the state of mortal sin?

[Tom Nash]

Well, as we mentioned earlier in the first hour of the program, God, who has bound salvation to the sacraments, is not himself bound by the sacraments. Catechism 1257, the same Catechism of the Catholic Church, but at the same time, we don't want to be presumptuous. For your first example of a person who does not in a state of mortal sin and has their sins forgiven, we need to realize that they could have temporal punishment attached to their sins that has not yet been taken care of. So we talk about how somebody, a father, can forgive his kid for breaking the window, but there's still a broken window and there's a certain temporal restitution that we have to do our part to make things better. Just like somebody can be forgiven for committing a terrible crime, but might have to do some time in prison for who knows how many years. And similarly, this person who is forgiven on their deathbed. Right. And only God can say for sure what happens to that person and whether he has any temporal punishment to take care of. It'd be good, though, in any case to receive the anointing of the sick. There is such a thing called the apostolic pardon that one can receive from a priest who knows the penitent well and et cetera. And so that would be a case where the temporal punishment would be removed by a mercy of God. And so that person would go straight to heaven. And that would be a great blessing. I know somebody whose husband was very seriously ill for a number of years. So you might want to say that he was doing his purgatory for himself and maybe a few other people doing his redemptive suffering. So we could say a person does receive that and that the priest is judged adequately. Because you've always got to say in that case, with the apostolic pardon, while the sacraments, no doubt that the sins would be forgiven if the person was disposed and that they are anointed. But one might argue about, is it possible somebody could receive the apostolic pardon and maybe not know completely about something? Well, it's God in his mercy clears it all up. But the bottom line is normatively speaking. Yeah. If they do receive that apostolic pardon, you can have confidence they're going to heaven very soon, directly. Does that help out?

[Tim Staples]

That does.

[Tom Nash]

Thank you very much. You're welcome.

[Edgar Lujano]

All right, thanks, Julie. Thank you for your question. We do have a few lines open, so if you want to ask a question, it's an Ask me anything. Anything on Catholicism. Don't call in asking about Rick and Morty. Call in asking about Catholicism.

[Tom Nash]

Rick and Morty. I'm familiar with Rick and Morty. I learned about them the other day.

[Edgar Lujano]

Oh, yeah. During the convocation that he did. If you don't know what we're talking about, go back.

[Tom Nash]

Maybe Rick and Morty can go into ocia.

[Edgar Lujano]

Maybe they could. I certainly hope so. That gets. That gets into interdimensional things and time travel.

[Tom Nash]

So you're going to have God is not limited. He who created time cannot be limited or overcome by it.

[Edgar Lujano]

Amen to that. If you're wondering what we're talking about, just go back and watch the Super show on YouTube, the Catholic Answers Live channel. All right, let's actually, you know what, we can go to a break early, Tom. Actually, one more question. Let's go. One more question before we go to the break. Patricia has been waiting very patiently. Thank you so much, Patricia in Huntsville, Alabama, watching us on YouTube. You're on there, Eric. Go right ahead.

[Tim Staples]

Hi.

[Tom Nash]

First of all, I would like to.

[Tim Staples]

Say how excited I am to finally talk with Tom. I have to let you know that I have read your contribution to Bert Gezi's book, Keeping your Kids Catholic.

[Tom Nash]

Thank you.

[Tim Staples]

I also have your biblical roots of the Mass as well as Worthy is the Lamb, and I'm a big fan.

[Tom Nash]

Thank you very much, Patricia.

[Tim Staples]

Now, you're welcome. We have a couple granddaughters making their first Holy Communion, one this year and one the next. And I'm wondering, do you have any advice on how to explain the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist?

[Tom Nash]

Yes, Patricia. Yes. And I remember back in the day when I received my first communion, what I would say is make an analogy with the old covenant Passover and the new covenant Passover that we not only offered the lambs, and this is the ten Commandments, we see those offered before and helped emancipate from Israel, from Egypt. So they had to offer, that is slaughter the lambs, but then they also partook of them, so that they ate the lambs and were able then continue on with the Exodus. They were marked by the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts of their houses. Similarly, I would say that it's the new covenant Passover because Jesus speaks about how he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John proclaims this in John 1:29 and also in chapter one, verse 35. So we also know that Jesus, he talks about that he is this new covenant Passover, because in John 19 they did not break his bones. Because what are they saying? Break none of his bones so as to fulfill the prescriptions of the the Passover prescriptions. Because in Exodus 12 you are not to break any bones of the not the person, but of the Passover lamb. And I can get the passage for you specifically in John chapter 19 where it says, break none of his bones. I believe it's verse 34. Let's see, it is but. Or is it 32? Oh, yes, the soldier in 32 says, so the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other had been crucified. But they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead. They did not break his legs. And it says here it's actually, in 36, it goes on to say, for these things took place, that scripture might be fulfilled, not a bone of him shall be broken. So it's actually 19, verse 36. What is that saying? That Jesus is the new covenant passover lamb. And so as they partook of the old covenant passover lamb and ate their flesh, so in the new covenant, we can partake of it of Jesus that he who says in John 6, 53, 58, that eat my body and drink my blood, and you will have life everlasting. This is what we are introduced to at first communion when we receive our Lord under the appearances of bread and wine. So it is his body and blood, soul and divinity. That's why if you break a consecrated host, even though it's two pieces, our Lord is present in a whole and undivided manner after the manner of a spirit. That is because you can't divide a spirit, but it is indeed the body and blood of Jesus Christ, but after the manner of his spirit. So that if you break a host in two, you don't have half of Jesus and I have half of Jesus. No, it's the same. Jesus present body, blood, soul and divinity in an undivided way under both pieces of the same one single host. So then I would tell the granddaughters, it's like, look, this is how we are receiving. And Jesus gives us his body and blood as the new covenant passover lamb so that we can have eternal life. He enables us to do so under the appearances of bread and wine. And they might say, well, why bread and wine, Grandma? And then you can tell them, well, it says in scripture, for example, in Hebrews 5, 7, 10, that Jesus is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. And thinking, who's Melchizedek? Show in Genesis 14, 8, 20, that Melchizedek was the great high priest whom even Abram Abraham was paying homage to, even though he had beaten several kings and he brings out bread and wine. People say, well, bread and wine is not an offering of a sacrifice. Grandma said, well, it can be. For example, in Exodus 29:40, there could be offerings of bread, cereal, et cetera. And so what we see there is as well that a priest is offered. A priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices for the people for the forgiveness of sins. We see that that's the prime function of a Priesthood in Hebrews 5:1. So we know that if he's making this cameo appearance, which Melchizedek does back in Genesis 14, 18, 20, we know it's a special time then that if he's going to be a high priest, that he'd be bringing out some kind of an offering that just goes to follow. If that's but the prime function of priests is to offer gifts and sacrifices. He makes his cameo in Genesis 14. That's what he's going to be doing more. So Jesus Christ, what does he do? Take my body. This is my body, this is my blood will be offered up for you. What does he do it under the appearances he uses bread and wine. And so when Jesus is later called a priest according to the order of Melchizedek in chapter five of Hebrews, it's not surprising that we would see that it's. What is Melchizedek under bread and wine? What did Jesus do? He used bread and wine at the Last Supper. How to receive his saving body and blood through bread and wine. That is according to the order of Melchizedek. So that we are able to receive that in the special way that God has appointed and that it's the same sacrifice. It's not simply a meal, but a sacrifice. Because the sacrifice. Patricia, I tell your God children that Jesus died, rises from the dead, but then he ascends into the heavenly sanctuary at ascension. If you have Jewish friends, then they might know about Yom Kippur Day of atonement. Real quick thing. On that day of atonement, day of Leviticus, chapter 16 covers it. There were two parts of the same sacrifice. You had a bull and a goat. A bull for the priest and a goat for the people. Now I have my friend Edgar here. If we decided to kill the bull and the goat, and then Edgar says, hey, I've got a great recipe. Let's go cook these up. Well, then we'd be in trouble because we didn't take care. We had to take the blood through the holies into the holy of holies, sprinkling before the mercy, seat of God atop the Ark of the Covenant. There were two phases, right? You had to slaughter the bowl, but you also had to take his blood into the goat and take it into the holy of holies. So too Jesus dies, rises from the dead, ascends into the heavenly sanctuary, so that it culminates in everlasting glory. This is discussed in Hebrews, chapter nine, various parts. But the beauty of it is, is because it's sacrifice, it's culminating in everlasting glory. We can become present to it that every time that the priest says, this is my body, this is my blood, heaven and one become one. Because what is going on in heaven becomes according to the to the order of Melchizedek, under appearances of bread and wine, that one sacrifice, that same sacrifice Jesus, under the sacrament and the veil of a sacrament, we are able to which culminate in everlasting glory, we get to partake of, we get to offer anew at each and every Mass. So it is a communion sacrifice. We offer anew in union with our Lord in heaven, and we get to partake of it as well. And in summary, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Nowhere more profoundly are those words of the Lord's Prayer more profoundly fulfilled than in the holy sacrifice of the Mass in which we can receive Holy Communion.

[Edgar Lujano]

Patricia, thank you so much for that. I'm gonna have to leave it there because it's time for the break. I'm late for the break and Tim Staples is in the building. So this building cannot contain him. So we're gonna bring him in after the break and you can ask your questions on Catholicism. To Tim Staples. Tom Nash, thank you so much for filling in.

[Tom Nash]

Great being with you and the audience, and God bless everyone.

[Edgar Lujano]

Thank you very much. All right, we'll be right back with Tim Staples after this break.

[Tim Staples]

Let us help you with your question today on Catholic Answers Live.

[Tom Nash]

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[Tim Staples]

To ask it privately?

[Tom Nash]

Catholic Questions can help. Go to CatholicQuestions.com to ask your question online.

[Tim Staples]

Email us, drop us a letter or give us a call.

[Tom Nash]

Long time Catholic Answers Live apologist and author Jim Blackburn or another Catholic Questions apologist will be happy to assist you. Catholic Questions proudly supports Catholic Answers Live. So Visit [e-mail] today.

[Tim Staples]

That's CatholicQuestions.com the power of prayer simply means that words have an effect. For example, when a couple says, I do, it literally changes two people to.

[Edgar Lujano]

Becoming one in marriage.

[Tim Staples]

When you say I love you, it.

[Edgar Lujano]

Changes us and it gives us value.

[Tim Staples]

The power of prayer is in the.

[Edgar Lujano]

Words and in the sentiment, but it's.

[Tim Staples]

Also in the fact that God, who.

[Edgar Lujano]

Is omnipotent, all powerful answers our prayers. Here we go. Headphones. Welcome back. Catholic Answers Live. Back to the original plan, because the man, the myth, the Catholic Answers legend, Tim Staples, is in the building. Tim, hey, welcome. Welcome in.

[Tim Staples]

It is good to be with you, brother. I was just listening to Tom's answer on the Eucharist. That was fantastic.

[Edgar Lujano]

Tom is good at what he does.

[Tim Staples]

Yes, he is, man.

[Edgar Lujano]

All right, well, now that we have you in, there's actually a question from A guy who couldn't stay on the air. His name is Dan, and he asks this. His son is autistic. Will he be allowed to receive Eucharist and Confirmation if he cannot sit through classes or comprehend details of the sacraments?

[Tim Staples]

Yes, he can. In fact, you asked the right guy, because I have seven kids and my first child, Tim ii, Timothy Charles Staples ii, is quite severely autistic, and he has limited comprehension. But we were able to talk with the pastor. You know, we sat down with him, and we determined that he was able to receive. So there is a pretty low bar when it comes to what you're able to comprehend when you're talking about mental disabilities. So the key, though, is to do what we did. Talk to your pastor. He will evaluate, and most likely your son will be able to receive the Eucharist. Our son, Timmy, he has actually grown a bit in his comprehension, and now he knows he wouldn't clearly sort of say it at the time of his receiving his first Holy Communion. But now if you ask him, are you ready to receive Jesus? He'll say, yes. Yes. And he receives our Lord regularly. So, again, check with your pastor, but the answer is probably yes.

[Edgar Lujano]

You know, to me, what partially answered that question before you came in was the original order of the sacraments before the change where babies were giving Holy Communion.

[Tim Staples]

And in the East?

[Edgar Lujano]

In the east, yeah. As well.

[Tim Staples]

They still do. Yes, that's right. Yeah. But when it comes to adult converts, there's obviously different criteria than for a baby. A baby can't comprehend at all and can receive the sacraments. But for an adult convert, there does need to be some acknowledgment and. But again, the bar is very, very low.

[Edgar Lujano]

All right. Well, Dan, hopefully that helps and gives you a little bit of encouragement and hope. We go over to Eric in Polk City, Iowa, listening on Iowa Catholic Radio. Eric, thanks for your patience. You're on the air. Go right ahead. Oh, he's catching up. He's listening on the radio. Eric, are you there?

[Tim Staples]

I'm here.

[Edgar Lujano]

All right, go right ahead with your question.

[Tim Staples]

My question is I started listening to Iowa Catholic Radio not too long ago, and there's a lot of things I'm hearing that I don't understand. They have good programs, but some things I don't understand. One of those things I was going to ask you about is religious orders, and I heard about Augustinians and little sisters of poor things like that. What are they? Who are they?

[Tom Nash]

What they do?

[Tim Staples]

And then I just wonder about monasteries, you know, who's who are they? Are they. Are they just. Who are monks? You know, what are they? And are there women in monasteries? I just don't know about religious or monasteries. Gotcha. Great question, Great question. Yeah. The idea of religious monasteries and such goes way, way back. In fact, the monks, the desert monks, for example, in Egypt in the third century were like an incredibly powerful tool in the church. And kind of the root of it really goes back to the different ministries and gifts that are born in the people of God by the power of the Holy Spirit at work within them. Jesus recognized, of course, he is not just the founder of our one holy, catholic and apostolic faith. He happens to be God as well as man. So of course, he talks about how in Matthew 10:40, he who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me. Notice how here he's talking about how. And he's specifically referring to the apostolic gift here, how that Jesus has empowered the church to such a degree that if you receive an apostle, you're receiving him. If you reject the apostle or apostolic gift, you're rejecting Jesus Christ and you will lose your soul. This is the context of what Jesus is talking about here. And what's fascinating is, look at the next verse, because he goes on beyond just the apostolic gift, the gift of the apostle in the church and their successors, the bishops. Because we know from text of scripture like Acts 1:20, that the gift of the apostle in succession is called the episcopae, or the bishopric. And you get that from again, Acts 1:20, when St. Peter was setting up the rules basically as to how Judas, who had committed suicide, was going to be replaced. And he quotes a couple of different texts, Psalm 69 and Psalm 109. The first text refers to prophetically that Judas would be eliminated. And then the second text says, let another man take his. And most of the English translations will say, take his office, but actually the Greek word there is episcope, his bishopric. So notice, the gift of the apostle in succession is called what the bishopric. And so while the apostle, strictly speaking, ends, because one of the criteria for being an apostle is you had to be an eyewitness of Jesus Christ when he was in ministry on this earth. And St. Paul, of course, had a special he was as one man out of season, who the Lord revealed himself to him and called him. But you had to be an eyewitness of Jesus in order to be an apostle. And Matthias was. So Matthias was chosen. But the reason why I bring this up is notice that this gift in the church is so profound, so radical, that if you reject these apostles and their successors, the bishops, you're rejecting Jesus Christ. You can lose your soul. But now again, look at the next verse. The next verse, though he says, he who receives a prophet. Oh, so now we're going beyond just the apostolic gift, but saying he who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And we have prophets down through the centuries in the Church. We even see Agabus, who is called a prophet in the Book of Acts and so forth. So the prophetic gift comes in different forms down through the centuries, most especially through ordained ministry. The prophet is by definition the one who speaks. In fact, the word itself means to speak forth, but it indicates to speak forth the mind of God. So a deacon, when he proclaims the Gospel at Mass, is operating in a prophetic gift in proclaiming the word of God when he preaches a homily. And so for telling, hang on over the break and we're going to get to something real good here in a second.

[Edgar Lujano]

All right, you heard it from the man himself. Eric, hang in there. And we'll finish up that question on the other end of the break. And there is one line open, so if you want to give us a call. 888-31-8-7884.

[Tim Staples]

When the resurrected Jesus appeared to disciples on the road to Emmaus, they didn't recognize him until the breaking of the bread. The same is true today in the Holy Eucharist we really meet Jesus in the Eucharist Is Really Jesus, author Joe Heschmeyer explains how knowing Jesus in the Eucharist is the key to understanding all of Christian faith. Order your copy of the Eucharist Is Really Jesus [e-mail] or get it at.

[Tom Nash]

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[Edgar Lujano]

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[Tim Staples]

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[Tom Nash]

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[Tim Staples]

But it also lets us have light hearts and maybe even mix in a bit of fun. And that is exactly what our good friend Joe Heschmeyer does in his popular podcast, Shameless Potpourri. You should check it [e-mail] Joe's got a deep grasp of the faith, morals, the teachings of the Church, all that, but he's also got a witty conversational style. He entertains and he informs, but you will leave equipped to better answer the most common challenges, misconceptions and questions about the Catholic faith. He's got insightful guests, he does on air debates, and he takes a close.

[Tom Nash]

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[Tim Staples]

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[Edgar Lujano]

Welcome back. Catholic Answers Live. Edgar Lujano filling in for Sy Kellett. And Tim was right in the middle of answering a question, Eric's question about religious orders like the Augustinians and the monasteries and what that all means. So you were in the middle?

[Tim Staples]

Yeah, yeah. And so I appreciate this question. It's a very important one because I know as a former Protestant myself, these things were so alien to me. But when I got this perspective from scripture, and as I left off here, we're talking about the different gifts in the body of Christ and the way God chooses to work in the body of Christ. And we noted here in Matthew 10:40 with regard to the apostolic gift, that it's a powerful gift, that is the apostles and their successors, the bishops, and they have particular gifts that you and I are bound to respect and even obey. When the bishops, for example, speak in union with the Pope on a matter of faith and morals, or if they issue disciplinary documents or doctrines, they him bind us under the pain of mortal sin to obey them, Right? When the Church says, for example, no, you can't use beer at communion, you use wine of grapes, that's not an infallible teaching of faith and morals. That's a discipline. So I'm going to use beer at Mass. Well, if you do, you're in grave sin. So at any rate, that's the apostolic gift. But here, now we see and he who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. So the prophetic gift in the Church manifests in various different ways. I just mentioned the ministry of the deacon at Mass. But there's lots of other ways that the prophetic gift works in the Church as well. Shall receive a Prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. What in the world is that talking about? Well, it's talking about how there are holy people in the church who are particularly holy and often accompanied with this. The righteous man, the holy man can be gifts of miracles and so forth. And so when we receive the gift of the righteous man, and we could go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 14 and see all the different charismatic gifts, there are lots of gifts that function in the body of Christ. Now, the apostles in the first century, they functioned in everything, you know, but you see examples, I mentioned Agabus the prophet. But, you know, when it comes to miracles and, you know, supernatural manifestations, I mean, you have Paul and in Acts, chapter 19, they just wanted to touch handkerchiefs, right, to his body. And then they would take the handkerchief over and it would heal people. Right? Like, wow, what's going on here? These are particular gifts that function in the body of Christ and with them, you know, take St. Peter in Acts, chapter five. They wanted just his shadow to pass over him and they would be healed. And you know what happens when these sorts of manifestations happen. When you have a particularly holy person, other people will naturally want to follow these people. And that's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. And this is kind of the origin of religious orders that are usually founded on the backs of St. Augustine. Somebody mentioned St. Benedict, the Benedictines, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius of Loyola and on. And they manifest particular gifts and other people sort of glong on. You know, I was going to say glong onto them. No, would that be glob would follow them and it serves to better their spiritual lives. Now let me just read one more reward. And whoever gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water. Now, most of the modern Bibles will say, because he is a disciple. But actually in the Greek text, it says in the name of a disciple. Now, that's significant, Edgar. It's clear in the Greek, it's in the name of a disciple, I say to you, shall not lose his reward after going through all of these various gifts. And this is Jesus, by the way, speaking. He's saying that if you do a work of righteousness, even so small as give someone a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, in the name of St. Francis. Right. I'm a Franciscan. Guess what? You're not going to lose your reward. You will be rewarded. And so in the name of a disciple, like the Franciscans acting in that spirit of St. Francis, the Augustinians and the various orders that follow the Rule of St. Augustine and St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits and St. Dominic with the Dominicans. This is entirely biblical stuff here. These men, and there are women as well, who found religious orders who have particular spiritual gifts and others follow them. It's all in the Lord. So when we say in the name of a disciple, that doesn't mean, oh, we're taken away from Jesus, because everything we do is in the name of Jesus. And of course, that is true, because the gifts of these, whether it's the apostles themselves, deacons, as I mentioned before, or the various religious leaders in various congregations or religious orders that have been founded, of course it's Jesus Christ that empowers them all. But this is the biblical foundation for the idea of religious orders that recognize particular gifts. St. Paul talks about it like in First Corinthians, chapter 4, verses 14 and 15. He says, you have numerous teachers in the body of Christ, but you don't have many fathers. I have become your father, for I've begotten you through the Gospel. There are particular gifts in the body of Christ. St. Paul talks about it in 1 Timothy. I want to say. Is that chapter 5? Yes, it is. In 1 Timothy, chapter 5, he talks about treat one another as brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, Right? Young women, young men, you treat one another as brothers and sisters. But then he also says you treat some as fathers and mothers as well. St. Paul talks about himself being a father. Now, is that taking away from. Wait a second. We have one father, and that's God according to Jesus, Right? Call no man father. You have one father who is in heaven. Matthew 23:9. Well, according to St. Paul, there are fathers. And thanks be to God, I happen to be a father of seven kids. Edgar, how many are you up to? I have one, and we're just getting started.

[Edgar Lujano]

Just getting started. That's right.

[Tim Staples]

That's right. But yeah, I have seven kids. I'm a father that doesn't take away from the fatherhood of God, but I participate in the Father of God. Fatherhood of God through a gift. Well, those gifts come in lots of different ways. We have fathers, priests. We have fathers, heads of religious orders. In the spirit of St. Paul, he's a father to the Corinthians. And by the way, in the context of referring himself as father, he says, I urge you therefore, brethren, be imitators of me. Now, man, I'm not there, Edgar, to where I can tell people imitate. I'm working on it. But you know what? There are members of the body of Christ, the Mother Angelica, for example, of recent times, who was such a holy woman, Mother Teresa. Now St. Teresa, you know, these are true mothers and fathers in the faith that have particular gifts so that others who follow them can act in the name of Mother Angelica, right in the order of the eternal Word that she founded. And Franciscans, as I mentioned before, in Dominicans and so forth. So this is all rooted in that idea, of course, coming from the lips of our blessed Lord and Savior there in Matthew 10:40 through 42. But it's also seen in the way, and you can see it in the book of Acts, especially in the way that the gifts of the Spirit work in and through. And not just the apostles, but all the members of the body of Christ who have been imparted the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the way that those gifts function in their lives, some to more dramatic degrees than others. That's the foundation for the establishment of these religious orders where you have these particular men, you know, St. Anthony of Egypt in the third century or St. Gregory the Thaumaturge, as he's called in the fourth century. St. Gregory was an extraordinary worker of miracles, raised the dead, performed all sorts of St Anthony of Padua, you know, he was a Franciscan but had just incredible gifts. So this is not something to be afraid of. As I used to think when I was Protestant, when you talk about religious orders, you're somehow taking away from Jesus. No, you're not taking away from Jesus. In fact, Jesus is the one who is talking about these kinds of gifts in Matthew 10. I hope that's helpful.

[Edgar Lujano]

Well, Eric, I know he didn't speak enough on it. What do you think? Eric, are you there? All right, Eric, sorry, didn't catch you there, Eric. So thanks for your question. We're going to go ahead and move on. Let's go. Actually, let's go to our final break of the hour. And then when we come back, we'll go through the rest of the calls here on CATHOLIC ANSWERS Live.

[Tom Nash]

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[Tim Staples]

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[Edgar Lujano]

You know, the good thing about Catholic Answers in our shop is that we also sell Bibles there. I don't know if you knew that, Tim, but today we have a one day sale on all Bibles and catechisms. If you go to shop.catholic.com you can pick them up at 20, 25% off using the promo code must have as one word. Must have. And you can pick up any of these Bibles that we have in catechisms. We have the great adventure Catholic Bible. We have the Didache Bible, we have the Ignatius Press Catholic Study Bible. Plenty of translations for you to check out. A lot of great notes in each of them. So I highly recommend you check them out. Great, great time especially now for Christmas coming up. Pick up a Bible at 25% off, go to shop.catholic.com and use the promo code must have as one word. So speaking about Bible translations, we can go over to Robert and his question listening on SiriusXM calling from Aleto, Texas. I believe it's where it's at. Robert, welcome to the show. You are on the air.

[Tim Staples]

Okay, let me take you off right quick. Yes.

[Edgar Lujano]

Silence is great for radio by the way.

[Tim Staples]

Yes, go ahead. Roberto, I have to correct you again. Okay.

[Tom Nash]

Pronounced al.

[Edgar Lujano]

I'm sorry Robert. I, I'm usually behind the scenes here so I don't actually get normally see on the air. So my, my, my fault. Go ahead, Robert.

[Tim Staples]

So okay first off to comment on the autism and on the autism question, yes, I'm autistic myself and understanding comes with age and wisdom. And you could, sure you could argue that none of us are worthy to are absolutely able to receive communion because none of us can fully grasp the mystery of it. That's a great point. Yeah. And with my son, he's severely autistic. And after I answered that question, it came to my mind I should have mentioned that when you talk about autism, there is a wide spectrum, as you know, from severe to I'm high functioning autism. Exactly. But at any rate, you had another question. All right, so I heard the news about the Catholic American Bible. Oh, yes. On the hourly news. So how long does it usually, how long do new translations for the Catholic liturgy typically take to come into effect? And what can we expect from this new translation? There are several key translation points that have been made earlier in the hour that I could argue. Well, we see that reflected in this new translation. Right. Okay, great question. For those who don't know, Bible translations in general in the Catholic Church take a long time, you'll see. You know, scholars will say, or those who are experts in the area will say 12 to 15 years on average for Bible translations, I find that to be very low. Actually, they usually take longer than that. Sometimes it can be as much as 25 or even 30 years for translations of the Bible. And it's done by committees, not just one person normally, you know, and then of course, because we're talking about the Bible, it has to be approved by bishops conferences and ultimately by the Vatican in order for a Bible to be used for the, for the liturgy. And that includes the Liturgy of the Hours. And so it can be, you know, I suppose there have been some as quickly as 15 years, but it's usually more than that. But what a lot of folks don't know is it doesn't stop there because there's a constant review process and that's where you get revised translations from. And so, you know, we can think back with Pope St. John Paul the Great, who made it one of his principal missions to get a better translation of the English liturgy in particular. And he was all over isil, that is the International Committee on the English Translation of the Liturgy. The acronym there is isil. And it didn't get completed even in his pontificate because it's such an involved process. It would be Pope Benedict that would really jump on and kind of kick them in the rump and say, let's get this thing done. But it goes through a long process. There's committees and then, as I said, the bishops and bishops conference and then ultimately the Vatican. And then after you have a Bible translation, that's when you go to say the Liturgy of the Hours. And there's Another process for that. In fact, it's in that process of applying a Bible translation to the Liturgy of the Hours, which is not exactly updated very often. The Liturgy of the Hours does not get updated that often. It was not long ago, though, we have a revising. I know it drives me crazy because I got to buy a whole new set of Liturgy in the Hours. And those things are expensive.

[Edgar Lujano]

It could either be a setback or actually a positive. You like collecting them?

[Tim Staples]

That's right. And so there are a number of things we could talk about particular texts, I know, with Pope St. John Paul the Great in the process of the revision of the new American Bible, which is the Bible that is used for the liturgy. But, you know, the other rsv, Catholic edition gets revisions and so forth, because there's, as I say, it's an ongoing process when it comes to Sacred Scripture, because scholarship, we're learning more and we're seeing maybe, you know, this could be translated better. Well, Pope St. John Paul, famously, by a motu proprio, because the process was going so long, he had one particular pet peeve, and that was Luke 1:28 in the old translation from the New American Bible, it translated the angel's greeting to Mary that you and I know now as Hail, full of grace, which goes all the way back to St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate, who translated it as full of grace. Right. Gratia plena in Latin. But it was translated, I think, greetings favored daughter or something like that, or highly favored daughter. I don't even remember now. It's been so long ago. And it's not that it was an incorrect translation. It was just really weak. And it didn't get at the beauty of the fullness of grace that's being communicated about the Blessed Mother. So that was changed even before the final translation was changed. Pope John Paul said, you're going to change this now. He kind of stepped into the process, and of course, he's the pope, he can do that. And popes can do that anytime they want. So as far as the particular revisions and such, I'm not up on that, But I'm always excited when we do have revisions, for example, the revision. And I'm getting on liturgy now, but the revision under Pope Benedict of the liturgy was absolutely beautiful, and there were so many. And you can expect that when there's going to be a revision liturgically, you can expect there's going to be some great stuff. And the Vatican will normally come out with some of the reasons why. And it can be absolutely Wonderful. When you dive in and see, oh, my goodness, look at it. And I could give you lots of examples, even the revision of the. Of the creed. But we'd be here for the rest of the hour, and we do have some other calls. But the point is, though, we will see. I wouldn't want to get into what we can expect, but I'll guarantee you after, we'll certainly talk about it.

[Edgar Lujano]

Absolutely. Robert, thank you so much for your question. I'm going to go ahead and leave that right there. I want to go to John in Fort Worth, Texas, who's listening on YouTube. John, we got about five minutes of the show, so go right ahead with your question.

[Tim Staples]

Hey, can you guys hear me?

[Edgar Lujano]

Yeah, loud and clear. Go ahead.

[Tim Staples]

All right, perfect.

[Edgar Lujano]

Thanks for taking my call.

[Tim Staples]

By the way, Tim, I think I have a question that is right up your alley. Okay. Okay. So me. Me and my wife, we both grew up inside. John, you there in Brazil. Okay. Did you say assembly of God?

[Edgar Lujano]

Yeah, it's the Christian congregation.

[Tim Staples]

It's like the second. It's like them and Assemblies of God are like neck and neck in Brazil. Okay. Because we. Actually, the reason why I ask is your voice cut out for a second, so I didn't hear. So what community was. Was called Christian.

[Edgar Lujano]

It's called Christian congregation.

[Tim Staples]

Okay, gotcha. It's very. It's very similar, except it's exclusivist. Okay. Anti. Anti theology. Like any formal study of theology. Christmas, anti. Easter. Yes. Like, very, very fundamentalist conservative. Yes. Yes. And that's where I grew up.

[Edgar Lujano]

Me and my wife grew up in that church together.

[Tim Staples]

That's where we met.

[Edgar Lujano]

But in the States, she had moved here and started discerning, like, other, like, theology and like, kind of moving out.

[Tim Staples]

Of that exclusivist but still Pentecostal interest. Like, she just started reading the Bible and I just. She kind of opened me up to the fact that we were. What we were in was kind of bonkers. Yeah. Yeah.

[Edgar Lujano]

Basically, like being exclusivist, but, like, things started in 1908.

[Tim Staples]

You know, something. It's like once we. She started.

[Edgar Lujano]

We started reading the Bible together, I was open to.

[Tim Staples]

Opened up to that realization, and I started discerning like, you know, back. We were, like, watching a lot of Baptist sermons, you know, like, reformed stuff was big a couple of years ago. Yes. But neither of us really foresaw that I would start looking at, like, historical Christianity and start getting close to Catholicism. Right. Which is my problem right now, because in Brazil, it's very big for these Pentecostal churches to like pull Catholics. Yes, nominal Catholics. Oh, I used to do that, brother, when I was Pentecostal. Yeah. I mean, I just heard your, your, your testimony the other day. Okay. Like, and you know, her mother was going to be a nun, so like the anti Catholicism is like. Yeah, in the family. Yeah. And so whenever I bring anything up, she's like. How do I say this? Like, petrified or. Right. Did the debates, the debates go and get feisty? Yeah.

[Tom Nash]

You know what I mean?

[Edgar Lujano]

And so, John, I don't want to cut you off too much. We only have a few minutes left. So what's your question for Tim?

[Tim Staples]

So, so my question is like, how, how would you, what would your advice be for? You know, she, she's, she's opening up.

[Edgar Lujano]

To it more and I know it takes time, but.

[Tim Staples]

Oh, yeah, there's, there's a, there's a lot of like deep seated.

[Tom Nash]

Yeah.

[Tim Staples]

Well, John, you know, let me jump in. Yeah, let me jump in because I think I can give you my own experience as one as you know, you heard my conversion story. But when I converted, my whole family thought I had lost my mind. My whole community where I had been a youth minister in an assembly of God community, you know, thought the devil had got ahold of me and such. And it's a very difficult thing. I totally empathize with you and I love these people. I love my family, you know, so what I did is I sat down, in fact, I invited the whole church to come to my house, it was actually my parents house, for a little Bible study. I told everybody, look, I'm just going to tell you why and some of the theological reasons why I became Catholic. And we only had 27 people came out of a big old mega church only because the pastors and the elders said, don't talk to him, he's a heretic, and so forth. Only 27 came. But all 27 of those are Catholic today and two of them are priests. And this is not because of Tim Staples brilliance, because I'm not. But it's because we have an incredible faith and it is airtight. But I think what I did, I shared my story with them and then I took questions and it ended up going for hours and hours and hours and it was incredible. And then we continued it. But what I found over time is the best way. Now again, there's so many different ways to evangelize. There really are. But what I found is I want to scratch where it itches. Right? And the person I'm talking to is the only one that can tell me where he or she itches, right? So I did a lot of listening. I found, you know, St. James's exhortation, right. Swift to hear, right. Slow to speak, to be so important to listen. I would often ask people, what is the single thing that you think is the craziest of all about Catholicism? And I would answer that one point, and I would ask them, please don't jump to 10 other points. Let's just stay on this point and really talk it through. I would do things like that. So let it begin with them. It's what they want to talk about. But then stay on the point and say, look, you know, have we talked this through? And then move on to something else. It's things like that. The most important thing is to love people and to tell them, look, I love Jesus. I have found the fullness of the gospel in the Catholic Church, but I love Jesus the same, even more now than I ever did. Let's talk.

[Edgar Lujano]

John, thank you so much for that. Hang on the line. We want to give you some free books and that's going to do it for us. See you next time right here on Catholic Answers Live.