Someone told me that we sing with the Christmas Angels at every Mass. Is this true?

Yes. Christmas comes from the old English "Cristes maesse" meaning Christ's Mass. We see that at the first Christmas, there were angels and notice what they say:

• And suddenly there was a multitude of heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."-Luke 2:13-14.

At Mass, when we sing similar words, we sing with the angels (although some like myself do not sound like the angels) and also give glory to God at Christ's Mass. We must always remember the Mass always belongs to Christ, but he allows us to participate in the offering of himself to the Father, through the Holy Spirit because we are baptized into him. So remember next time you are at Mass, you are singing with the angels at Christmas!

Is Santa Claus real? Why does he dress so Wierd?

Yes, Santa Claus is real. The name comes from Santa (holy) Nicholaus (claus or Nicholas). He was early church bishop of a place called Myra which is modern day southern Turkey. He lived around the 4th century and was a man who had a great love for Christ, both as the Head of the Church, and in his members, that make up the Church. Legend has it that there was a man named Arius who taught that Jesus was not God (this is a historical fact). This made Bishop Nicholas so mad, that when he was at a meeting of bishops from all over the world(this is called an ecumenical council), he went over and clocked Arius cold. He was imprisoned for this by the Emperor, but was released later once the council declared that Arius was teaching heresy (something that is not true about the Faith). It is for this reason that he became the patron saint of unjust imprisonments and keeping Christ in Christmas. He also did many great things like give money to the poor and help girls marry their future spouses. This is where the tradition of gift giving comes from to celebrate him. It was to imitate the saint.
The reason he dresses so "wierd" is because his outfit is supposed to represent the clothes of a bishop. The triangular hat is a "modernized" mitre ( triangular head wear that a bishop wears in formal liturgical ceremonies like Mass). He wears a red and white suit because red is the color used to represent the Love of God or the Holy Spirit, which he was filled with as seen by the fact that he helped so many people. The white represents purity because he helped so many young girls not have to do immoral things to raise money to get married (in those days a dowry-money a father would have to pay the husband for taking his daughteras his wife). So that's where the red and white suit with a white stripe and triangular hat comes from. As for the reason he always says "Ho, ho, ho", your guess is as good as mine!

The apostle that took the place of Judas

Question: What was the name of the Apostle who took the place of Judas?

Answer: His name was Matthias. This is shown in Acts 1:15-26. This is also important because it shows from the Bible Apostolic Succession. That the bishops were ordained and have a direct line to the Apostles who learned directly from Christ.

How did the differences between the Catholic and Protestant Bible come about

Question: How did the differences between the Catholic and Protestant Bible come about?

Answer: This is a somewhat complicated issue, but I'll do my best to make it short and sweet. We must first remember that God did not just drop a book from the sky and "Whomp, there it is," we had the Bible. The Bible developed over literally thousands of years. While the Jews were God's chosen people, they were inspired by God to put in writing the teachings, rules, beliefs, and history of the people. Eventually, these became books like Genesis, Joshua, Isaiah, etc. The Jews composed a list of these books that taught correctly what they believed. This list became known as a Canon. As time went on, the Jewish people were conquered by many people, and the world became dominated by Greek culture. The Greeks wanted a copy of all the books in the world, including this Jewish list of 46 books which comprised the Jewish beliefs. So 70 scholars translated these 46 books and this Greek translation of the canon became known as the Septuagint (from the Latin word for 70). This happened around the 2nd or 3rd century BC. This list was generally accepted by most Jews, but not all because nothing was definitively defined.
A few centuries later, some Jewish rabbis wanted to make a definitive list(canon)-some think due in part to a new sect of people known as Christians who were "changing the Jewish teaching"-and met at a place called Jamnia around 100 AD. They made a canon (list) that had only 39 books, rejecting the 7 books that were mentioned in the previous post mainly because they could not find the original Hebrew (there were 3 other criteria as well). The early Christians however used the Greek canon (the Septuagint) because Christ used this version. For example, Our Lord in Matt 5:34 quotes from Sirach 23:9; Romans 11:34 refers to Wisdom 9:13. The list can go on and on.
So for about 1400 years, all Christians used the Greek Canon. In 1400 years, Christianity spread to different parts of the world and many of them eventually did not know Greek or Hebrew. So they had to translate it into their native tongue (the vernacular). They would translate it with the Greek Canon however because this is the canon they Church unofficially promoted. Then, when the Protestant Revolt (the Reformation) came, the reformers started to make translations of Scripture as well, and for one reason or the other chose the canon (list) from Jamnia with only 39 books. This tradition is carried down by the descendants of the Protestant Reformers even to today and that's where you get the difference between Catholic and Protestant Bibles.

Why do we rub our face twice before the Gospel?

Question: Why do we rub our face twice before the Gospel is read at Mass?

Answer: Well, some people may rub their face because it needs washing, but the theological reason is that we are not actually rubbing our faces, but crossing ourselves. You make a sign of the cross on your forehead, lips, and heart and say, "May Your Word always be on my mind (cross your forehead), on my lips (cross your lips), and in my heart (cross your heart). You do this to prepare yourself to hear God's Word as He speaks to you through the Gospel. Your mind represents your thoughts and you want all your thoughts to direct you towards God. Your lips represent your words, so that your words may always be God-centered. Your heart represents your desires and will, so you give those to God so that your will always strive to be with God. Together, you devote your entire self to God and prepare to learn from Him through the Gospel, His living Word.

Differences in Bibles

Question: Someone told me that there are differences between Catholic and Protestant Bibles. Is that true?

Answer: Yes, it is true. The Protestant Bible has 7 books less in the Old Testament than a Catholic Bible. Those books are: Tobit, Wisdom, Sirach, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Baruch, Judith and parts of Esther (known as Chapter F in New American Translation) and Daniel (Chapters 13-14).
You can tell a Catholic Bible from a Non-Catholic Bible by looking for these 7 books in the Old Testament or by looking for a "Nihil Obstat" and/or "Imprimatur" in the title pages. These two words mean there is nothing against the faith in them and is found only in books of Catholic doctrine as an official okay from clergy in the Church.

Where do we get the terms mortal and venial sin? Is it Scriptural?

Question: Where do we get the terms mortal and venial sin? Is it Scriptural?

Answer: The terms mortal and venial sin are indeed Scriptural. They are based on the 1Jn 5:16-17:

• If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Sin that does not lead to death is known as venial sin. It damages your relationship with God, but does not kill it. Sin that leads to death (God's supernatural life leaves you, your natural soul still stays with you) is called mortal sin because when someone gives you a mortal blow, they end your life.

Two quick points about mortal and venial sin. First, all sin is bad, even venial sin. We must remember sin is about a relationship, not just breaking rules. In any relationship, we wouldn't just punch our best friend in the face for example and say, "Well, I just punched him, I didn't kill him." Even though you didn't kill your friend or your friendship, your actions damage that relationship. Secondly, even if we do kill our friendship with God through mortal sin, we must always remember that Christ died so that we may have life. He can raise us from the dead and he does that through the Sacrament of Confession which is based on John 20:21-23:

• Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said,"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."