Why did John the Baptist have trouble recognizing Jesus? (and more!)

CatholicAnswersLogoIn this episode of Catholic Answers Live (1/6/15), Jimmy answers the following questions:

  • I don’t feel that receiving communion in the hand is appropriate. If indeed, this is the Real Presence and every particle is fully Jesus, why was it approved to receive communion in the hand in the first place given the ability to unintentionally desecrate the consecrated host?
  • If the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin, did she experience a natural death?
  • How can I effectively talk to people about the Faith without being abrasive?
  • Wasn’t the original intent for receiving Holy Communion on the tongue to avoid spillage of the particles of the consecrated host rather than for reverence?
  • Does the Church teach that Mary directly helps us or is her assistance via her intercession for us to God
  • How can someone be tempted to do something that’s impossible for them to do?
  • In the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, I have a problem with the statement, “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ…”   Can you explain the meaning of this line in the Chaplet?
  • Since John the Baptist’s mother recognized the Savior in Mary’s womb, why didn’t John himself recognize Him?
  • If Catholics receive grace through the sacraments, how do non-Catholics receive the sanctifying grace to be saved?
  • What is the Church’s stand on pornography from a pro-life perspective?
  • How can you speak with adult children who are leaning toward New Age thinking, expressing that love is the most important thing, finding that the riches of the Vatican are a problem, etc.?

Use the player at the bottom of the post or CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.

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Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

One thought on “Why did John the Baptist have trouble recognizing Jesus? (and more!)”

  1. Actually I researched the issue of Communion in the Hand in the Homilectic Journal which is an excellent source for theology… turns out that receiving on the tongue is more appropriate according to the theologians because it is believed that Jesus did feed the Apostles Communion on the tongue – apparently, the some of the Seder dinner is “fed” to the participants (which the First Communion was). I ended up researching this because a student of mine was given a hard time by one of the priests for wanting to receive on the tongue. I had no idea that this was likely the Jesus fed the Apostles and of course, there are many other reasons, including reverence, and since the priest is a “other Jesus”, symbolically, makes more sense to receive on the tongue. I have received myself on the tongue since my research although I still end up handling the Blessed Sacrament because I am an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist who visits shut-in’s once a week.

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