More With Fr. Nathan Castle – Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World

Here’s more of Jimmy Akin’s conversation with Fr. Nathan Castle that didn’t fit in our previous episode, but which Jimmy thought was interesting enough to offer as a bonus to our audience.

The video will be available at noon Eastern on the day of release.

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Under the Cloak of War (SNW) – The Secrets of Star Trek

Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss this story focusing on war, forgiveness, and redemption, and they delve into the Christian view on forgiveness, mercy, and justice. They also discuss trauma in war and PTSD, how this story draws on past Trek episodes (and M*A*S*H!), but also breaks new ground for Trek for its raw portrayal of the effects of war.

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Those Old Scientists (SNW) – The Secrets of Star Trek

Crossover! Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss the Lower Decks-Strange New Worlds crossover, how well it was executed, the surprising differences between the same characters in animation and live action, and the SNW crew getting to play comedy. Riker!

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Blessings: 7 Things to Know and Share

 

There is currently considerable discussion about whether it is possible to bless persons in same-sex unions.

In light of this, it can be useful to step back and take a look at the topic in general.

Here are 7 things to know and share about blessings.

 

1) What are blessings?

The English word bless is used to translate the Latin word benedicere and the Greek word eulogein. Both of these mean “to speak good.”

In Scripture, the terms have a variety of uses. For example, one may bless God by speaking good of God—i.e., praising him (Ps. 68:26, Jas. 3:9, etc.).

However, another prominent use of the term is speaking good about something other than God in hopes of bringing about good effects. Thus the patriarch Isaac intended to bless his son Esau to bring good things upon him, but through Rebekah’s intervention, this blessing was stolen by Jacob (Gen. 27).

To bless is the opposite of to curse (Latin, malidicere, “to speak evil”). When a person curses something, he speaks evil about it in order to bring about evil or bad effects. Thus the Moabite king Balak sought to have the prophet Balaam curse Israel to harm the nation, but through God’s intervention the curse was turned into a blessing (Num. 22-24).

Blessings and curses of this type are sometimes called invocative because they invoke either good or evil upon the person or thing.

Whether the blessing or curse ultimately achieves its effect depends on the will of God, who is the one being invoked and asked to help or harm someone.

Another kind of blessing has developed which involves permanently changing the status of someone or something by setting it apart for a holy purpose. This type of blessing is sometimes called constitutive because it constitutes the person or thing in its new, holy status. This form of blessing is also sometimes referred to as a consecration.

The Catechism states:

Certain blessings have a lasting importance because they consecrate persons to God, or reserve objects and places for liturgical use.

Among those blessings which are intended for persons—not to be confused with sacramental ordination—are the blessing of the abbot or abbess of a monastery, the consecration of virgins and widows, the rite of religious profession, and the blessing of certain ministries of the Church (readers, acolytes, catechists, etc.).

The dedication or blessing of a church or an altar, the blessing of holy oils, vessels, and vestments, bells, etc., can be mentioned as examples of blessings that concern objects (CCC 1672).

 

2) What can be blessed?

A wide variety of people and things can be blessed. The Catechism specifically mentions persons, meals, objects, and places (CCC 1671).

 

3) Who are the parties involved in a blessing?

There are several parties that can be involved in a blessing. They include:

    • The person being blessed (or those that are helped by a blessed object or thing)
    • The person who performs the blessing
    • The Church, which has authorized some blessings to be given in its name
    • God, who is the ultimate source of all blessing (Jas. 1:17)

The Church is not involved in all blessings but only those it has authorized. These may be considered official blessings. They involve the intercession of the Church, as expressed through the authorized person performing the blessing.

Other blessings—such as those performed by ordinary people (e.g., when we say “God bless you” to someone)—may be considered unofficial.

 

4) Do blessings take effect automatically?

The standard answer is no, but careful reflection suggests that the answer is more complex than that.

In the case of constitutive blessings—such as the blessing of an abbot or abbess or the blessing of a church or an altar—the answer would appear to be yes.

If the Church’s official rite of blessing has been used for an abbot or abbess, that person really has been consecrated or set aside for a holy office, even if the man or woman is personally unworthy. Similarly, if a church or altar has been consecrated, it really has been set apart for sacred use.

When it comes to invocative blessings, the matter is different. Blessings are not sacraments but sacramentals. In fact, the Catechism notes that “Among sacramentals blessings . . . come first” (CCC 1671).

Sacraments are rites instituted by Jesus that God has promised to use to distribute his grace—especially sanctifying grace—so long as the recipient does not put a barrier in the way of receiving it.

Sacramentals are rites instituted by the Church, and so God has not promised to distribute his grace on each and every occasion that they are performed. The 1907 Catholic Encyclopedia states:

Blessings are not sacraments; they are not of divine institution; they do not confer sanctifying grace; and they do not produce their effects in virtue of the rite itself, or ex opere operato. They are sacramentals.

Similarly, the Catechism states:

Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church’s prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it (CCC 1670).

In general, whether an invocative blessing has its intended effect will depend on the piety of the one receiving the blessing and whether it is God’s will for the person to receive the intended good.

 

5) What effects do blessings have?

The Catholic Encyclopedia states:

[T]hey produce the following specific effects:

        1. Excitation of pious emotions and affections of the heart and, by means of these, remission of venial sin and of the temporal punishment due to it;
        2. freedom from power of evil spirits;
        3. preservation and restoration of bodily health.
        4. various other benefits, temporal or spiritual.

All these effects are not necessarily inherent in any one blessing; some are caused by one formula, and others by another, according to the intentions of the Church.

The particular effects that a blessing involves will depend on the words used in the blessing—i.e., what does the blessing ask God to do?

One should consult The Book of Blessings for the words used in official blessings.

 

6) Who can perform blessings?

There has long been an association between blessings and the priesthood. Thus Numbers 6:22-27 states:

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

‘The Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.’

So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

However, blessings were not restricted to priests. In the Old Testament, the patriarchs gave blessings to their children, and various prophets (including Balaam) pronounced blessings also.

Also, Israel—like the Church—was called to be “a kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:6, Rev. 1:6; cf. 1 Pet. 2:9). As a result, there are situations in which laity also can give blessings. The Catechism explains:

Sacramentals derive from the baptismal priesthood: every baptized person is called to be a “blessing,” and to bless.

Hence lay people may preside at certain blessings; the more a blessing concerns ecclesial and sacramental life, the more is its administration reserved to the ordained ministry (bishops, priests, or deacons) (CCC 1669).

The Church’s Book of Blessings notes who can perform which individual blessings. Sometimes this will be the bishop, sometimes a priest, sometimes a deacon, sometimes a lay person, and sometimes a combination of these.

Among others, laity are authorized to perform the blessing of an Advent wreath, a Christmas manger or Nativity scene, a Christmas tree, and throats on St. Blase’s Day (Feb. 3). They also are authorized to help with the distribution of ashes on Ash Wednesday, though the blessing of the ashes is reserved to a priest or deacon.

There are no limits to who may perform unofficial blessings. Any person can say, “God bless you” to another, bless a meal, or bless their children.

 

7) Where can I learn more?

The single most authoritative source on blessings is the Church’s Book of Blessings. It contains not only the texts used for individual, official blessings, it also contains introductions to the individual texts, as well as a general introduction to the subject of blessings.

Also helpful is Fr. Stephen J. Rossetti’s book The Priestly Blessing: Recovering the Gift. It contains a discussion of the history of blessings in light of Church teaching and the opinions of theologians.

Who Is Mary Magdalene?

All four Gospels refer to a woman named Mary Magdalene. She is one of the witnesses of Christ’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, and she is often named first in lists of women.

All this makes it clear that she was prominent in the early Christian community and was well-known by the authors of the Gospels.

But who was she? What do we know about her? And how has her image changed over time?

 

What’s in a Name?

The first thing to note is her name: Mary Magdalene. Magdalene is not a last name. They didn’t have last names in first century Jewish society, so what does this term mean?

It helps if you look at the Greek behind it. In Matthew, Mark, and John, she is referred to as Maria hê Magdalênê or Mariam hê Magdalênê. These would be literally translated as “Mary the Magdalene”—so a Magdalene is a kind of person.

The specific kind of person a Magdalene represents is someone from the fishing village of Magdala, which was a mostly Gentile town of about 40,000 people on the western side of the Sea of Galilee.

So Mary was from Magdala in Galilee. She is thus being referred to by a naming convention whereby you give the person’s name and place of origin—as in “Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 10:38) or “Jesus the Nazarene” (Matt. 26:71).

However, this place designation is not the most common way that women were referred to in first century Palestinian Jewish culture. Instead, they were normally named based on their relatives.

Men were often referred to using a patronym—that is, their father’s name—as in “Simon son of Jonah” (Matt. 16:17) or “Simon son of John” (John 1:42).

However, when an Israelite woman got married, she left the house of her father and became a member of her husband’s household. Consequently, women were commonly referred to in different ways:

    • An unmarried woman would be referred to using her father’s name—e.g., “Anna the daughter of Phanuel” (Luke 2:36).
    • A married woman would be referred to using her husband’s name—e.g., “Joanna the wife of Chuza” (Luke 8:3).
    • A woman who was a mother might be referred to using the name of her son or sons—e.g., “Mary the mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14), “Mary the mother of James and Joseph” (Matt. 27:56). This would happen especially if the woman was a widow and no longer had a husband.
    • And if a woman didn’t have such a living father, husband, or son, she might be referred to by the name of her siblings—e.g., though the Gospels never do this, you could refer to “Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus”

But none of these things happen for Mary Magdalene. Instead of specifying which Mary we’re talking about by referring to her relatives, she gets a place designation.

This suggests that she didn’t have any relatives that were well known in the early Christian community, so they defaulted back to a place name.

Most likely, she had no father, husband, or sons—and she certainly didn’t have any that were well-known.

The identifying thing that stuck out in the minds of the first Christian communities was that she was a Galilean from Magdala, so that’s how they referred to her.

 

A Former Demoniac and Woman of Means

Luke tells us two interesting things about Mary Magdalene. At one point, he says:

Soon afterward [Jesus] went on through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means (Luke 8:1-3).

This tells us that “seven demons had gone out” of Mary, so she was a former demoniac, and given the context, it was likely Jesus who cast the demons out of her, something that is explicitly stated in the longer ending of Mark (Mark 16:9).

She is also grouped women who provided for Jesus and the Twelve “out of their means.” This suggests that Mary was a woman of means. She had money—i.e., disposable income that she could use to support Jesus and his mission.

 

A Key Witness

All four Gospels indicate that Mary was a key witness to the events of the climax of Jesus’ ministry.

She had come with his traveling party to his final Passover in Jerusalem (Matt. 27:55, Mark 15:41), and there she witnessed the Crucifixion (Matt. 27:56, Mark 15:40, John 19:25).

She also witnessed his burial (Matt. 27:61, Mark 16:47) and his resurrection (Matt. 28:1, Mark 16:1, John 20:1), after which she returned and told the Twelve (Luke 24:10, John 20:18).

Luke mentions that the women had prepared spices with which to anoint Jesus’ body on Good Friday, after the Crucifixion (Luke 23:56), and then they brought the spices to the tomb on Easter Monday (Luke 24:1). Mark adds the detail that they had bought the spices (Mark 16:1), which would again suggest that Mary Magadele had financial resources.

But when they arrived at the tomb, they discovered it empty, and angels appeared to them and announced that Jesus has been raised.

John records a touching story of Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalen (John 20:11-18). He doesn’t mention other women being with her, so it is possible she was alone.

When she realizes that she is seeing Jesus, she is overjoyed but he gives her a warning. Some translations render it, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.” This translation is confusing since—before the Ascension happens—Jesus invites Thomas to touch his wounds (John 20:27).

Better translations would be “Do not hold me” (RSV), “Stop holding on to me” (NAB:RE), and “Do not cling to me” (ESV). The idea is that Mary shouldn’t become overly attached to Jesus now that he’s back, because he’s going to be Ascending to the Father and she will not always be able to be with him.

 

Do We Know More?

We’ve covered the passages in the New Testament that explicitly name Mary Magdalene, but some Christians have wondered if she may be mentioned in other passages—either with the name Mary or without it.

For example, it has been speculated that she may be the sinful woman (likely a prostitute) who weeps on Jesus’ feet, wipes them with her hair, and anoints his feet (Luke 7:36-50).

The answer is that she almost certainly is not this woman. Not only does Luke not name her, he also relates this story at the end of chapter 7 of his Gospel. The very next thing he says is the passage quoted above, where Mary Magdalene is introduced.

It is scarcely likely that Luke would omit the woman’s identity at the end of chapter 7 and then immediately introduce her by name at the beginning of chapter 8. We thus have no basis for besmirching Mary Magdalen’s reputation by accusing her of being a prostitute.

Many have identified Mary Magdalen with Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus, including Pope Gregory I (590-604). However, this also is a mistake.

One reason is that Mary Magdalene is identified as “the Magdalene” in all four Gospels, while the two Gospels that refer to the sister of Martha and Lazarus (i.e., Luke and John) identify her with respect to her siblings. This means that the latter Mary had prominent siblings that were known in the Christian community, while Mary Magdalene did not.

Further, Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus isn’t from Magdala. She isn’t even from Galilee. John tells us: “a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha” (John 11:1).

Bethany is just outside Jerusalem in Judea, so Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were Judeans rather than Galileans, and Mary of Bethany would have had no need to follow Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem for the final Passover, because she lived right there!

The idea that Mary Magdalen and Mary of Bethany were the same person was common for a long time in the Western church (not the Eastern churches), and this left a mark on the Western liturgical calendar.

Mary Magdalen has long had a memorial on July 22, while Martha has one on July 29. But now that the confusion between Mary Magdalen and Mary of Bethany has been cleared up, the Congregation for Divine Worship ordered in 2021 that the July 29 memorial be listed as that of “Martha, Mary, and Lazarus”—giving the other two Bethany siblings their due on the calendar.

 

 

Helping Stuck Souls! (Purgatory, Fr. Nathan Castle, OP) – Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World

Suppose you had a dream of a stranger who died and is calling out to you for help from the afterlife? This is the situation that confronted Fr. Nathan Castle. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli talk to Fr. Castle about how he began receiving these dreams and what he has done about them.

The video will be available at noon Eastern on the day of release.

Help us continue to offer Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World. Won’t you make a pledge at SQPN.com/give today?

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This Episode is Brought to You By:
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World is brought to you in part through the generous support of Rosary Army. Featuring award-winning Catholic podcasts, Rosary resources, videos, and the School of Mary online community, prayer, and learning platform. Learn how to make them, pray them, and give them away while growing in your faith at RosaryArmy.com and SchoolOfMary.com

Fiorvento Law, PLLC, specializing in adult guardianships and conservatorships, probate and estate planning matters. Accepting clients throughout Michigan. Taking into account your individual, healthcare, financial and religious needs. Visit FiorventoLaw.com

Deliver Contacts, offering honest pricing and reliable service for all your contact lens needs. See the difference at delivercontacts.com.

Tim Shevlin’s Personal Fitness training for Catholics. Providing spiritual and physical wellness through personalized nutrition, workout, and prayer programs and daily accountability check-ins. Learn more by visiting fitcatholics.com.

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Survival – The Secrets of Doctor Who

The end of the 7th Doctor! Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss the final story of the Classic Who era, which appropriately enough pits the Doctor against the Master in Ace’s hometown. Dare we say, “we laughed, we cried, it was better than Cat’s”?

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Lost in Translation (SNW) – The Secrets of Star Trek

Spooky! Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss this story in which Uhura is hearing voices, including what they think of Paul Wesley’s Kirk so far, the rising stature of Uhura in the show, and the first meeting of Spock, Kirk, and Uhura.

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Charades (SNW) – The Secrets of Star Trek

More Vulcan hijinks! Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss another SNW story that Spock, T’Pring, and a weird biological swap, including problematic Vulcan speciesism, bureaucratic non-corporeal entities, and mutual self-sacrifice between Spock and Chapel.

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Mysterious Voices! (Medical Diagnosis? Hallucination? Psychosis? Spirits?)

A woman in London began hearing mysterious voices and what they told her changed her life. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli discuss the story of Annabelle and the mysterious voices in her head that probably saved her life.

The video will be available at noon Eastern on the day of release.

Help us continue to offer Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World. Won’t you make a pledge at SQPN.com/give today?

Links for this episode:

This Episode is Brought to You By:
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World is brought to you in part through the generous support of Rosary Army. Featuring award-winning Catholic podcasts, Rosary resources, videos, and the School of Mary online community, prayer, and learning platform. Learn how to make them, pray them, and give them away while growing in your faith at RosaryArmy.com and SchoolOfMary.com

Fiorvento Law, PLLC, specializing in adult guardianships and conservatorships, probate and estate planning matters. Accepting clients throughout Michigan. Taking into account your individual, healthcare, financial and religious needs. Visit FiorventoLaw.com

Deliver Contacts, offering honest pricing and reliable service for all your contact lens needs. See the difference at delivercontacts.com.

Tim Shevlin’s Personal Fitness training for Catholics. Providing spiritual and physical wellness through personalized nutrition, workout, and prayer programs and daily accountability check-ins. Learn more by visiting fitcatholics.com.

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Support StarQuest’s mission to explore the intersection of faith and pop culture by becoming a named sponsor of the show of your choice on the StarQuest network. Click to get started or find out more.

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