Episode 16 - The ability of non-Catholics to receive grace, why God allows children to suffer and Confirmation names

In this episode, Father Mark Stoll answers questions about the ability of non-Catholics to receive grace, why God allows children to suffer, and choosing Confirmation names.

Tune in so we may discover, learn and engage our hearts, souls and minds so we may be illuminated, informed and inspired.

Send in your questions via e-mail at fatherknowsbestshow@yahoo.com.

The program is sponsored by St. Augustine Indian Mission in Winnebago, NE.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I have questions. I don't understand. I'm confused. What's going on? That's not what I learned in school. What does the church really teach? Welcome to Father Know's Bush, the studios of 88.1 FM, KFA C Pankasu City, and K-O-I-A Storm Lake. Brought to you by the St. Augustine Indian Mission, Winnebago. We all have questions and the curiosity about manners of faith as it is normal for humanity to ask questions and seek answers in the timeless quest for understanding regarding matters of faith in the church. We believe that there is no such thing as a foolish or dumb question. Only opportunities to learn and to connect. And I say the only dumb question is the one that is not asked. And the reality is that the questions you have are like questions others have, and so it is good to ask. Sometimes an answer leads to more questions. Sometimes the questions and answers will lead us to insights we never considered. We at Siouxland Catholic Radio want to invite our listeners from Jackson, Nebraska to Elk Point, South Dakota, to Stormwick, Iowa, and everywhere in between and beyond, send your questions to us at Father Knows Best Show at Yahoo.com. Or mail them to Father Knows Best, Sioux Line Catholic Radio, 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux City, Iowa, 51103. During this time, once a week, I or another guest will do our best to answer some of the questions I've received here at the studio so we may discover, learn, and engage our hearts and souls and minds, so we may be illuminated, informed, and inspired. So I thank you for tuning in. We invite you to open your mind, let the questions begin, and let your curiosity find its voice.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

I am glad you're here, Tim, once again.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

So this is our 16th episode, and I'm also very grateful for Anne to being here at the control board because without her, you wouldn't even hear us. So very grateful for Anne being here. So let's dive into our questions this evening and see what our listeners have on their minds.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

A faithful listener sent you this question.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Thank you for that question. It's a wonderful question. Again, a wonderful question to dive into. This question also does kind of address a little further some of the questions I've had previously. In episode nine, we talked about children who died before baptism. And of course, on episode 14, we talked about the ability of process to go to heaven. So the answer to your question, the answer is yes. Non-Catholic can receive God's grace without the sacraments. And of course, this is the same grace that we as Catholics receive through the sacraments, which, of course, the sacraments are the ordinary means by which Christ has established for us to confer this grace upon us most fully and assuredly. And so we want to dive into this question again. First of all, I'm going to talk about what is grace. And again, grace in Catechism Catholic Church and paragraph 1996 says, Grace is the free and undeserved help that God gives us. Respond to His call to become children of God, become His adopted sons and daughters. Again, also to become partakers in that divine nature and eventually of eternal life. And so again, Catechism Catholic Church has a number of paragraphs to talk about this. Paragraph 35 talks about God revealing himself, giving us the grace to be able to welcome this revelation he's given to us. In paragraph 388 talks about Christ as being the source of grace. And 957 talks about Christ as the fountain and the head of all who issues all graces and, of course, issues the graces for the life of God's people. And then the catechism goes a little deeper. There's two types of graces. There's sanctifying grace. And let's talk about that grace first, and we'll talk about the actual grace in just a little bit. Sanctifying grace is that free and get undeserved gift that God gives us. When he shares his divine life with us, his divine friendship with us. Again, the catechism of paragraph 2000 talks about being a habitual gift, it's a stable and a supernatural disposition that enables us, the soul especially, to live with God and to act with God's love. And since what we're talking about sanctifying grace is all about how it perfects the soul itself to enable us to live with God, to live and act in keeping with God's call. Again, following God's will. And again, this is distinguished from actual grace, we'll talk about just a little bit, but again, this grace is God intervening in our lives, again, working with conversion on the course of sanctification. Sanctified grace in paragraph 2023 talks about that sanctifying grace is infused by the Holy Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit that infuses it into the soul to heal and to sanctify our soul. Paragraph 2024 talks about sanctifying grace that makes us pleasing to God. Again, it's one of the things that we need to do in following God's will is how we live to please God, and it's by the grace that we do that. And then going back to paragraph 1999, it says that this grace that heals the human nature with its wounded by sin gives us share in the divine life of the Trinity. Again, this sanctifying grace is what we call habitual and supernatural gift to help make us perfect, holy, and Christ-like. Then that actual grace then is again similar. It's free and undeserved gift that God gives us. But this grace basically comes through sacraments. The sacramental grace and the spiritual graces He gives us, you know, like the charisms, the state of our life, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all about helping us to live out our Christian vocation. And again, Abstract Graces again is again another intervention by God. And it may be either beginning the conversion or maybe even during the work, you know, during our lifetime, during the work of salvation, sacrification, as we say. And again, that can be found in paragraph also 2000. But it is in the church, again, this is probably the important thing to remember is that in the church, in paragraph 824 of the Catechist Catholic Church, it says that it is by the grace of God that we acquire holiness, you know, through the church. And so this is the basic teaching of the Catholic Church that grace is ordinarily conferred through the sacraments. Now, for people who are not Catholic, the Church teaches that God's grace does operate universally, meaning it can be extended to all people. And again, it's all about this grace of God drawing all people to salvation and again various paths. Again, this what involves what we call extraordinary means. It's extraordinary means done outside the visible church and outside the sacraments. And again, we still emphasize again the universal sacrament, the role of the church to bring salvation. But again, we find a number of documents, including the 1964 Vatican II document, Lumengentium, paragraphs 13 to 48, as well in the Catechist Church and other documents. We see that we begin with the basic belief that God, that grace is God's free gift to all. Again, keywords to all. All people are invited to receive this grace. And we see that in St. Paul's teaching, and when he echoes this church, says the church's teaching says, Sinners are justified by grace through Christ's death. It was Christ's death that restored us in that relationship to God lost by sin. So again, St. Paul talks about the grace being offered to all sinners. But of course, we may want to point out that you know the grace that God shares is not different for non-Catholics, that is the same grace for all people. It's just that the non-Catholics would receive that grace through different means, which helps to enlighten them and to strengthen their will, to help strengthen them as a child of God. And again, this is a gift that God freely offers to all humanity. I'm going to dive a little deeper in this. So there is, as I say, as I point out, there is a universal scope to grace, which means all people are called to this what we call Catholic unity of the people of God in different ways. Again, all people are are all people belong to and actually ordered towards the Catholic faithful, the us, the church. All people ordered to and called to believe in Christ, and all people, all humanity, are called by God's grace to salvation. So this call is universal to everybody. And so even those who are unaware of the gospel can be moved by grace to seek God sincerely and do his will as known through what we call conscience. And so, again, the primary, the primacy of grace, I should say, is by which salvation is offered to us by his work of mercy. And so the point is that there is no human effort that can able us to actually deserve such a great gift that God gives us. It is God. God's choice. It is his sheer grace. It's all about what God does. It's all about grace building on nature progressively by God, God working through us, acting through history. Again, maybe even without explicit faith or even without the sacraments. Again, as I said earlier, the sacraments, and I would even point out, especially the sacrament of baptism, they're the ordinary channels of grace. Again, those sacraments have been instituted by Christ, necessary for salvation, for the conferring of grace. The church itself is the universal sacrament of salvation by which Christ then works to nourish humanity with his body and blood. However, again, there's that externary means for non-Catholics who. Again, this comes from uh Pope Francis' document, Evangelium Gadium, Evangeli Gadium, chapter paragraph 112. He says, Through no fault of their own, those those who do not know the gospel of Christ or his church, yet sincerely seek God and are moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do his will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience. And so again, Pope Francis is there reminding us, again, previous documents I've mentioned, coming back to Vatican II, talks about that. The Holy Spirit can work in whatever ways the Holy Spirit wants. Now, again, baptism is an important sacrament for us for conferring grace. And it's means of baptism, if if someone wants to be baptized, remember I've talked about baptism desire in a previous episode. This is an implicit or even an implied desire to join the church, which just having a baptism, a desire for baptism, can allow grace then be sowed upon the person even without water baptism. And of course, Jesus is the only author, is the only author and the liberal giver of salvation. And so grace then proceeds and even enables sacramental life. In other words, again, through the church, the sacraments, you know, confer grace. But again, God's grace is not limited by the church. God's grace is not limited by the sacraments, because God can confer grace on anybody who desires, whenever he desires. And so let's kind of come exact a couple examples here. So God's grace can be manifested non-Catholics through conscience, through good works, and seek in sincere seeking. So, for example, Muslims and others who are not Christian at all, if they acknowledge that the Creator and adore one God, it's possible for them to be saved. We also look at the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who acknowledge themselves humbly as sinners, again, orientating them to God's will. They can be saved if they acknowledge that they are they're sinners. And again, there is that universal call to holiness. Again, that can even be just that opportunity for that grace to work in that person who realizes they need to be working for a better life. So, in summary, non-Catholics can receive the same graces or do receive the same graces as Catholics freely from God, but it's often again through this external providence of God. Again, those graces that God presents to them can be a way to prepare them to receive the gospel or to leave them to salvation. And again, the church always urges all people to enter fully through faith in the sacrifice of the fullness of grace. And so God's mercy, God's grace knows no bounds, and God has invited everyone to his heavenly banquet.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

And so I hope this answers your question. It does. And I think the important point to remember is our hearts have to be open to God's grace. Exactly. That's the most important piece. Because if our hearts are closed off, we're not going to get God's grace.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Exactly. And sometimes just the grace that they're working through our church may be enough to open someone's heart.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Very much so. So we try another question. This is a question I am sure at some point every parent maybe has had. I believe so. What do you say to someone who has a very sick little child? She can understand why God allows something like this to happen. She doesn't understand how God can be, in quotes, so uncaring.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

So, you know, why is there suffering? Why does God care? What's going on here? So I want to refer uh at this episode to the introduction to the new English translation of the order of anointing the sick and the pastoral care. This new translation was just issued in early 2026. And it has some wonderful things to say about suffering. In paragraph number two, it says, although sickness is closely related to the human condition of sin, it cannot generally be viewed as if it were a punishment inflicted on individuals for their personal sins. And this is a direct reference to Gospel of John chapter 9, verse 3, where Jesus says, Neither he nor his parents sinned. It is so that the works of God might be visible through him. Again, it's a wonderful story of Jesus healing a blind man who was born blind from birth. And people think, no, it must be because of his or her his parents' sins. Like, no, it's not. In paragraph 4 of the introduction to the order of anointing the sick and the pastor care, it says it is appropriate for the sick persons to fight against the sickness, as well as doctors and others who have responsibility for the sick to help raise up the souls and bodies of the sick. And then the next paragraph it says, A seriously ill person needs God's special grace, lest under the pressure of anxiety they may struck and dejection of soul, and subject to temptations, perhaps forsake their faith. For this reason, Christ provides the powerful sacrament anointed to his faithful, laboring with sickness. So right there it basically says God does care about the suffering. In paragraph six, it says, the sacrament is to offer the sick the grace of the Holy Spirit. Again, we just talked about the ordinary means of offering grace, actual grace through the sacraments, and this is what the sacrament does. And in paragraph 32, it says, In the body of Christ, which is the church, if one member suffers, all members also share in the suffering. And that comes from Paul's first letter to the Corinthians chapter 12, verse 26. So we also know, in addition, that Christ Himself, who was without sin, also suffered and has shared in the sufferings of humanity. And we see this course, especially during Holy Week, and we talk about his death, his suffering and death. And also remember, too, great example is how he wept at the grave of Lazarus, his friend, before he raised him from the dead. We also, at the same time, we say, take a look at the Blessed Virgin Mary. Again, we also know she experienced the sufferings of her son, and we talk about her seven sorrows. And so we do know, we believe that, of course, suffering is a part of human condition. It is kind of, in a sense, the consequence of sin. It's not the punishment for sin, but the consequences of sin, as we see due to the fall of Adam and Eve, we see in chapter 3 of Genesis and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. But again, suffering is not a punishment for sin. And so, while we do not like suffering, either on our part or part of another, uh suffering as what we see in this introduction to the order of anointing the sick is all about how is an opportunity to grow closer to God. And so let's go back again to this introduction to the new English translation, the order of anointing the sick and their pastoral care. In verse 34, excuse me, in paragraph 34, it says the relatives of the sick and those taking care of them in whatever way have a special role in this ministry of comfort. It belongs to them above all to strengthen the sick with words of faith and common prayer, to commend them to the suffering and glorified Lord, indeed to exhort them to contribute to the welfare of the whole people of God by show associating themselves freely with the passion and death of Christ. And so that paragraph points out that relatives of the sick, you know, moms and dads and siblings and uncles and aunts and grandparents, and all those taking care of them, of that of a sick person, if it's a sick kid, our role is to intercede on their behalf, to encourage to pray for them, and even to call for a priest to come in to anoint them. And so again, there's no easy answer to this question about why is someone suffering. Again, we can assure people that God does not desire suffering. God does care for us. And so God, we say, permits suffering due to the human condition. And we also know that God permits suffering because there's good that can come from suffering, the strength of faith, the increased prayers, the use of the sacraments, especially anointing of the sick and reconciliation. Again, increased reception of graces is can be offered to those who suffer. And even those graces can be offered to those who are suffering for others. And again, we see that Jesus said, point back up that um quote I gave earlier by John 9, verse 3, it says, so that the works of God might be made visible. So again, suffering, not an easy thing to talk about, but it may be an opportunity for the works of God to be made visible. Very good. I hope that answers your question. If you're just tuning in, you're listening to Father Knows Best on Sullivan Catholic Radio, as I answer your questions about faith in the church. I'm Father Mark Stowe, joined by Tim Soudin, who is presenting the questions I received from you, our listeners. And so let's drive into another question.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Another faithful listener stated this question. I attended a confirmation mass and was so impressed with the saints that were chosen. I had to look them up for a couple of them. Then I wondered what is the protocol for choosing a saint's name? Could some choose Moses, Samuel, David? Can you do more than one? Like Cosmos and Damien or the twenty-six martyrs of Japan.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Thank you for this question. Neat question. Again, first of all, in the in the Catholic tradition, selecting a saint's name for confirmation is not strictly mandatory, but it's of course highly encouraged, especially if no saint's name was given at baptism. Now, when the sacrament of confirmation is conferred, again, sacrament of confirmation, remember, is all about completing a baptism. It's about affirming our faith, our decision to be a disciple of Jesus. It is, of course, customary for us to choose a saint's name. And then when we choose a saint name, it should be a name of a saint, a saint who we admire, who we want to emulate, you know, as a patron saint throughout the rest of our life. It's all about uh wanting to imitate their virtues. And again, we can use the saint as a special intercessor, you know, as a spiritual patron. And again, this taking a new name is also a sign of change in our life, you know, our change in our commitment to Christ. Again, you know, uh making a more devoted commitment to Christ. And so, what's the protocol for choosing the saint's name? And again, which names may someone choose? That's a great question. So the first place we can look at, I as a canal lawyer, I look at is Code of Canada Law. And also the Catholic Church also has some great things about baptism. And there it says, of course, baptism is the foundation of the Christian life where the name we give our children is important. And so, again, the church highly encouraged, recommends, strongly prefers that we confer a saint's name. And again, it's all about sanctifying that person and providing for that person a model of holiness. That name, again, that we give to our children, then should establish a spiritual bond and encourage the baptized to emulate that the whoever saint's name may be given, a fidelity to Christ, and then rely on their heavenly intercession. The Codican law and canon 855 says parents, sponsors, and parish priests are to take care that a name is not given, which is foreign to the Christian sediment. And this, of course, is repeated in the Catechism Catholic Church, paragraph 2156. As I said earlier, confirmation is what completes baptism, it builds on baptism by strengthening the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to the person at baptism. And again, confirmation offers a specific or special opportunity for the person to adopt or even add a saint's name. In the Baltimore Catechism number four, it recommends that one. May and should add a new name to his own confirm at confirmation, especially when the name of Saint has not been given in baptism. And again, we see that tradition going throughout, and this is spelled out in the Baltimore Catechism. Again, as I said, this is not a new requirement, but just basically was a pastoral encouragement to help deepen a devotion to a saint. And now in the church documents, again, we're not going to find outlined any formal step-by-step process of choosing a saint's name. Again, as I said earlier, the name, choosing a new name is not mandatory. But again, it's basically been customary and encouraged by confirmation preparation programs, you know, to help those being who are going to be confirmed in the preparation to make a personal and uh a selection of someone that they're familiar with, a saint. And it gives them dives a little deeper into you know who is the saint, what's the saint about, and dive a little more into the church's history and these wonderful people. And again, we encourage you know candidates also to uh receive help with their sponsor, you know, to assist in in choosing a great saint name. So again, this is a great practice, you know, as it is for baptism, that confirmation name would then reinforce the saint as a lifelong protector, intercessor, again, aligning with the Christian identity and more fully with the communion of saints. So again, this process gives the candidates an opportunity, wonderful opportunity to research saints, even to talk to their pastor, their catechist or sponsor about who they're choosing. And even they could even select, and I've seen this happen, they may even select the saints' name that they were given at baptism because they love the name so well, so much. But of course, they may have, like many of us, we add another saint's name. So the question goes back to which names may someone choose. And so obviously, there's a preference to choose saints who are already canonized and to ensure a perfect, you know, I should say canonized and beatified, or beatified. And again, avoid any names that are foreign to uh Christian sentiment. So, how about names like Moses or King David, you know, multiple saints like Cosmos and Damien? So names like Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, these are all names of some very key people in the Old Testament. Yet none of them have been officially canonized by the Catholic Church. But we also want to point out there's many other commonly uh names, common names from the New Testament. Mary, Peter, James, John, many early Christians who have not been, quote, officially canonized by the church, but of course we consider them saints just by virtue of their lives and who they were. And so for the reason is yes, names from the Old Testament can be used as confirmation names. As we as the church, we do honor the patriarchs, the prophets, and other Old Testament figures to be saints. And making use of their names is suitable for Christian use when we when they're aligned with Christian guidelines. And we know many people who've got their first name is Adam or Abraham or Noah or Eve or Elijah. Catechism, Catholic Church, paragraph 61 says, These people have been and always been honored as saints in all the church's liturgical traditions. And I just use an example, Moses. Moses, if you look deep in our church calendar, his memorial is September 4th, so we recognize him as a saint. There are, of course, there are some names in the Old Testament we want to avoid. Names that uh are unbecoming or ridiculous names or names of deities or godless pagans, such as probably want to avoid Goliath or Baal or Nebuchadnezzar, just to name a few. And yes, multiple names may be chosen for uh confirmation, such as Cosmos and Damien. Again, there are these two, for example, saints, they've been basically seen as you know complementary, they can be you know together. They worked as a team. And so there's no prohibition on multiple saints, even though when you look at can law in the Catholic Catholic Church and even the rite of baptism or even the rite of confirmation, it just refers to a single name, one name. But you could use multiple names. And that, you know, these are compounds or multiples that are paired saints like Cosmos Endemia or Perpetuan Felicity. Again, we jointly venerate them, you know, their feast days on the same day. It might get a little complicated if you want to do the 26 Martyrs of Japan, Paul Mickey, and name the other 25. Uh, you might just go, you know, St. Paul Mickey and his companions, but uh in summary, again, baptism, you know, ideally parts of Satan's name. Confirmation graciously allows for adding another one, especially if that saint's name is absent earlier at baptism. And then it's all about cultivating holiness through imitation and prayer. And again, this discernment that a confirmation candidate goes through to choose a name or names, you know, can be prayerfully done with the help of the catechist, the pastor, the sponsor, and so again, what a goanful way to honor one or more saints at confirmation.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

Well, it's someone that you can maybe even try to emulate your life after with the qualities that they have. Exactly. That might be a really good way to look at it. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

So do we have time for another one? I think we do for our last question. Oh, I don't think we do. Uh Ann just gave us a no. That's why Ann works here. That's why he pay her the big bucks. So we're gonna have to wait for that other question for next time. We'll just hold off to that next. So stay tuned for another great question. So, again, we really appreciate you tuning in to Sudan Catholic Radio as we offer both national and local programs, including Faith and Action, join the Fox and drawing here with Fred and Cara, Life Plan, Catholic Ministry Professionals, Divine Mercy Chaplain, Sunday Morning Mass. Please also check out the Facebook pages for Soon Line Catholic Radio and also Father Knows Best for more information about the show, including more information about questions that I have addressed, and even more information that I have not addressed on the show. So again, thank you. As we wrap up today's question and answer session, we extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in and sharing your thought-provoking questions, your curiosity, engagement, make the show possible. And we are always inspired by the incredible range of topics you bring to the table. We hope you have found the answers both enlightening and informative, and you've you'll carry some new insights with you as you go about your week. If your questions were not answered today, you may hear the answer to your question next week. So if you missed this episode, would like to re-listen to this or other episodes, please visit our website, soon catholic radio.com, and visit the programs drop menu and check and click on the local programs to find this episode and other episodes of Father Knows Best and other local programs. Again, if your question, if you have any questions, please send them to Father Knows Best Show at Yahoo.com or mail them to Father Knows Best at Sioux Catholic Radio, 701 West Fifth Street, Sioux City, Iowa, 51103. And thank you to our sponsors, St. Augustine Indian Mission, Winnebago. Please join us again next week at 9 p.m. for another round of questions and answers. Until then, stay curious, stay faithful, keep your light shining, keep those questions coming. For now, I'm Father Mark Stowe, your host sign off, wishing you a great week ahead. May Mighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.