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RINCÓN DE FUNDAMENTOS CATÓLICOS
Bienvenido a nuestro nuevo ‘Rincón de Fundamentos Católicos’!
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Question: Why is Lent 40 days?
Answer: Forty is a number with ancient biblical significance.
Jesus did not select the length of His Fast at random. Throughout the old testament, a stretch of forty days (or years) has always carried a deep meaning often related to punishment, penance, and/or preparation.

Here are few examples:

• During Noah’s time, God sent rain for forty days and forty nights to punish the earth with flood.
• In consequences of their lack of faith, the Israelites wandered in the desert forty years before reaching the Promised Land
• The people of Nineveh fasted and repented to avert the wrath of God which the prophet Jonah predicted would come upon them in forty days.
• Both Moses and Elijah fasted forty days before or during important conversations with God.

When the time came for Jesus to Begin His public mission, He utilized these traditions. 

• Jesus’ mission was of an all-encompassing nature that taps into and fulfills all the biblical reasons for forty-day event. A union between the old biblical traditions and the Mesiah.
• He was embarking on his mission to be our Mediator- to converse with God on our behalf, as Moses and Elijah did in a prefigurative way. As the one man who came to bear the punishment due to all men. He evokes the repentance of Nineveh that averted the punishment of God.
• His time in the desert reminiscent of the Israelites’ forty years sojourn proffers the idea that He is deliberately taking on the punishment due to our faithlessness, which otherwise world keep us away from the new Promised Land of Heaven.

The season of Lent is our great opportunity to enter into the desert with Jesus Christ. Do you have a plan for how to approach these days and gain the incredible graces they offer us?
The work of Lent that the Church asks of us are three: prayer, penance and almsgiving.
Lent is the time when we remember the death of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice, he made to give us eternal life. (Get Fed The Catholic Company)

• Durante el tiempo de Noé, Dios envió lluvia durante cuarenta días y cuarenta noches para castigar la tierra con un diluvio.
• Como consecuencia de su falta de fe, los israelitas vagaron por el desierto cuarenta años antes de llegar a la Tierra Prometida.
• El pueblo de Nínive ayunó y se arrepintió para evitar la ira de Dios que el profeta Jonás predijo que vendría sobre ellos en cuarenta días.
• Tanto Moisés como Elías ayunaron cuarenta días antes o durante conversaciones importantes con Dios.

• La misión de Jesús fue de una naturaleza que lo abarca todo y que aprovecha y cumple todas las razones bíblicas para el evento de cuarenta días. Una unión entre las antiguas tradiciones bíblicas y el Mesías.
• Él se estaba embarcando en su misión de ser nuestro Mediador, de conversar con Dios en nuestro nombre, como lo hicieron Moisés y Elías de una manera prefigurativa. Como el único hombre que vino a soportar el castigo debido a todos los hombres. Evoca el arrepentimiento de Nínive que evitó el castigo de Dios.
• Su tiempo en el desierto, que recuerda los cuarenta años de estadía de los israelitas, ofrece la idea de que Él está asumiendo deliberadamente el castigo debido a nuestra falta de fe, que de otro modo nos mantendría alejados de la nueva Tierra Prometida del Cielo.

Question: What does it mean to genuflect as a Catholic? 
Answer: Genuflection is an act of devotion that literally means “to bend the knee.” For many Catholics, it’s an almost automatic gesture that we perform before entering our pew or row of seats at Mass. But, like many of the symbols and gestures of our faith tradition, genuflecting can also be an invitation for deeper reflection. The practice of “bending the knee” is an ancient way of recognizing the presence of someone greater than we are. 
One is supposed to genuflect whenever one passes before the Blessed Sacrament reposed within a tabernacle (General Instruction of the Roman Missal 274). One is also supposed to give a bow of the body whenever one passes in front of the altar (Ceremonial of Bishops 72). Therefore, in churches or chapels in which the tabernacle is in a separate space, we are invited to simply bow toward the altar. On Good Friday, when the Blessed Sacrament has been removed to the altar of repose, we do not genuflect before the empty tabernacle. The Catechism tells us that genuflecting is “a reverence made by bending the knee, especially to express adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.” Jesus is really, truly, and substantially present in the Eucharist, which is reserved in the tabernacle. In Catholic churches and chapels, one genuflects on the right knee when the Sacrament is not exposed, but is in a tabernacle or veiled. Conversely, one kneels with both knees if the Sacrament is exposed . 

Question: What does it mean to be an active participant in Mass?
Answer: -All faithful are encouraged to arrive 15 minutes before Mass begins to ensure always being on time. Use this time to settle in, pray, and read the readings before Holy Mass.
- If we have arrived late, and the readings have begun, we should consider remaining standing in the rear of the sanctuary, out of reverence for the Word of God, and the ushers will discreetly find a seat for you after the Gospel is proclaimed.  
- We should minimize unnecessary noise, talking or visiting within the sanctuary as it is a place for reverent prayer, meditation, and praise. 
-We should avoid all unnecessary movement once the Holy Mass has begun. (especially during the consecration)
- Use proper posture during Holy Mass: standing, kneeling, bowing, genuflecting and prayerful posture, as long as you don't have a physical or medical impairment
- Be attentive and respond to the 'people's parts' as indicated in the missal. This is a sign of the unity of our community worshiping together. We consider and give attention to a common cadence with our responses, following the lead, and direction of the celebrant – which lends to the unity and conformity of our prayers.  

Question: What is the difference between a Church and a Chapel ?
Answer: A Church is the place of worship that has a permanent congregation and is run by a pastor or priest. The term can refer to both the actual space as well as the congregation; you might go to church on Sundays and also really love hosting your church’s book club. You’ll find churches across all denominations of Christianity, and it can mean anything from the grandest architectural wonder to a group of congregants gathering regularly to worship without a permanent physical space. 
Unlike a church, a Chapel is a place of worship that has no pastor or priest and no permanent congregation; it’s all about the physical space. In the classic sense, Chapels are usually smaller than churches. Many parishes have chapels inside their main church for daily Mass and/or perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Chapels could also be separate from the main church structure 
At St. Margaret Mary, we have three chapels: The Day Chapel, The Eucharistic Chapel and the Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel.
The Day Chapel is where Mass is celebrated in smaller groups. The Eucharistic Chapel is where the Eucharist is displayed in a special vessel called a monstrance, and people come to pray and worship Jesus. At St. Margaret Mary we offer Perpetual Adoration, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel is where parishioners can come to light a votive candle as they pray. The light from the candle signifies our prayer offered in faith coming into the light of God.  With the light of faith, we petition our Lord in prayer, or petition the saint to pray with us and for us to the Lord.  The light also shows a special reverence and our desire to remain present to the Lord in prayer even though we may depart and go about our daily business. 

Question: What is the Confessional?
Answer: A confessional is a room, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in the Catholic churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents.
-History: In the New Testament, Christians are admonished to "confess your sins to one another and pray for one another" at their gatherings, and to be forgiving people. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says to the Apostles, after being raised from the dead, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained". The early Church Fathers understood that the power of forgiving and retaining sins was communicated to the Apostles and to their lawful successors, the bishops and priests, for the reconciling of the faithful who have fallen after baptism.
-Sacrament of Penance: The Sacrament of Penance is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, in which the faithful are absolved from sins committed after baptism and reconciled with the Christian community. During reconciliation mortal sins must be confessed and venial sins may be confessed for devotional reasons.

Question: In what order do the servers enter during the processional at the beginning of Mass?
Answer: The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), No. 120, states - Once the people have gathered, the priest and ministers, clad in the sacred vestments, go in procession to the altar in this order:
1. The thurifer carrying a thurible with burning incense, if incense is used. ("If incense is used, before the procession begins, the priest puts some in the thurible and blesses it with the Sign of the Cross without saying anything.")
2. The ministers who carry lighted candles, and between them an acolyte or other minister with the cross; 
3. The acolytes and the other ministers; A lector, who may carry the Book of the Gospels (though not the Lectionary), which should be slightly elevated;
4. The priest who is to celebrate the Mass.
This would be the plan in a parish Mass without a Deacon. If a Deacon is present, he should carry the Book of the Gospels. (Only the Book of the Gospels is carried in procession, not the Lectionary.) As mentioned above, the Gospels are usually carried by the Deacon or, if lacking, an instituted Lector.

Pregunta: ¿En qué orden entran los servidores durante la procesión al comienzo de la misa?
Respuesta: La Instrucción General del Misal Romano (GIRM), No. 120, dice - Una vez que el pueblo se ha reunido, el sacerdote y los ministros, vestidos con las vestiduras sagradas, van en procesión al altar en este orden:
1. El monaguillo que lleva un incensario con incienso ardiente, si se usa incienso. (“Si se usa incienso, antes de que comience la procesión, el sacerdote pone un poco en el incensario y lo bendice con la señal de la cruz sin decir nada.”)
2. Los ministros que llevan velas encendidas, y entre ellos un acólito u otro ministro con la cruz;
3. Los acólitos y los demás ministros; Un lector, que puede llevar el Libro de los Evangelios (aunque no el Leccionario), que debe estar ligeramente elevado;
4. El sacerdote que va a celebrar la Misa.
Este sería el plan en una misa parroquial sin Diácono. Si un Diácono está presente, debe llevar el Libro de los Evangelios. (Sólo el Libro de los Evangelios se lleva en procesión, no el Leccionario.) Como se mencionó anteriormente, los Evangelios generalmente son llevados por el Diácono o, si falta, un Lector instituido.

Question: What is the Baptismal Font?
Answer: In Catholic churches, the baptismal font is often located inside the doors of a church so that worshippers encounter the font on their journey to the altar. This placement is representative of a person's passage first through baptism and then to the Eucharist. A holy water stoup is a vessel containing holy water which is generally placed near the entrance of a church. It is often placed at the base of a crucifix or religious representation.
In the Apostolic Age, as in Jewish times (John 3:23), baptism was administered without special fonts, at the seaside or in streams or pools of water (Acts 8:38); Indoor baptism, however, was not uncommon (Acts 9:18; 16:33) and, for the sake of both privacy and solemnity, came to be the rule; while reverence for the rite itself and for the water, which came in time to receive a special consecration, gave rise to the use of a special basin or font for the baptismal ceremony and, at a later period, for the preservation of the water. With the establishment of distinctively Christian places of worship this font became one of their important adjuncts.

Pregunta: ¿Que es la pila bautismal?
Respuesta: En las iglesias católicas, la pila bautismal a menudo se encuentra dentro de las puertas de una iglesia para que los fieles encuentren la fuente en su viaje hacia el altar. Esta colocación es representativa del paso de una persona, primero a través del bautismo y luego a la Eucaristía.  Una pila de agua bendita es un recipiente que contiene agua bendita que generalmente se coloca cerca de la entrada de una iglesia. A menudo se coloca en la base de un crucifijo o representación religiosa.
En  la era apostólica, como en la  época judía (Juan 3:23),  el bautismo se administraba sin pilas especiales, a la orilla del mar o en arroyos o charcos de agua (Hechos 8:38); El bautismo en interiores, sin embargo, no era infrecuente (Hechos 9:18; 16:33) y, en aras de la privacidad y la solemnidad, llegó a ser la regla; mientras que la reverencia por el rito mismo y por el agua, que llegó a tiempo para recibir  una consagración especial, dio lugar al uso de una cuenca o fuente especial  para la ceremonia  bautismal y, en un período posterior, para la preservación del agua. Con el establecimiento de lugares de culto distintivamente cristianos, esta fuente se convirtió en uno de sus complementos importantes.

Question: What are Holy Oils? 
Answer: These are oils blessed at the Chrism Mass and are used in churches to administer the sacraments. They are stored in a cabinet in the church called the 'Ambry'. Oil of the Sick - Exclusive for the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, with which the physical and spiritual health of the faithful is requested. Oil of Catechumens - Used in Baptism as a sign of Christ's strength, to help resist and reject evil. Holy Chrism - Used in Baptism, Confirmation and the consecration of Bishops, Priests, temples and altars.

Pregunta: ¿Qué son los Santos Óleos?
Respuesta: Son aceites bendecidos en la Misa Crismal y se utilizan en las iglesias para impartir los sacramentos. Se guardan en un gabinete de la iglesia llamado "Ambry". Óleo de los Enfermos – Exclusivo para el sacramento de la Unción de Enfermos, con el que se pide la salud física y espiritual del fiel. Óleo de Catecúmenos – Se utiliza en el Bautismo como signo de la fortaleza de Cristo, para ayudar a resistir y rechazar el mal. Santo Crisma - Se utiliza en el Bautismo, la Confirmación y la consagración de obispos, sacerdotes, templos y altares