Answer: Yes, Mekai, God is there. In class today, we talked about four ways that God speaks to us: through Divine Revelation (Scripture), through the Church, through prayer, and through the beauty of nature. God can also speak to us through other people. For example, I have prayed to God for help or for the answer to a question, and I’ll get a phone call from a friend who acts as one of God’s messenger to pass on what God wanted to tell me. That friend may not necessarily hear the voice of God telling them to call me…God just gives them a feeling that they should call me and they do. God can also speak to us through music. There have been Christian songs that I’ve felt very connected to when I was going through certain experiences, and I would feel God was speaking to me through the lyrics. Knowing how to listen for God’s voice in the many ways He speaks is important, and it takes practice. Just keep praying and in time you will be able to hear Him and see that He is very present in your life.

Answer: Quinci, it’s not really a matter of finding your guardian angel because your angel is always there beside you. Just as it takes faith to believe that God is with us even if we can’t see Him, it also takes faith to believe that our angels are with us as well. Some people will get to meet their guardian angels during times of danger or great suffering, but most people will not have the opportunity to see their angels until it is time for them to pass from this life to the next. Don’t be too disappointed if you don’t get to see your guardian angel. As your soul matures and your relationship with God deepens, you’ll be able to tune in to the spiritual world a little better and eventually have a sense that your angel is with you.

Answer: I believe you are asking about non-Catholic Christians receiving Holy Communion. Once upon a time, there was only one Christian Church. Unfortunately, because of misunderstandings among people in the Church, the Body of Christ was broken – Christians split off into other denominations (forms of Christianity) because they did not agree with what the Catholic Church taught and practiced. Receiving the Eucharist is among the highest signs of Christian unity: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:17). If someone receives the Eucharist, they are saying that they believe everything that Jesus has taught and passed down through the Catholic Church. Non-Catholic Christians generally are not in union with all the teachings of the Church, therefore it would not make sense for them to receive the Eucharist.

Some non-Catholics, however, will receive the Eucharist as a sign of respect for the Catholic Church because they do not truly understand what it means for us. If they happen to be present at a wedding or a funeral of a Catholic friend, they might feel that receiving communion is a way of showing support. If this is their intention, then it is not a sin on their part. But we, as Catholics, can help them become more familiar with the Church’s teachings about receiving communion and tell them that there are certain guidelines for who can receive. We can also let them know that they are always welcome to attend the Mass and they can approach the priest or Eucharistic minister for a blessing. As the Body and Blood of Christ, the Eucharist is the most precious Blessed Sacrament and it is important that we always promote reverence for it by sharing our understanding of the sacrament with both Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Answer: Tell them what you know! It would be best not to get in an argument about the issue, but make it more of a sharing. What is the proof that God is real, alive, and working among us? There are so many things to point to – creation, unexplained miracles, changed lives, and Jesus Christ himself. You can start by asking yourself how you know God is real – what does He do for you? Many people have a hard time believing in things they cannot see, but there are ways to help them realize that there is a spiritual world that does exist. Another interesting avenue to take would be to discuss the presence of evil in the world. If we recognize that there is an evil force at work that drives people to commit horrible crimes or spirits that go so far as to possess people, then there must be a good God to counteract the evil and powerful enough to even overcome it.