Ask a Franciscan: Answers to Catholic Questions

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For years, Franciscan Father Pat McCloskey has heard people's questions and then responded in his "Ask a Franciscan" column in the award-winning St. Anthony Messenger magazine. This book collects in one volume the best of the "Ask a Franciscan" questions and Fr. Pat's expert and pastoral answers. These are challenging, provocative, and even quirky questions Catholics and others ask about Catholic faith and practices.

For easy use, Father Pat grouped questions and answers into these subjects: how we understand God as Father, Son, and Spirit • how we relate to Mary and the other saints • how we read Scripture • how we celebrate the sacraments • how we pray • how we grow morally • how we grow in faith and practice it • how we experience forgiveness and redemption.

Watch Fr. Pat answer questions about his book!

PAT MCCLOSKEY, O.F.M., editor of St. Anthony Messenger magazine, contributed to the original Saint of the Day (St. Anthony Messenger Press) and has updated its last three editions. He holds master’s degrees in theology, divinity, and Franciscan studies and has written books on Franciscan saints, anger with God, and growing in one’s mental images of God.

"This author is no stranger to questions! Pat McCloskey, O.F.M., has fielded nearly six hundred questions in the past eleven years, in his St. Anthony Messenger 'Ask the Wise Man' and 'Ask a Franciscan' columns. Wise in his own right, he draws as well on the expertise of theologians in liturgy, moral theology, Scripture and other fields. Rather than tackling all six hundred questions in this book, 97 frequently asked questions are addressed in eight chapters that cover: understanding God; relating to Mary and other saints; Scripture; the sacraments; prayer; morality; faith; and forgiveness and redemption.

"Though strongly based on scholarship, these thorough answers are conveyed in an easy-to-read and friendly style accessible to ordinary parishioners and even teenagers. This faith-building title is packed with information and highly recommended for parish, high school, and academic libraries, as well as for anyone involved with campus ministry or RCIA programs."—Frances O'Dell, O.S.F., Catholic Library World