Ask Father John (Catholic Priest)

Indulgences in the Catholic Church. As a Convert from Methodism I found "indulgences" to be a difficult idea to grasp. But a very simple, older Priest who is now deceased, gave me a simple but clear understanding. It's been enough for me for 45 years now. An indulgence is a form of love, not from us to God, but from God to us. Or it can be a form of love from people who truly care about us to us. I imagine purgatory not as a "place" somewhere in the universe with material objects and material torture, but as the experience of sometimes painful letting go of things that we have no business owning, like resentment, gossip, selfishness, an addiction to something spiritually, mentally or physically unhealthy. It is a realization of exactly who we are and the pain and suffering that we have inflicted on ourselves trying to cling to sin and the pain and suffering that we have inflicted on others because of our self-will. Jesus looks us deeply into our soul and says ho...

Real Christianity How many times have I heard: "I'm a nice person and I try not to judge others" as a profession of faith? How many times have I heard Christians say "Well, just be nice and you will make it to Heaven!"? How many times have I heard people say: "I made my First Communion and I made my Confirmation"? These people think that Christianity is all about being a good person and getting a prize for it. This isn't Christianity at all! It's watered down Christianity that's as effective as Madam Toussaint and her crystal ball or the guy on stage who keeps shouting that if you give him money you'll grow rich and get to Heaven that way. Being "Nice" has nothing to do with Christianity. "Making" a Sacrament isn't possible. "Only God can judge me" is a farce and an excuse for immoral behavior. Don't be a "Watered Down" anything! Believe in Jesus Christ, realize that He loves you and then ...

Fr. John Higgins The difference between Catholic culture and church, versus secular culture. One evening I was doing a session with our Confirmation Students. They had written questions on small pieces of paper and they were put into a basket. We met in the church and a Priest from Cameroon, Fr. Khumbah was with us. He and I had a great relationship and we often laughed together. We sat on stools in front of the Altar and answered the questions. One of them was "Do you believe in EQUALITY?" I smiled and asked this African Priest. He said "No, of course not. Fr. John is not nearly as smart as me, but I am fatter than him!" The youngsters looked shocked. He gave them a big smile and they laughed. He said "It depends on what you mean by "equality". We are all equal in our human dignity, but some people are beautiful like me and some are pasty white like Fr. John! The students looked a little shocked. He said "Now is that not ridiculous?" I said...

The Miracle in the Emergency Room How would you react if you saw a dead man suddenly come back to life? I am Pastor Emeritus (Retired) of St. Raymond Nonnatus Church in Downey, Calif., a city in southeast Los Angeles County. But at the time this happened I was stationed at St. Raphael Parish in Goleta (just west of Santa Barbara) CA. and very near Goleta Valley Hospital. I had just arrived at a home in the hills to have a Mass with a group of young adults to celebrate Mass and then enjoy a barbeque following. But I got a call from the hospital. Paramedics had brought in an older gentleman who had suffered a heart attack. I rushed back down the hill to Goleta Valley Community Hospital. I remember walking into the Emergency Room. I knew the nurse in charge there, and she knew me. I was teaching her son at the local Catholic High School. She and her husband and their family were members of his parish, and she would call him whenever emergencies arrived at the hospital. I can remember this...

Demonic Conjuring? By Fr. John Higgins Last week a few young people were talking with me. They are good kids who are members of our "Life Teen" group and do a lot to help our parish. One of them said that she had watched several movies and documentaries on demonic possession and "conjuring". She asked what I thought about it. I smiled and said "Sit down, this is going to take awhile." She said "Oh, I don't want to take up too much of your time, just give me the short version". She was trying to not be a burden. I said: "Go get some other teens. We'll have a good time. Bring me a soda!" She laughed and ran off. A few minutes later she came back with several other teens and a couple of young adults. I got them to sit down and described what I thought of it all. I won't get into all of the details, but I told them that the only power that demons directly have is to frighten and tempt us. I said that I had seen some people who I...

From throwing rocks at Catholics to entering the Church in more ways than one! My Conversion Story I am a Convert to the Catholic faith. I grew up in Southern California as a Methodist and became Catholic when I was 19. As a kid I used to go to my buddy Eddy’s house on Sunday mornings. He lived across the street from a big Catholc Church, St. Emydius in Lynwood, CA. He was Presbyterian. We were little scoundrels and had no idea why, but we would throw rocks at the Catholics as they drove their cars into the parking lot. One day in the hot summer of the early 1960s I went to his house. Eddy wasn’t home. So,  I walked across the street and saw the doors of that Catholic Church open. I went inside. They had a little place where you could wash your hands and face. I looked around inside the dark cool Church. There were people inside! It wasn’t even Sunday and there were people praying! I thought it must be some kind of special occasion so I waited for a “service” to start. There was no...

Hello to all This is my first blog post.    I am a Catholic Priest in Ministry in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. I was Ordained in 1981 by Timothy Cardinal Manning. I've been assigned to parishes all over the Archdiocese, taught Catholic Church History and Doctrine, been a Jail Chaplain (Part time), Chaplain for Law Enforcement and am currently Chaplain for the Downey Firefighters. I have been at this Parish as Pastor since 2003. I just retired as Pastor and have begun a new phase of ministry in which I can minister, but don't have to do administration.  I speak fairly good English, for a guy who was born in Indiana and raised in California. I also speak fairly good German and Spanish.  So far I've filled in for a Pastor who was on vacation, gone to Scotland where I am the official "Padre in Residence" in a Castle owned by a family in Texas, done German Mass in Los Angeles and Anaheim on a few occasions and minister to the people where I live in their Sacramental...