You may have listened to a gospel story, and, while it sounded familiar, you could have sworn you heard it differently before. Perhaps there was a detail you had never noticed. Or maybe the whole story, while recognizable, was not how you remembered it. Don't worry. Your memory is not faulty.

The question of exactly when the eucharistic gifts become Christ's Body and Blood has commanded attention and debate for centuries. From the supper at Emmaus, disciples have cherished the Eucharist as the clearest sign of the Risen Lord's abiding presence.

Celibacy is one of the most widely recognized characteristics of a Roman Catholic priest. But though it is well known, celibacy itself is often misunderstood. Technically, celibacy is the commitment not to marry. In the Latin (Roman) Catholic Church, it is a prerequisite for ordination to the priesthood. The candidate must freely assume this obligation publicly and for life.

For most of the year Christians hear a part of a letter of St. Paul read during Sunday worship. But if you had stopped Paul on the street in some place like Corinth and asked him if he thought his letters would become a permanent part of Christian liturgy and that his faith would make him the father of Christian theology, he probably would have laughed at you, in between dodging stones.

Of the four wedding invitations currently posted on my refrigerator, only one is for a ceremony to be held in a church. The others? All will be outdoors: in a hotel garden, under a restaurant gazebo, or in a park. The beauty of God's creation seems a perfect setting for making a lifetime commitment. So why doesn't the Catholic Church allow couples to get married outside?

"By what authority are you doing these things?

I often teach men and women who return to college later in life to complete a degree. It is not unusual that some of them are older than I am, and I often invite them to use my given name, John. Very few take me up on the offer. When I ask why, they say it just doesn't seem right. "You're the professor," they insist.

People today tend to think that history is pretty much about facts. Though history is always interpreted, the aim of history is to uncover facts to paint a picture of the past as it more or less happened. So to ask if the gospels are historical is the same as asking, "Did things really happen that way?

Think of a loved one suffering from Alzheimer's disease or a child with spinal cord injuries. Imagine a treatment that promises their recovery at the cost of destroying "spare" embryos from fertility clinics, embryos that will probably be discarded anyway.