Relevant Radio^® listeners ask the best questions, and thankfully, there are so many great and knowledgeable hosts to provide excellent answers! Here are just a few of the many questions recently asked on Relevant Radio—maybe you’ll learn something new!

Were Adam and Eve immaculately conceived? – Anna

Fr. Richard Simon: “I would say, yes, in the sense that they were conceived in the mind and heart of God. To be immaculately conceived is to be conceived—to be brought into life—without the effects of Original Sin. And Adam and Eve certainly were brought into existence without the effects of Original Sin. And I like to make the point that they didn’t accept their immaculate conception because they sinned, whereas our Blessed Mother was immaculately conceived and had total freedom and said yes to the Lord and accepted that gift of immaculate conception which came with a certain burden—she then became the Mother of Sorrows. We think, oh boy it would be great to be immaculately conceived—well, no, with great gifts come great responsibility.”

I’ve never seen Jesus use the word Catholic in the bible. Where does the name come from? – Jim

Msgr. Stuart Swetland: “Catholic means universal. And of course, Jesus came to found a church, one church. And the church of Jesus Christ subsists in the Catholic Church. Catholic is a term meaning universal … but it goes back, really, to the New Testament. There’s other places where it speaks of the universal assembly and of course, one way of talking about universal is the term that becomes in English, catholic. For example, in Hebrews 12:22-23, But ye are come to mount Sion to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to myriads of angels, the universal gathering and to the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, and to God judge of all and to spirits of just men made perfect. So, it’s that universal gathering which is the Church.”

We recently moved to a new area and I’ve noticed several people of different ages who receive the Holy Eucharist on their knees. I don’t recall seeing that before – is that something new that’s happening? – Craig

Patrick Madrid: “Oddly enough, it’s something old and ancient for many centuries that’s happening again. And that is the traditional posture for receiving Holy Eucharist in the Latin rite of the Church, so in the western Church, the tradition was to receive kneeling down, typically at a communion rail. That was the organic piety of the western Church … so I think I would just see it as a kind of revival of that time-honored custom over against the far, far, far more recent custom in the United States of receiving Holy Communion standing up.”

For more answers to interesting questions, or to ask a faith question, tune in to The Patrick Madrid Show, Father Simon Says, Go Ask Your Father, and more of our live and interactive original programming each weekday.