Posted on 10/14/2013 8:07:03 AM PDT by haffast
(Vatican Radio) Thousands of pilgrims were in Saint Peter’s Square Saturday evening to join Pope Francis in venerating the original statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
The statue made its journey to Rome as the celebrations for the Feast of Our Lady Fatima, which is October 13. Pope Francis will preside over Mass on Sunday morning, and the recitation of the Rosary before the statue. He will then consecrate the world to Mary’s Immaculate Heart.
During the evening’s event, the Pope welcomed the statue, which was processed through Saint Peter’s Square, and led the faithful in reciting the Seven Sorrows of Mary. The Holy Father then offered a reflection which focused on the Blessed Mother’s faith, explaining that her “faith unties the knot of sin.” Sin, he says, is “is a kind of knot created deep within us,” and these knots “take away our peace and serenity.” It was Mary’s “yes” which “opened the door for God to undo the knot of the ancient disobedience.”
She is “the mother who patiently and lovingly brings us to God so that he can untangle the knots of our soul by his fatherly mercy.”
The Pope also reflected on how it was Mary’s faith that “gave flesh to Jesus.”
Believing in the Incarnation, Pope Francis continued, “means giving him our flesh with the humility and courage of Mary, so that he can continue to dwell in our midst.”
The Holy Father then reflected on Mary’s faith as a journey, saying how “she precedes us on this pilgrimage, she accompanies and sustains us.”
To say that her faith is a journey is to say that “her entire life was to follow her Son.” Mary understood that the journey of the faith passes through the Cross, from the time Herod sought to kill the newborn Jesus until his passion and death on the Cross.
“And when she received word that the tomb was empty, her heart was filled with the joy of faith: Christian faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Pope Francis concluded his address by turning to the statue of Our Lady of Fatima, saying: “we thank you for our faith, and we renew our entrustment to you, Mother of our faith.
Listen to Ann Schneible’s report: RealAudio - MP3
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I guess one in the bunch isn't bad.
Or she's controlling Him in her lap as the perpetual helpless infant.
Well I sure do not blame Mary, she did her Godly deed. But this Mary devotion borders on lunacy. Catholic churches give me the creeps, there is so much clutter in them making Mary their 'queen of heaven'. Anyone can read what we were told about the literal time Christ spent on this earth in a flesh body and there is not one ounce of similarity in His example and what goes for holy rituals these days.
I used to be just like you. Maybe more antiMary. Then I studied the history of Western Civ and the Church.
Mary is not the issue. She was chosen to bring forth God With US in a flesh body. No more no less. No flesh man had any part in the conception and birth of Christ the Savior.
Christ was God WITH US in the flesh, and He and only HE is the Savior. God created all souls/spirit intellect. These souls/spirit intellect are called His children. God did not raise up one of His own creation, child and make her coequal. Christ sits on the Right hand of God and while no doubt Mary earned her reward, she simply plays no role in who gets saved and whose prayers get heard and answered.
Here in Florida, we have the “Mary, Queen of the Universe” shirne for all the Catholic toursit in the Orlando area. Just from the name, it seems to be all about Mary and only incidentally about Jesus. “Queen of the Universe” seems to be a rather grandiose offshoot of the more typical “Mary Queen of Heaven”, The problem with that is that the only biblical mention of a “Queen of Heaven” is in Jeremiah and it’s not at all falltering. With Jesus being King of Kings and Lord of Lords there’s no real need for a queen.
No...God chose Mary. Just as He chose Abraham, David, Jonah.
His will would have been done regardless of Mary's reaction. Same with the others.
Compare accounts of Holy Week, day by day, just to start.
Compare accounts of the 10 Commandments in various places.
Consider the prophesy that revelations’the dead in Christ will rise’ compared to the Matt 27:52 account that dead had already risen.
Constantine as emperor seemed to be ok with his mother investigating the Christian religious sites. She wasn’t a queen, but she got a lot of the pilgrimage sites onto a lucrative path.
Egypt is probably the worlds record holder for a tourist attraction continuously operating in the same location.
Stonehenge might give it a bit of competition though.
Or my personal favorite, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Mary, Abraham, David, and Jonah, all had to say “yes.” And working through them is God’s will.
All saints have to say yes if confronted with God's irresistible grace.
God always has His way; it's not dependent on our assent.
Mary's assent is not what decided God's plan. She is not sinless, the author of our salvation, or the queen of Heaven. She was a fallen person saved by grace.
Christianity doesn’t have a queen
That’s right.
Well, actually she is the Immaculate Conception, the new Eve, the way God intended all humanity to be. And Adam and Eve did not exactly say “yes” to God’s plan. I’m surprised it took this long to get a response on this thread.
I’m not looking for a fight. C.S. Lewis, a non-Catholic, said that he stayed away from discussing Mary because it’s a bit like trying to talk someone into admitting that his/her mother is flawed. Not really a good way to have a civil conversation. I read his Mere Christianity about once a year. I recommend it.
And how do you explain her cousin Elizabeth’s greeting? How is she “full of grace?” Did God just shop around for a nice virgin, good looking, quiet, good family, with a compliant fiancé? Hmm... guess I’ll pick that one. OK Gabriel, do your thing. Oh, that’s right, he tells her she’s full of grace too.
And why did Jesus on the cross tell John, “Behold your mother.” I’m guessing John already had a mother. The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus gave Mary to us as our mother. But if its your faith telling you that she was just a convenient womb, go for it.
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No...none are true.
Jesus was conceived immaculately. Mary was a saintly woman just as Abraham, David, Isaiah were saintly men.
But saintliness (obeying God by His grace) does not equate to being immaculately conceived.
because it’s a bit like trying to talk someone into admitting that his/her mother is flawed
I like Lewis, but it's not the same simply because Mary's not our mother.
Oh please, get over yourself. Based on this nonsensical rant, I can tell you've spent NO time in Catholic churches. You've never attended a Mass, for sure.
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