Courage to Be Catholic

Several years and another lifetime ago (when I was single), I used to attend CBA (Christian Booksellers Association Convention) each summer, to meet with authors. At the first convention I attended, shortly after I joined Servant, I was particularly nervous about one meeting -- breakfast with Elisabeth Elliot and her husband Lars. Elisabeth is a veteran missionary and evangelical radio personality, a revered spiritual icon in evangelical circles (My mother nearly fainted when she found out I had met Elisabeth. "Oh, dear ... you didn't tell her where you go to church now, did you Heidi?")

In point of fact, I had mentioned it -- but only after Elisabeth peppered me with questions until I couldn't evade them any longer. I wasn't ashamed of being Catholic, but I was a bit nervous about the possibility that Elisabeth might lecture me (like so many others had) about turning my back on the "faith of my fathers." In the eyes of this great faith warrior, I did not want to look like a slacker. And so, I decided not to bring up the subject. Anyway, I told myself, it's not like someone as famous as Elisabeth Elliot would care two bits about my little story.

I was wrong. We had just settled down over our pancakes when Elisabeth opened the conversation with, "So ... you haven't always been Catholic, have you dear?"

That mouthful of pancake was thoroughly masticated before I responded, cautiously. "Why do you ask?"

"You mentioned that you used to work for Bethany House, and they are certainly not a Catholic publisher."

Still I hesitated... A little impatient, she continued. "Do you know my brother, Thomas Howard? He entered the Catholic Church some years ago. I only wish I had his courage."

I nearly choked. This comment from a woman who had courage enough to set up housekeeping for herself and her daughter among Aucas of Ecuador, the very Indian tribe who had martyred her husband and their associates in cold blood. Not only was this august personage not going to scold me, she admired the decision I had made to enter the Church, as her dear brother had! After she had sung the praises of the Catholic Church for several minutes, I worked up the nerve to ask Elisabeth why she did not follow in her brother's footsteps.

"Cowardice, I suppose. My listeners and readers simply would not understand."

That, I understood. I understand it even better now, in light of the recent hubbub surro

unding the reversion of Dr. Francis Beckwith, former president of the Evangelical Theological Society. Despite the fact that it meant losing the respect and fellowship of his colleagues, not to mention his livelihood, Dr. Beckwith's courageous position was unequivocal: unless there is a serious theological reason not to, the default position of every believer must be to belong to the historical Church founded by Christ.

Why? In his book The Night is Far Spent, a collection of essays by Thomas Howard newly published by Ignatius Press, Dr. Howard offers five reasons for this "fallback position," which he outlines as the five "marks" of the church: her antiquity, authority, unity, liturgy, and sacraments. He writes:

What is at stake here is the rock-bottom question as to what worship is, and how you do it.... [W]orship is the thing we were created for -- to know God, and knowing him, to bless him and adore him forever....

To worship God is to ascribe worth to him. It is an activity distinct from teaching, and from fellowship, and from witnessing, and from sharing. It is an act, not an experience. ... Our task in worship is to offer the oblation of ourselves and our adoration at the Sapphire Throne.

Obviously this is a daunting and an august task. Fortunately we are not left to our own resources, nor to the whim of the moment, nor even to our own experience. The faithful have been worshipping God since the beginning, and there is help for us. All of us, even those of us who come from the so-called free churches ... are accustomed to borrowing secondhand, canned words to assist in worship. I am speaking of hymns. When we sing "Amazing Grace" or "O, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing," we are borrowing John Newton's or Charles Wesley's words. And we discover that, far from cramping or restricting our worship, these secondhand words bring us up to a level quite unattainable by our own spontaneous efforts. They take us away from ourselves. (p.254-255).

These reflections on worship contrast strangely with the protestations of many of those who leave the Church for what they perceive to be greener (certainly noisier) pastures. "I feel closer to God there ...," they say, or "the people are so much friendlier, and they have more to offer in the way of children's programs." Thinking they can choose a church the same way we can choose a new school or a new home, they rely on subjective factors of preference and comfort, rather than the single most important consideration of all: Which is the most authentic expression of the Body of Christ as He originally envisioned it? Not, "which is more entertaining?" but "Which leads me with surest steps along the pathway to holiness?" Not, "Which makes me feel good?" but "Which is most effective in treating my spiritual ills?" Not "which has the best music," but "which draws me closest to the sacramental presence of the Living Christ?"

Can you enter heaven without professing membership in the Catholic Church? Yes, the Church has always taught that there is hope for those outside her "visible boundaries" -- a hope that is based on the treasury of truth and faith that has been preserved by the Church for two thousand years. In the same way, a group of tourists who fall off a cruise ship hope that the lifeboat that has been tossed down will save them. The lifeboat (part of the equipment of the larger ship) may indeed save them; but how much better if they had never fallen overboard!

Holy Spirit, pour out your restorative presence among your people.
Unite us once more, we humbly pray,
with all our brothers and sisters in the faith,
for the glory of God and the benefit of all.

For the sake of His sorrowful Passion,
have mercy on us and on the whole world!

Prayers to Mary. Prayers to Saints.

When you or a loved one is ill, have you ever asked others to pray for them or you? Of course you have. We all do. We see those Prayer Threads on the forum all the time. And so it is with Catholics, Orthodox and certain Protestant denominations, we ask Mary and the Saints to pray for us. (The word 'prayer' means to ask).

The Bible directs us to invoke those in heaven and ask them to pray with us. Thus in Psalms 103, we pray, "Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will!" (Ps. 103:20-21). And in Psalms 148 we pray, "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his host!" (Ps. 148:1-2).

Not only do those in heaven pray with us, they also pray for us. In the book of Revelation, we read: "[An] angel came and stood at the altar [in heaven] with a golden censer; and he was given much incense to mingle with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne; and the smoke of the incense rose with the prayers of the saints from the hand of the angel before God" (Rev. 8:3-4).

And those in heaven who offer to God our prayers aren’t just angels, but humans as well. John sees that "the twenty-four elders [the leaders of the people of God in heaven] fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Rev. 5:8). The simple fact is, as this passage shows: The saints in heaven offer to God the prayers of the saints on earth.

The "Hail, Mary" recited as a prayer or mantra.

I'm guessing that you are referring to the rosary. The rosary seems to be primarily about Mary. At best, this repetitive attention to Mary can seem unbalanced, distracting us from a relationship with Jesus Christ. At worst, this prayer may seem idolatrous, treating Mary as if she were more important than God. But the Hail Mary is centered on Jesus Christ, and the rosary, far from being unbiblical, is actually a beautiful scriptural way of praying that leads us closer to him.

The opening of the Hail Mary is drawn from the words the angel Gabriel (and later her relative Elizabeth) used to greet the Mother of the Messiah.

In awe that the Almighty God he has worshiped from the beginning of time was about to become a little baby inside Mary, Gabriel greeted the chosen woman from Nazareth with wonder over this profound mystery: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Luke 1:28). Similarly, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and given prophetic insight into this child’s identity. In response to the profound mystery of Christ taking place inside Mary’s womb, she exclaimed, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (Luke 1:42). These words focus not on Mary herself but on the mystery of the Incarnation taking place inside her. In fact, John Paul II noted that every time we pray the Hail Mary, we participate in "the wonder of heaven and earth" at the mystery of God becoming man. Gabriel represents the wonder of heaven, while Elizabeth represents the wonder of earth.

When we repeat Gabriel’s and Elizabeth’s words, we participate in the joyful response to the mystery of Jesus Christ—the mystery of God becoming man. You can’t get much more Christ-centered than that!

As a model disciple of Christ, Mary consented to God’s will when the angel Gabriel appeared to her (Luke 1:38), and she persevered in faith throughout her life (John 19:25–27; Acts 1:14). When we say, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death," we ask Mary to pray for us to be faithful in our walk with the Lord, every day. She is the ideal person to intercede for us, to pray that we may walk in faith as she did.

But at the heart of the Hail Mary is the holy name of Jesus: "And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." John Paul II says that Jesus’ name not only serves as the hinge joining the two parts of the Hail Mary but is also this prayer’s "center of gravity." The Hail Mary leads us to the person of Jesus, and at the center of this prayer we speak his sacred name with reverence and with love.

Christ’s name is the only name under heaven through which we may hope for salvation (Acts 4:12). That we can even call upon the name of Jesus is astonishing. In the Old Testament the Jews approached God’s name ("Yahweh") with so much reverence that they eventually avoided speaking it. Instead, they often used the less personal title "Lord" when calling on God in prayer. But since God entered into humanity in Christ, we have the privilege of calling on the personal name of the Lord: "Jesus" (CCC 2666). Christians throughout the centuries have found in the name of Jesus a source of strength and meditation. As we utter the sacred name at the center of this prayer, the Hail Mary leads us to that divine source.

As for repetition, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said:

And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matt. 6:7–8).

With Hail Mary after Hail Mary after Hail Mary, the rosary appears to some people to be the kind of repetitious prayer Jesus condemned—a superficial, mechanical way of praying to God that can be boring and empty of life. It is sometimes said to be "vain repetition" rather than true, intimate prayer flowing from the heart. Shouldn’t Christians, some ask, speak openly to Jesus rather than relying on a repetitious formula?

Jesus, though, was not condemning repetitive prayer. Rather, he was criticizing the Gentiles’ practice of reciting endless formulations and divine names in order to say the words that would force the gods to answer their petitions. Magical formulas were not the way to get God to answer prayers. Jesus challenged us to approach our heavenly Father not the way the pagans do their deities but rather in confident trust that "your Father knows what you need before you ask him." Indeed, he knows what we need better than we do and is providing for those needs even before we realize them ourselves (Matt. 6:25–34).

Moreover, in the very next verse, Jesus gives us a new prayer to recite: the Our Father. Jesus says, "Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name" (Matt. 6:9).

If it were wrong to use repetitive prayers, Jesus certainly would not have done it. Yet in the garden of Gethsemane, he spoke the same prayer three times: "Leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words" (Matt. 26:44). We cannot think of this repetition as anything but heartfelt.

We have an intimate, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. By reciting the Hail Mary throughout the rosary, we participate over and over again in the wonder-filled response of Gabriel and Elizabeth to the mystery of Christ. Bead after bead, we ask Mary to pray for us that we may be drawn closer to her Son. And most of all, prayer after prayer, we affectionately speak the name of our Beloved at the very center of each Hail Mary: "Blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus . . . Jesus . . . Jesus." The holy name of Jesus, repeated with tender love, is the heartbeat of the entire rosary.

Take some time to reflect on these responses before we address the others, okay?

I would just add with respect to the Rosary -

Years ago, long before I was Catholic, I learned to say the Rosary. Because I learned it from a German (and a Bavarian German at that), I learned the method of recitation that is used by pious Bavarians (of which Pope Benedict is one, after all).

When you say the Rosary by any method, on each set of ten beads you meditate on a particular episode from the Life of Christ. There were originally 3 (now 4 - a new one instituted by Pope John Paul II), and they are all very Christ-centered. For example, the first or Joyful 'mysteries' as they are called are: 1. The Annunciation; 2. The Visitation; 3. The Nativity; 4. The Presentation in the Temple; 5. The Finding in the Temple.

To recite the Rosary by the Bavarian method, you speak each mystery aloud in the middle of the Hail Mary. For example:

"Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus, [who blessed the Sacrament of Marriage by his appearance and first miracle at Cana in Galilee.] Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."

This makes more obvious, and reminds us, of the centrality of Jesus in the Hail Mary.

It also takes a lot longer to pray . . . but I usually say my Rosary in morning drive-time, which in Atlanta is plenty of time to say two Rosaries by the Bavarian method. And so much better than getting frustrated at the traffic and cursing other drivers . . . .

Yeah, I've taken time to reflect on this response, but you know, it makes even less sense to be doing it (saying the Rosary) after reading this.

There are a number of serious problems with the concept of the Rosary.

First, "Hail, Mary", is simply something the angel said to Mary. There's no indication it was a prayer or that we need to be reciting it.

Second, most translations don't translate the words as "full of grace" - the Greek simply means, "favored one" or "highly favored one", or "who has found favor", etc. This simply means that Mary was favored by God in choosing her to bear the Messiah. There's no indication that she had any special place or power outside of this status.

I'm going to digress on a tangential issue: "Grace" as Catholics talk about it, stating that Mary is the "distributor of all graces", etc, makes grace sound like something akin to "the Force" in Star Wars.

It's as if "grace" is a thing, some force or power, that you get in response to all the works you do. There is absolutely nothing Biblical about that, and in each and every place that Paul talks about grace, he is talking about the unmerited and undeserved love, or favor, of God. Grace is God's unmerited love toward us, who are unworthy of it, and faith is the tangible gift that is the end product of that grace. But in Catholic doctrine grace seems to be some kind of "power" or "force" that you get filled up with - like a video game...I'm "low on grace", because I sinned...so I hit the magic Rosary pellet and bingo, my grace level pops back up... (I don't mean this to be mocking, it's the best analogy I can come up with - that's truly how it seems to me).

Third, Jesus clearly treats his mother as he would anyone else. He doesn't show her any special standing or favor above anyone else. When Mary asks him to do something about the wine situation at Cana, Jesus doesn't show her any special deference, in fact, he almost rebukes her, with a, "what does this have to do with me?" - in other words, "Why are you bothering me about this?"

When Mary and Jesus' brothers show up to "get him", when they think he's gone off his rocker, what does Jesus do? The people tell Jesus that his mother is outside with his brothers and want to speak to him. Does Jesus jump right up and rush out to give her a big hug and kiss, or does he call her "highly favored" or treat her in any way as special or above anyone else? No, in fact, it's just the opposite. He doesn't go out to meet them, he stays right where he is:

Matthew 12 "48He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

There is most definitely no special favor shown to Mary or his siblings, by Jesus. In fact, this goes to demonstrate a central theme of his ministry - the equality of all believers in the eyes of God. We are all equals. The priesthood of all believers is based on this same principle. We don't need priests between us and the Father. Jesus opened the door himself, it's the very reason the curtain of the Temple was torn in two. Jesus opened the path for us to come directly to the Father, through him, in his name, and we don't need intermediaries (as Hebrews, in fact, says). Jesus did not come to replace one hierarchy and priesthood with another. He came to do away with it.

John 4 "21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.""

No more Temple. No more Priesthood. Jesus is our "great High Priest" according to Hebrews. And as 1 Timothy says,

1 Timothy 2, "5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time."

Jesus might have established a church (of all believers) but he did not come to replace one priesthood and hierarchy with another, between man and God. And the Scriptures make that pretty plain in many spots (the curtain of the Temple being torn in two being the biggest and most obvious example).

Fourth, there is no evidence that those who are dead, and "alive with Christ", can hear or see or have any awareness at all of what is happening on earth. Even the Old Testament points to this. The one verse in Revelation that Catholics point to, is as big a stretch and reach as you could possibly make, and it seems absurd, on its face, as the basis for the argument about "prayers to Saints". Of course we can ask persons on earth, our friends and family, to pray for us. They are alive and they are with us and we know they can hear us if we ask them. There is no indication whatsoever that any soul that has passed on can do the same. Nothing in Scripture, either. In fact, what is in Scripture, is the constant (and consistent) admonishment not to talk to the dead, not to consult with Necromancers or anyone (witches, those who practice divination) who "consults the dead".

Fifth, the Psalms you quoted are merely Psalms of praise to the Lord, they are not "prayers" to angels or saints, unless you really want to stretch it, and I consider it stretching it.

Sixth, in investigating where all of the Mary and Saints thing came from, historically, some pretty clear things start popping up right away. This entire practice (and doctrine) developed out of people's fear of God as a "judge". God and Jesus, as part of the Trinity, were seen as judgmental, angry figures who were so Holy that one could not imagine talking to them directly. It was this harsh, "father figure", "king and judge", image of the Father and the Son that led people to look for a "softer" image to act as a go-between. So Mary (and the Saints) became a focal point - they became the human face - something people could relate to - a softened, motherly and brotherly set of figures that people could "ask to intercede". Afraid to go to Dad themselves, because he was a harsh authority figure, they decided to "go ask Mom".

It became readily apparent to me, anyway, through even the most cursory investigation of the matter, that it was this psychology in the early Church that led to the development of a "need" for some figure like Mary or the Saints to "intercede" with the harsh, judgmental, and angry Father (and Son). One couldn't imagine going to Jesus themselves, who was going to be their judge someday, no, no...one must go to his Mother to soften the blow...to talk to him for us....even though what the Bible says about Christ goes directly against this (1 Timothy 2:5, and the other examples up above - the curtain being torn in two, etc). Jesus is our mediator. We can go directly to him and more importantly, we should go directly to him.

All this doctrine of Mary and the saints came from early Christian fears, from the image of Jesus they had constructed. Jesus is going to be our judge. But he is not a figure to be feared in that sense, he is a figure of love and mercy that we should, in fact, run to - to go to in all things, and if we truly have faith, if we believe, we should never fear that. I don't need the souls of dead human beings, who now are alive in the presence of the Lord, to do anything for me. No one does. We only need Christ Jesus. That's the only person I feel the need to go to.

Okay, this got very long...

Not sure I can answer all your concerns, but I'll have a shot at some of them.

As it happens, I read Greek (studied Classical, but Koine is not difficult after 5th c. Athenian and Homeric Greek, just different).

The translation 'full of grace' is a fairly accurate translation of the Greek word kecaritwmenh. It's a verb, and a particular type of verb - a perfect passive participle, which means a state that has continued for an indefinite time and continues in the present and for the foreseeable future. "Completely and for always graced" is, however, a translation that is not very graceful in English.

That doesn't mean, of course, that the grace bestowed upon Mary by God from always was in any way due to her personal merit. But it stands to reason that God would make sure by His own power that the woman who was chosen to bear Him in her womb for nine months and entrusted with His earthly rearing would be pure and holy, the new Ark of the Covenant. ("No special place or power outside of this status?" What on earth could be more special or powerful than to have the awesome and unbearable responsibility of bearing and raising God? Of course Mary had to have divine help and grace to fulfill this otherwise impossible task!)

You have seriously misunderstood the Catholic concept of 'grace'. Your description is downright creepy, and totally unlike anything I have ever heard from a reputable Catholic source (of course, there are plenty of misguided and misinformed people around in the Catholic church, like every other church around, but you can hardly judge the doctrine of a church by one or two confused laymen, especially when the actual belief is laid out plainly in the Catechism for all to read!)

When a bunch of busybodies interrupt you while you're teaching and tell you your mom is outside, and you correct them for interrupting you (and incidentally for missing the entire point of what you are saying), you are not dissing your mom, who isn't there to hear. Neither are you dissing your mom when you correct a bunch of female groupies who are engaging in the usual over-the-top Middle-Eastern hyperbole ("blessed is the womb that bore thee . . ") without thinking about what they are saying.

Consider that, when Mary asked Jesus to help out an embarassed bridegroom at Cana, he remonstrated with her but helped anyway, with something as mundane as running out of wine and the resultant loss of face at the wedding . . . . and he did not say, "what does this have to do with me?", he said ti emoi kai soi - "what does this have to do with you AND me?" - why is this important to us? But - as he praised the response of the Syrio-Phoenician woman to his apparently disapproving question about dogs and bread, here he approved because he went ahead and did as Mary asked.

Consider also that, since Jesus was perfect, he perfectly fulfilled all the Commandments, including "Honor thy father and thy mother."

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