Posted on 10/08/2015 8:02:23 AM PDT by Salvation
As a young child I was very close to God. I spoke to Him in a very natural way and He spoke plainly to me. Although I have very few memories of my early childhood, I vividly remember how close I was to God. When early puberty approached, though, I began to slip away, drifting into the rebellious and angry years of my teens. As the flesh came more alive, my spirit submerged.
The culture of the time didn’t help, either. It was the late 1960s and early 1970s and rebelliousness and the flesh were celebrated as “virtues.” Somehow we thought ourselves more mature than our pathetic forebears, who were hopelessly “repressed.” There was the attitude among the young that we had come of age somehow. We collectively deluded ourselves, aided by the messages of rock music and the haze of drug use, that we were somehow “better.”
So it was the winter of my soul. The vivid faith of my childhood gave way to a kind of indifferent agnosticism. Though I never formally left Church (my mother would never had permitted that as long as I lived in under my parents’ roof), I no longer heard God or spoke to Him. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that when I was in high school I joined the youth choir of my parish church. This was not precipitated by a religious passion, but rather by a passion of another kind: there were pretty girls in the choir and I “sought their company,” shall we say. But God has a way of using beauty to draw us to the truth. Week after week, year after year, as we sang those old religious classics a buried faith began to awaken within me.
But what to do? How to pray? I heard that I was supposed to pray. But how? As a child it had been natural to talk with God. But now He seemed distant, aloof, and likely angry with me. And I’ll admit it, prayer seemed a little “goofy” to me, a high school senior still struggling to be “cool” in his own eyes and in the eyes of his friends. Not only that, but prayer was “boring.” It seemed an unfocused, unstructured, and “goofy” thing.
But I knew someone who did pray. My paternal grandmother, “Nana,” was a real prayer warrior. Every day she took out her beads and sat by the window to pray. I had seen my mother pray now and again, but she was more private about it. But Nana, who lived with us off and on in her last years, knew how to pray and you could see it every day.
Rosary Redivivus – In my parish church of the 1970s, the rosary was non-existent. Devotions and adoration were on the outs during that sterile time. Even the Crucifix was gone. But Nana had that “old-time religion” and I learned to appreciate it through her.
Ad Jesum per Mariam – There are some, non-Catholics especially, who think that talking of Mary or focusing on her in any way takes away from Christ. It is as though they consider it a zero-sum game, in which our hearts cannot love both Mary and Jesus. But my own experience was that Mary led me to Christ. I had struggled to know and worship Christ, but somehow a mother’s love felt more natural, safer, and more accessible to me. So I began there, where I could. Simply pole-vaulting right into a mature faith from where I was did not seem possible. So I began, as a little child again, holding my Mother’s hand. And gently, Mother Mary led me to Christ, her son. Through the rosary, that “Gospel on a string,” I became reacquainted with the basic gospel story.
The thing about Marian devotion is that it opens up a whole world. For with this devotion comes an open door into so many of the other traditions and devotions of the Church: Eucharistic adoration, litanies, traditional Marian hymns, lighting candles, modesty, pious demeanor, and so forth. So as Mary led me, she also reconnected me to many things that I only vaguely remembered. The suburban Catholicism of the 1970s had all but cast these things aside, and I had lost them as well. Now in my late teens, I was going up into the Church “attic” and bringing things down. Thus, little by little, Mother Mary was helping me to put things back in place. I remember my own mother being pleased to discover that I had taken some old religious statues, stashed away in a drawer in my room, and placed them out on my dresser once again. I also took down the crazy rock-and-roll posters, one by one, and replaced them with traditional art, including a picture of Mary.
Over time, praying the Rosary and talking to Mary began to feel natural. And, sure enough, little by little, I began to speak with God. It was when I was in the middle of college that I began to sense the call to the priesthood. I had become the choir director by that time and took a new job in a city parish: you guessed it, “St. Mary’s.” There, the sterility of suburban Catholicism had never taken hold. The candles burned brightly at the side altars. The beautiful windows, marble altars, statues, and traditional novenas were all on display in Mother Mary’s parish. The rest is history. Mary cemented the deal between me and her Son, Jesus. I became His priest and now I can’t stop talking about Him! He is my hero, my savior and Lord. And praying again to God has become more natural and more deeply spiritual for me.
It all began one day when I took Mary’s hand and let her lead me to Christ. And hasn’t that always been her role? She, by God’s grace, brought Christ to us, showed Him to us at Bethlehem, presented Him in the Temple, and ushered in His first miracle (even despite His reluctance). She said to the stewards that day at Cana, and to us now, “Do whatever he tells you.” The Gospel of John says, Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him (John 2:11). And so Mary’s intercession strengthened the faith of others in her Son. That has always been her role: to take us by the hand and lead us to Christ. Her rosary has been called the “Gospel on a string” because she bids us to reflect on the central mysteries of the Scripture as we pray.
See how ridiculous this position is? If Mary could be simply made sinless at birth/conception from a sinner womb, why couldn't this be possible with Jesus?
Is that not what the Holy Spirit does for us??
I do not appeal to them for my salvation. I do not pray to them. I do not bow down before them or light candles before them. I do not devote whole degrees to their study.
Is that not what the Holy Spirit does for us??
Yes it is what the Holy Spirit does for us. He distributes His gifts to each of us individually as He wishes for some benefit. Praying the Rosary may not be of benefit to some, but, as Msgr. Pope attested, it does bring benefit to others, bringing them into a loving relationship with Jesus.
I pray that you do not begrudge anyone who finds Jesus through praying the Rosary.
Peace,
Rich
The problem with the rosary is the utter reliance upon Mary. If you ask God for direction He will give it to you as noted in James. No mention of having to ask Mary for any direction.
That sounds like a very sad lonely existence.
Far from it. I have enough concern to be on these threads trying to point out the false teachings of roman catholicism regarding Mary. If I didn’t care I wouldn’t be here.
Make up your mind are you devoted fully to your family or not, using your logic you can’t be devoted to your family and to God.
Christ is first, then family.
Mary is the mother of Jesus.
Jesus is God.
Mary is the mother of God.
D:
Mary is the Mother of God.
The Trinity is God.
Mary is the Mother of the Trinity.
If I teach a mentally-disabled 8 year old to start his own alphabet with the letter o, he creates a linguistic code that is uncrackable.
I teach a mentally-disabled 8 year old to start his own alphabet with the letter o.
Therefore, he creates a linguistic code that is uncrackable.
If the year is 726,794,838,494,563 BCE then the previous year is 726,794,838,494,564 BCE.
The year is 726,794,838,494,563 BCE.
Therefore, the previous year is 726,794,838,494,564 BCE.
If the design of the NASA Space Shuttle keeps the black body temperature of −454 °F from the outside orbit then the NASA Space Shuttle is at a temperature for human life.
The NASA Space Shuttle isn't at a temperature for human life.
Hence, the design of the NASA Space Shuttle doesn't keep the black body temperature of −454 °F from the outside orbit
You are not anwwering the question.
That's because someone let religion get in the way of relationship. They moved away from faith.
The problem with the rosary is the utter reliance upon Mary. If you ask God for direction He will give it to you . . .
I am not sure how familiar you are with the Rosary, but it is more than merely a recitation of Hail Mary’s. It is a meditative prayer which provides many opportunities to ask God for direction. In addition to the Hail Mary, the Rosary includes the Apostle’s Creed, the Our Father, and other prayers.
While praying the Rosary, one can reflect on various aspects of our faith; for example, the first luminous mystery, the Baptism of our Lord.
While praying this decade of the Rosary, I find myself thinking about how Jesus came down from Nazareth, a small village in the hill country above the Sea of Galilee, to be baptized in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. When John saw Jesus, he asked Jesus to baptize him, but Jesus said that He must be baptized by John. So they went into the river and John lowered Jesus into the water, baptizing Him. As Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were torn open, the Spirit descended over Him in the form of a dove, and a voice was heard from the heavens; “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
I imagine myself being Andrew, one of the two disciples of John who were standing next to him the next day. As we were standing there, Jesus passed by in front of us, and John said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” So we followed Jesus, and He turned and noticed us, and said, “What are you looking for”? We said, “Rabbi (which is translated teacher), where are you staying”? He said, “Come, and you will see.” So we went and followed Him, and stayed the day there, until about four in the afternoon. When we returned, I first sought out my brother Simon, and when I found him, I said to Him, “We have found the Messiah.”
This kind of reflection brings me closer to the Messiah, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
True, the Rosary is not mentioned in Scripture, and it is not for everybody, but it is an aid for leading believers to Christ.
Peace,
Rich
Would this not fall into the category of repetitious prayers?
On the question of repetitious prayers: I spend most of my days wandering around saying "But Thou O Lord art among us and Thy Name is called upon by us, forsake us not, O Lord our God" or some variation of "Lord have mercy on us".
Since the Synod started in Rome I've been practically hammering the rafters with the same constant and very repetitious prayers.
My Protestant father (who now lives with us due to a stroke) says the same collection of phrases at every meal right after the children say their same prayer in unison. Ecumenism is weird when you have to live it in your own home.
So on this business of repetitious prayer, I don't think the variety of phrases assembled matters all that much compared to the Faith being expressed.
The Rosary is much more a meditative prayer; the rote prayers that are used are conducive to meditating on the mysteries. As I said, it is not for everybody, and in my mind it does not take away from the prayer life of those who do not pray the Rosary. I need only look to the wonderful examples of my sister and my daughter. They are both very devout Christians.
Peace,
Rich
So you agree, then, that devotion to something other than Christ is OK, as long as it is not put before Christ. This is exactly the Catholic devotion to Mary.
And before you say it...no, most Catholics are not confused and misguided and satanically tricked into putting Mary first. We do not believe Mary is God. We do not believe Mary created God. We can adore Jesus as our Savior and One True God and still have enough love left over for Mary, our spiritual mother.
Do you not ask others to pray for you? Do you not pray for others? Lighting candles is simply a way of asking for prayers. Kneeling before the statue is a way of focusing our attention, as is the rosary.
Catholics believe that those in heaven can intervene for us because they have become joined with the Body of Christ through salvation. According to scripture, even those in hell can ask for intervention, as the rich man did when he saw Lazarus in heaven with Abraham.
We know Mary intervened with Jesus on earth. Why would she not continue in heaven?
Love, O2
.....it’s tagline season again....
I know! I know!
A. There is no record of Mary being alive in Heaven.
B. Jesus rebuked her when she tried to intervene. He never showed any inclination or definition (in Scripture) that she was anything more than His birth vessel!
Why would Jesus listen to His mother when His Father is God? Surely you can't compare Mary to God, can you? That is ridiculous, and blasphemous. God is all powerful, all knowing, and ever present. The Biblical Mary is none of these. She's dead and waiting with those others who are dead and waiting to be alive again in Christ (contrary to Roman Catholic mythology)!
But then, the Roman Catholic mary is not the one we see in Scripture! That ones demands attention to herself and only insinuates a relationship with Jesus, almost always seen as an infant in arms.
Jesus is the only intercessor. He told us to pray to "Our Father", not some sinful woman. (John 3:16- ALL have sinned. That leaves no exceptions for some Roman wannabe goddess!)
“Far from undermining the role of Mary, Jesus reveals the true greatness of her divine maternity. After all, she was not merely his natural mother through generation, but she became the Mother of God precisely by embracing the Father’s will (Lk 1:38, 43). Her relationship to Jesus—physical and spiritual—is thus magnified by Jesus’ statement.”
Scott Hahn.
So he did not rebuke her but since she knew she was his first disciple, the knew she was his mother but also the mother of us all. She is woman, the new Eve. One of only three created human beings who were born without original sin. The general Protestant version of Mary is amazingly anti-woman and sad. Even Luther venerated Mary so I’m guessing because I don’t really want to do the research that it was Calvin who was so anti-mary. This was the second iconoclasm.
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