Posted on 07/26/2013 7:56:13 PM PDT by marshmallow
Fatima, Harissa, Damascus, Samalut, Assiut, Zeitun and many other places where the Virgin appeared are the destination of incessant pilgrimages from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iran. Pilgrims in search of physical but also spiritual healing; spontaneous and mystical prayer and not the schematic and formal verses of official Islam. The iconoclast Salafists destroy places of pilgrimage every year. But the devotion to Mary is growing, also fueled by the stories of the Koran. The spiritual dialogue between Christians and Muslims is much more promising than cultural, theological or political dialogue.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - Each year millions of Muslims come on pilgrimage to the Catholic Marian shrines. Not only to the major shrines such as Fatima in Portugal or Harissa in Lebanon, but also to Egypt, Syria, Iran. Muslims - especially Muslim women - go to give thanks to the Madonna or great Christian saints, like St. Charbel or St. George.
In the eyes of many Westerners these gestures seem ridiculous or false: they speak of apparitions, of prayers, but then there are massacres, killings, violence in the name of religion!
Like it or not, the religious phenomenon is alive in Latin America, in Africa, in Asia. When you see millions of Hindus go to bathe in the dirty water of the sacred river it may seem like a ridiculous thing. Yet for those who do it is an act of purification, of prayer. The West is tolerant and benevolent towards other religions, but its attitude towards Christians is increasingly hypercritical. The West is not post-Hindu, post-Islam. It is only post-Christian!
The point is that in the West, the supernatural is considered outdated, it is branded as mythology, illusion, instead the West is forever denouncing the difficulties that neither miracles nor pilgrimages can erase.
But in the rest of the world the spiritual.....
(Excerpt) Read more at asianews.it ...
This seems kind of weird considering how moslems treat their own women.
Satan appearing as an angel of light, healing Muslims so that they worship Mary, a woman, rather than Jesus.
Not quite. Try Christ, the son of Mary, reaching millions of Muslims with the truth of His resurection and saving grace.
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you”
- Jesus Christ
The West is purging its lungs of air. It’s only afterwards that it will find it is unable to breathe. Sad to see Thailand is attempting to do the same with its Buddhism.
Gentiles of all persuasions hijacking worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for worship of fatima..... these Muslims go from one pagan practice to another if fatima is credited....
I don't recall the exact quote, or even which book he wrote it in, but CS Lewis pointed out that the use of the term, "supernatural," is a vain presupposition that the user has a complete, thorough knowledge and understanding of all that is natural. Seven or eight hundred years ago, people thought a solar eclipse was the result of a dragon eating the sun. We of course look at such beliefs as primitive, ignorant or even savage. We don't give much thought to the notion that almost certainly, seven or eight hundred years from now, much of our "knowledge," will most likely be viewed in the same light.
We like to think of the Divine and His workings as "supernatural," but in as much as He existed before all else, there actually is nothing that is more, "natural."
read the original story ping as I can’t take it.
Devotion to Mary, instead of worship of the Lord is idol worship, an effective weapon of the Deceiver.
Perhaps this movement is led by Muslim women (??)
Just so. I am sure many of them would renounce Islam if they could.
You’re right. I can’t stomach catholic idolatry, either.
Protestant ignorance is what bothers me.
Interesting! I didn’t quote Lewis, but the evening before last, I was writing about the same subject to my grieving friend, Mimi. It involved the afterlife, deviled eggs, potato salad, fried chicken, and Jesus. :-)
Mary appears in the Koran, but she is not the Mary we know and love as the Mother of Jesus.
Jesus also appears in the Koran (Named Issa), but He is NOT the Jesus we know and love as the Member of the Godhead and Messiah.
Even Judas appears in the Koran, but ...get this...Judas is portrayed as a last-minute substitute for Jesus on the cross, as the author of this parody of Scripture couldn’t bear to portray The Innocent Lamb of God being executed for our sins. It just did not fit the character of the impersonal and inscrutable allah to Love the World so much That He Would Send His Only Begotten Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life.
Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of the Christ” was very popular in muslim countries. At the time, we Christians rejoiced at the thought that muslims “were hearing the Gospel” and we expected a huge influx of new believers. However, it did not happen. I believe the reason was that, even though they were hearing The Word of God in a language very near to their own, they were hearing with MUSLIM ears, and raved about the movie because it made Jewish leaders of the day look bad.
I hope that my pessimism is wrong, but I think that muslims who flock to the sites of apparitions are looking at Mary with Muslim Eyes. Not Catholic, Protestant, or Evangelical eyes.
Of course, ALL things are possible with Christ. he could use this to save a few lost souls, but we’ll never know about it because it will have to be kept a secret.
Just My Humble Opinion.
Protestant ignorance is what bothers me.
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Having visited Lourdes in my youth, I can attest that the Protestants have nothing on the Romanists when it comes to superstition and ignorance (and making big bucks on the same!).
Interesting but I am unsure that this proves any point in relation to Mary.
I have seen Buddhists prayerfully doing the walk up to the top of Saint Paul’s Cathedral they are reaching out for some sort of spiritual understanding but I am not sure they are getting any.
One hopes that somehow they hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
Like Luther's man-made tradition of "The Bible Alone"?
And why do Protestants, 1/4 of Christians, use Luther's Bible, rather than the true Bible?
Yes, it's difficult for Protestants to see the simple contradictions in their man-made traditions.
I pinged my wife to this story.
I’m not a protestant and neither is she.
Nor, am I ignorant.
I was brought up catholic and was educated by the Irish in the 60’s-70’s.( Thank you sister Stella).
I got a leg to stand on and skin in the game.
Sorry to bother you.
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