Posted on 04/25/2007 6:54:31 AM PDT by NYer
“WOW -- coming from RC tradition I thought I’d never return to the Rosary. But here it is and here SHE IS. Blessed be, Mairly.”
The “here” in this message, found on herchurch.org, is Ebenezer Lutheran Church in San Francisco. But the SHE is not the Mother of God. SHE is “God/dess.”
On Wednesdays at 7 p.m., Ebenezer opens its sanctuary for the “Christian Goddess Rosary.” The church says it offers “Goddess Rosary Beads” and that “prayers and suggested meditations will be on hand as well as incense, candles and bells.”
“The Goddess rosary is grounded in traditions of the Christian Church and the proclamation of the gospel which is a vision of release from bondage for a new creation,” says the church’s web site.
The Goddess Rosary page on herchurch.org says that though “God as Father plays an important role” in Christian tradition, its “exclusive emphasis... contributes to a limited understanding of God, an understanding that supports a domination structure that oppresses and subordinates women.” Jesus used “Abba” as a “revolutionary deconstruction of domination structures of his day in both religious and social institutions.” The modern task is to do the same with “Goddess.”
Ebenezer, however, does not want to eradicate masculine images of God but to balance them with feminine images to “confront the biblical texts, products of their day and cultures, for the blatant patriarchal biases and misogynist attitudes.” And herchurch.org cites three Catholic theologians in support this confrontation: Harvard’s Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Fordham University’s Sister Elizabeth Johnson, and Rosemary Radford Ruether (who will lecture students in the course, “The History of God in Feminist Theological Discourse,” at LA’s Mount St. Mary’s College this spring.) Ruether calls the exclusive use of male imagery for God “idolatry.”
Herchurch.org offers a “Hail Goddess” prayer by feminist theologian Carol Christ, formerly of Harvard Divinity School but now director of the Ariadne Institute for Myth and Ritual in Greece. The prayer goes: “Hail Goddess full of grace. Blessed are you and blessed are all the fruits of your womb. For you are the MOTHER of us all. Hear us now and in all our needs. O blessed be, O blessed be. Amen.”
“I felt that I had stepped into a Presence, like a mother’s warm embrace,” wrote Dalyn Cook of Ebenezer’s Goddess Rosary. “The attendees were few in number, yet there was a sense of fullness in this welcoming space. I inhaled deeply the earthy scent of the incense, sending up delicate tendrils of smoke which curled around the altar in a nimbus visible against the warm rays of the evening sun filtering through the stained-glass windows....
“From the basket of rosaries, I took into my hand a strand of vibrantly-colored beads with a silver goddess icon in place of the traditional cross. The goddesses came in a variety of shapes and sizes, celebrating the beauty of the feminine form; I found reflections of my own figure in the full hips and Rubenesque curves of my goddess,” Cook wrote.
To say Jesus is divine is not a denial of His humanity. He is truly God, and He was truly human, with a body and soul.
What is it with Wiccans/Pagans and “Blessed Be”?
If it is true that Mary isn’t worshipped, why is every church now named after her? If we lived in Jesus’ time, they would be temples constructed to her. She is your Goddess, the mother of God. Catholics should just acknowledge it. The truth will set you free.
Mary is a creature. The Catholic Church has always taught that. She is not divine.
So why construct temples to “a creature”? You are in deep denial.
I joined the church because I could accept her teachings. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have. So those who can’t accept the Church’s teachings on abortion, homosex, or female ordination should do the honorable thing — leave. Protest. Sticking around trying to weasel around is just hypocritical.
Heb 7:25 Wherefore he is able to save them evermore that come unto God by him (Jesus) seeing he lives forever to make intercession for them.
The writer of Hebrews is explaining how Jesus is a priest forever after the order of Melchisedek who was the priest Abraham tithed to and that the Levitical priesthood is passed because the blood of bulls and goats is no longer needed to cover sins but the blood of Jesus has washed them away.
I will say this to you. It is not my job to prove the Bible to a supposed Christian, but for you to prove you denominational heresy's to me. You must explain, by Biblical reference your Mary worship, Rosary beads, priest and "fathers". None of these are in the Bible. If you want to know who God sets in the church its in 1 Corinthians 12:28 And God has some in the church first apostles, secondarily prophets ,thirdly teachers, after that miracles then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
Show me where Priests are and the only reference to fathers is to call no man father because you have one Father and that is the one in heaven.
LOL! It's a name. It is a specific namee for a church that was chosen for whatever reason. It's not like a specific temple to Jupiter in ancient Rome. Are you going to ban place names like St. Paul, Minnesota, or Corpus Christi, Texas?
Δοχα Σοι Κυριε, Δοχα Σοι!!!!!!!!!!
As an aside, I think this "Goddess Rosary" abomination was an inevitability in the West.
I can only imagine what Confession would be like.
No he is not God. The Father is God of the whole Earth. Jesus is his son, seated at his right hand. As Jesus himself said, all power is given to him in heaven and earth. Who gave him that power? God the Father. Does Jesus have power? Yes it comes from God the Father.
Why do you think so?
Again, the church is not just named after her, it’s built to her. Same with all the supposed apparitional churches, Guadalupe, Fatima, whatever. Why don’t Catholics just come out and admit they worship her? It would free you. What is so wrong about admitting it, in your eyes? There must be some conscious awareness that all is not quite what it seems, surely?
No, YOU are determined to be obtuse. She is NOT DIVINE. Just because it seems to you that it seems like she is from the way some celebrate her, does not change the Church’s teaching about her one iota. She is the Mother of God, the Theotokos, not the Theo herself. Think of her like John the Baptist. She is Great, but could describe herself as not worthy to tie the shoestring of the one that came after her. It’s not that hard.
Bible-alone theology is practically idolatrous.
Obviously you’re a non-christian. Why should we explain to you, who misrepresent yourself and hide behind your profile? We’ve seen plenty of your kind come and go, friend.
How is she like John the Baptist? John baptized Jews and proclaimed Jesus as the lamb that takes away sin. Jesus, he said, must increase, and I must decrease. In your religion, Mary has increased and Jesus decreased.
No, to come to terms with the obvious will set you free.
The truth will set you free, but claiming that Catholics view Mary as a "goddess" is a lie.
Mary is created and human.
God is uncreated and divine.
There are no "goddesses".
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