Soooo, did you pray this Hindu verse?
Did your local house of worship offer this pagan prayer up?
Nothing to see here. Please keep the line moving. Remove all watches and rings when you place your hand in the machine to be marked.
There's nothing particularly pagan about that verse. No pagan deity is mentioned.
This article is referring to the Pope's own meditations on the way of the Cross on Good Friday, not to the liturgy. I would encourage you, yes you, Gamecock, to find a reverent Catholic parish and attend the Good Friday Liturgy. (It's not a Mass.)
You will find that it is profoundly Christ-centered and steeped in Scripture. The Gospel of John, chapters 18 and 19, is read in its entirety, along with other passages of Scripture, none of which have anything to do with Hinduism.
Some relevant quotes:
"This year's meditation for Pope Benedict XVI's Good Friday Way of the Cross has a distinctly Asian perspective, referring to Hindu scriptures, an Indian poet and Mahatma Gandhi.
But the linchpin of this Eastern reflection is the passion of Jesus Christ. In that sense, it reflects Pope Benedict's view of Christianity's relationship with the non-Christian world -- that the Gospel enlightens and fulfills the beliefs of other faiths.
The immediate assumption among many Vatican observers was that the choice of an Indian would serve to highlight religious freedom issues in the wake of anti-Christian violence in parts of India.
Archbishop Menamparampil has assumed a leading role in conflict resolution among warring ethnic groups in northeast India, and his Good Friday meditation reflects his conviction that violence is never the way to resolve problems.
He follows that approach in his "Via Crucis" meditation, focusing on the way Jesus deals with violence and adversity, and finding parallels in Asian culture.
Condemned to death before the Sanhedrin, for example, Jesus' reaction to this injustice is not to "rouse the collective anger of people against the opponent, so that they are led into forms of greater injustice," the archbishop wrote.
Instead, he said, Jesus consistently confronts violence with serenity and strength, and seeks to prompt a change of heart through nonviolent persuasion -- a teaching Gandhi brought into public life in India with "amazing success."
Etc, etc......full story at link for those who don't mind reading a balanced, sane discussion.
Then there's the Bhagavad Gita ~ it has a series of proverbs that look remarkably like Proverbs.
Simply amazing ~ from the same Revelation? Or simply a koinkydink?
They claim they've had the Messiah at least three times ~ first as The Great Fish, then as an avatar of Shiva and then as Krishna.
It is easy to dismiss Hinduism as pagan ~ on the other hand it's less easy to dismiss the revealed truths.
I read what he included. I’ve heard nearly identical prayers spoken during my over 40 years of worshipping in Christian churches.
This was a smart, innocuous move by a savvy Pope.
My goodness, he didn’t start preaching the importance of internal locus of control, or eschewing hamburgers.
I’d think India’s billion plus people would be fertile ground for the message of Christianity. Showing the philosophical parallels between Christianity and Hinduism is smart.
This is the same Pope advocating the creation of more Exorcists, and more than acquiescing to a return to the High Mass for congregations that want to do it.
JPII participated in Ethiopian Christian rites that involved dancing around a campfire.
Not sure he’s going the way of Bishop Spong yet.