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.
I know this is about Mary and many might be tempted to discount it. Consider that this is one person’s account of the influence of the Mother of God on his life — thus leading him to Jesus.
Your respect will be appreciated by all.
Monsignor Pope Ping!
Yet now where in the NT do we have such an admonition to love Mary and Jesus equally. This would contradict the greatest commandment would it not?
He never said equally.
The love of a created, sinful, being is better than the Creator's love?? I don't think so.
In 2006 I was just climbing out of the worst few years of my life. Mr. Mercat and I traveled to Ireland to see our son perform in a banjo festival. While there I found a wonderful cannamara marble rosary, bought it, and began praying it daily. I didn’t even know why and didn’t feel any devotion to Mary. It just seemed the right thing to do to help my other two children in their needs. It got to be a habit and although I gave that rosary away I found another and another and gradually found ways to make it part of my daily routine. Three years ago, still not feeling a devotion to Mary, I became a team member at RCIA at my parish. I kept learning more and finally did the 33 Days to Morning Glory. (look it up). I also read Scott Hahn’s Hail Holy Queen. I’m still not 100% there but getting close to full devotion to Jesus through Mary. My life has improved amazingly. So this is my witness.
I bet ...
If you don't want comments, hide it behind the caucus thread.
He returned to Jesus and His message via Mary, I cannot and will not criticize him for that. Each of us has our own story of how we journeyed to our belief in Christ and accepting him as our Savior and thus have modeled our life from His and His Father’s words.
If you have never fallen away from your faith and belief in Jesus, that is good, but don’t condemn those who have had a struggle with their journey and found a way to return home to Jesus.
Why should we hide it?
My mother is dying and her Catholic nursing home has taken up praying the Rosary over her daily. To hear the quiet recitation of prayers is like a balm on the sore-hearted spirit. One of the most beautiful rituals of Catholicism. I ask kindly that non-Catholics not to respond to me on this because this means a lot to me with my mother dying by inches.
Where are Rosaries, or any religious trinkets whatsoever, mentioned in New Testament scriptures?
If not, we can do without them just fine.
Now I know why ya'll don't like commentary on Mary. It points out the false teachings of the rcc on the catholic Mary.
Now as an adult and when I am all rational and calm Jesus and I communicate quite well. But I still call for Mother when the crap hits the fan.
Are you saying you run to a created being, Mary, over the Creator when you're in a bad spot????
Sinful? I don’t think so.
Have you ever delved into the Immaculate Conception and what it means?
I was perusing a newspaper and was for whatever reason looking at the personals and memorials. I was used to suburban Catholicism like Father says. So for whatever reason this novena appeared in the paper. I was like well, OK what the heck nothing else is working. I was pretty convinced God was not listening to me.
I said this Novena devoutly and with as much trust as I could muster and not really expecting anything at all to happen. Nothing happened the 9th day (it's not magic after all). But ......things did change and I got out of that situation. It was not so much that the situation suddenly dissolved, it was more like I had gained the wisdom and confidence to get out of it and I knew Mother and Jesus were propping me up.
Thank you for your respectful witness.
Yes and as I have posted too many times already it is not supported in the Word as admitted by Roman Catholic apologists.
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