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.
Really? We have to include a URL for prayers? Seriously?
You’re welcome, but allegedly I was singled out by a Protestant moderator for not including the URL. I am so over this site.
Not on this thread perhaps but it’s been posted previously. And as noted catholic apologists admit it.
And another opinion from you.
You presume the RM is Protestant. Some Catholics are thin skinned for sure.
He didn't say better. He said "lead". One might win the Novel Prize in physics, but is a true ingrate who will not acknowledge and thank, say, the middle school teacher or crazy uncle doing the electromagnetic experiments in his garage for inspiring them to go to MIT and excel.
More to the point; we are instructed, by God, to honor our mothers and fathers. God is our Father. Jesus is one in being with the Father. Mary is the Mother of Jesus. Yeah, the Mother of God. If you do not honor her, then you are sinning against God.
I pray you get yourself right.
That’s some contorted reasoning there to be sure.
You’ll get over it.
“Better” certainly is an implication of all those terms and phrases. They imply, in contrast, “not as natural,” “not as safe,” and “not as accessible.”
Pretty sure nobody is coming to your church to tell you must believe as we believe. Also, I am pretty sure nobody on the thread said that you must believe as we do.
But perhaps the Holy Spirit is leading you to threads about Our Lady in order to gladden your heart. May you be blessed.
My dear mother left this earth in 2007. I miss her. Hard to say goodbye to your mother.
Post 27 did not mention that it was a prayer.
It had to have an original source.
If they are your own words there is no problem.
If not, it needs a source designation.
There are posters here from more than one belief system so it is best to make it clear.
King Solomons mother was a queen.
there is support, it’s in the Gospel of Luke, “hail full of grace” an angel from heaven came down to a human woman.
After spending a great amount of time and effort considering the differences between Biblical Christianity and Catholicism, I’ve come to believe that the most fundamental one lies in the matter of justification. And if that’s the case, then the errors of Catholicism’s doctrines on Mary would arise from that.
There is no way for anyone, even in part, to be just before God. Being sorry for sin or attempting somehow to do good to correct or make up for the sin never can make things as if the sin never happened. Sinning is like scattering to the wind seeds for more sin. Any sin sets off a chain reaction of more sin. And no matter what someone does, someone has transgressed against God’s commands, done what He’s forbidden, and “done harm to our neighbors,” (as Paul wrote that “love does no harm to a neighbor, so love is the fulfillment of the law,” Romans 13:10) So no matter who one is, they have sinned and given life to more sin, even if they’ve confessed it, or done what they could to try to correct a situation or counteract the sin. The point of Christianity is that we human beings are “sin makers.” We cause disorder, destruction and death in God’s perfect paradise (meaning that even when given perfection by God, we, in our natural state, will destroy it with our sin, just as Adam and Eve did).
So the only proper attitude towards God when it comes to justification is humility, being mindful of our sins against Him always when considering the question of justification. We are completely dependent on His mercy. He doesn’t owe it to us. He could rightfully judge us and condemn us immediately. But He has chosen to be merciful, and that’s extremely costly to Him. Our “good works,” if sincere, are a sign of repentance, that we’ve stopped rebelling against God and are in agreement with Him. They don’t justify us, though. Only God’s mercy, which He showed in giving His own Son on the cross, can do that. And to accept it we have to acknowledge our spiritual poverty, that we are spiritually penniless.
But not “queen of heaven” as RC call Mary
As the mother of God what would she be queen of?
Romans 3:23 says, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." First John 1:8 adds, "If any man says he has no sin he is a liar and the truth is not in him."
These texts could not be clearer for millions of Protestants: "How could anyone believe Mary was free from all sin in light of these Scripture passages? What’s more, Mary herself said, ‘My soul rejoices in God my savior’ in Luke 1:47. She clearly understood herself to be a sinner if she admits to needing a savior."
The Catholic Answer
Not a few Protestants are surprised to discover the Catholic Church actually agrees that Mary was "saved." Indeed, Mary needed a savior! However, Mary was "saved" from sin in a most sublime manner. She was given the grace to be "saved" completely from sin so that she never committed even the slightest transgression.
Protestants tend to emphasize God’s "salvation" almost exclusively to the forgiveness of sins actually committed.
However, Sacred Scripture indicates that salvation can also refer to man being protected from sinning before the fact:
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. (Jude 24-25)
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It's a belief of our Catholic Church. You are under NO obligation to believe it. But, you, for some reason, felt COMPELLED to write what you did. Thus, my answer.
By the way, Tim Staples was brought up as a Southern Baptist...and he converted. There is no one with more fervor than a convert.
The same is for Scott Hahn and Steve/Janet Ray.
*My Protestant friend and I went on a Steve Ray "In the Footsteps of God" tour four years ago. It was MOST moving and I was moved to tears MANY times. How good our Lord is for saving us with His suffering, death and resurrection! We are truly blessed to be God's children.
**We went all over the Holy Land on this tour and I got to STAND where Jesus stood at His Transfiguration. Many tears shed there as well.
***I got to place my already-blessed rosary ATOP THE TOMB/SEPULCHRE of Jesus. By the way, the Hill of Calvary was taken down by the Romans during the 4th century so, without that hill, Jesus' tomb is VERY close to that site on Calvary. It was just too much for me; I was broken-hearted at the thought of what our good Lord suffered!
I recommend a tour like this to ANY/ALL followers of Christ.
Yes, it's not cheap but it was...a true blessing from God to be able to see it.
My Protestant friend and I are going on another Steve Ray tour: In the Footsteps of St. Paul. We are both looking forward to that VERY much.
God bless you and yours.
So true about the Catholic nursing homes.
Priests and nuns were "given the call" by God to minister to the needy. They get no salary, take many vows and do it FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
That kind of care cannot be bought. God bless them.
. How is Mary favored with His grace? She's been chosen to give birth to Christ.
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