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.
Why are you presuming that is threatening to anyone? Seems like a bit of projection going on there.
Maybe we should ask why the thought that Mary had sin is so threatening to Catholics?
We object to the teaching because it is untrue that Mary was without sin. There is not one shred of Scriptural support for the immaculate conception. It's really nothing more than romanticized wishful thinking.
So following Catholic reasoning, if it was not OK for Jesus to be born of a sinful woman, what makes it OK for Mary to be born of a sinful woman? Didn't SHE deserve better? After all, Catholics insist on calling her *queen of heaven* and claim that God is subservient to her in not being able to deny her any request.
I just realized that you had joined the conversation. Generally your comments are more personal attacks than respectful discussions so I decline to engage in any conversations with you.
The Holy Spirit saw fit in Scripture to call Mary *mother of Jesus.*
I have read the arguments and justifications for the Catholic church changing her title and they are wanting.
It takes a lot of nerve to presume that one can do a better job than God Himself in communicating His word to us.
Changing her title doesn’t correct any false teaching about who Jesus is. Proper Scriptural teaching is what’s needed for that. All changing her title does is lead to more confusion and false teaching about Mary and her relation to the Godhead.
Actually, that is correct. If you are saying that Mary is the mother of God, it does not address His humanity at all.
His humanity did enter into time on March 25th when Mary said “yes.”
Aside from the fact that Mary did NOT say *Yes*, she did NOT give her permission to God, who ever said that Mary did it on March 25?
Where do you presume to get a specific date from?
BTW, the angel told her how it was going to be. Nobody ever asked her permission.
He said, "You will....", not *God would like you to if you're so inclined to condescend to His request.*
What personal attacks have I engaged in?
If you’re going to make personal accusations and slander, please back them up.
When catholics continue to rely upon a text that's been shown to be incorrectly translated I know who is in error.
. I could keep going but you get the idea.
Prayers for you continue.
Which ones are not in the Word??
WOW !!!
Where in the WORLD do you get THIS! Did you go back in time and witness this yourself, or do you have some divine connection to verify this to be true?
I guess you don't believe in the Immaculate Conception either. Tell me how did Mary get pregnant with our Lord Jesus Christ (God)
Pssst...Jesus is God, that is the hypostatic union. anyone that truly believes that Jesus is God (the Son) must by logical extension believe that Mary is His mother.
Previously you have resorted to your ridiculous syllogism. To nip that in the bud:
Tell me which of the following syllogism are valid, and which are invalid. If you are capable of doing so, that will demonstrate that you can recognize the fallacy of the undistributed middle. If you can’t, you can’t.
A:
Dorothy is the mother of Sam.
Sam is a fireman.
Dorothy is the mother of a fireman.
B:
Evelyn is the mother of a fireman.
Gordon is a fireman.
Evelyn is the mother of Gordon.
C:
Mary is the mother of Jesus.
Jesus is God.
Mary is the mother of God.
D:
Mary is the Mother of God.
The Trinity is God.
Mary is the Mother of the Trinity.
If you have answered yes to any of the following then using your own logic it is impossible for you to Love God with all your heart/ devotion.
“As a child it had been natural to talk with God. But now He seemed distant,”
If God seems more distant than before, it wasn’t God who moved.
Every cult needs a schtick; a rosary is as good as any other.
Here. In Scripture.
Luke 1:26-37 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
No asking permission there. He told. She submitted willingly.
Like many people God used in the past, He TOLD them how it was going to be. Some of them fought it, like Moses and Jonah. Some didn't.
But HE is the Creator. HE is the LORD of all.
HE has the right to do with His creation as He sees fit and needs no human's permission to do so.
“The love of a created, sinful, being (Mary) is better than the Creator’s love??”
You don’t get it. When the Catholics speak of the immaculate conception, we Christians assume it refers to Jesus’ conception. Not true. For them, it means that MARY was immaculately conceived.
Clearly Catholics do not approve of the job the Holy Spirit did in inspiring Scripture and see the need to change it.
Personally, I will not sit in judgment of the work of God through His Holy Spirit and presume to improve on it.
If Catholics want to, nobody can stop them, but it’s their funeral.
What chutzpah.
No, I understand that. I was contrasting the faith Catholics place in Mary v Jesus.
Clearly non-Catholics that claim to be ex-Catholics have no answer and dodge. When you can’t answer attack.
“I was contrasting the faith Catholics place in Mary v Jesus.”
Oh; I see. Yeah. IIRC from Seminary days, RC was based on Rome’s pre-Constantine’s paganism, and in doing so became a cult serving the creature (Mary) more than the creator (Jesus).
Where are Rosaries, or any religious trinkets whatsoever, mentioned in New Testament scriptures?
If not, we can do without them just fine.
It is true that Rosaries and other prayer aids are not mentioned in New Testament scriptures. And if you can do without them, that is fine. But they have been developed through the centuries to help bring Christians closer to Jesus. And that is also fine.
Peace,
Rich
I’m glad we agree. They are not necessary.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.