In her August 25, 2015, Medjugorje message, Our Lady said, “Today I am calling you to be prayer.” I’ve been pondering this idea ever since. BE prayer? Is it like being married? A full-time relationship I chose for myself? Hubby and I do a lot of things with each other and for each other, but regardless of whether we’re together or apart, talking or not talking, we are always married. Is she saying that ‘being prayer’ is like ‘being married’?
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The Synod of Bishops, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an advisory body for the Pope.
“The synod of bishops is a group of bishops who have been chosen from different regions of the world and meet together at fixed times to foster closer unity between the Roman Pontiff and bishops, to assist the Roman Pontiff with their counsel in the preservation and growth of faith and morals and in the observance and strengthening of ecclesiastical discipline, and to consider questions pertaining to the activity of the Church in the world.” – Catholic Code of Canon Law: Canon 342
Pope Francis has asked us to pray this prayer daily from now until the Synod closes.
Below is an excerpt from Pope Francis’ address to the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Monday, October 6, 2015.
“The Synod is neither a convention, nor a parlor, nor a parliament or senate, where people make deals and reach compromises. The Synod is rather an Ecclesial expression, i.e., the Church that journeys together to read reality with the eyes of faith and with the heart of God; it is the Church that interrogates herself with regard to her fidelity to the deposit of faith, which does not represent for the Church a museum to view, nor even something merely to safeguard, but is a living source from which the Church shall drink, to satisfy the thirst of, and illuminate, the deposit of life.
“The Synod moves necessarily within the bosom of the Church and of the holy people of God, to which we belong in the quality of shepherds – which is to say, as servants. The Synod also is a protected space in which the Church experiences the action of the Holy Spirit. In the Synod, the Spirit speaks by means of every person’s tongue, who lets himself be guided by the God who always surprises, the God who reveals himself to little ones, who hides from the knowing and intelligent; the God who created the law and the Sabbath for man and not vice versa; by the God, who leaves the 99 sheep to look for the one lost sheep; the God who is always greater than our logic and our calculations.
“Let us remember, however, that the Synod will be a space for the action of the Holy Spirit only if we participants vest ourselves with apostolic courage, evangelical humility and trusting prayer.”
Sources:
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P18.HTM
http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-full-text-of-remarks-at-synod-opening
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Filed under Catholic Church, Pope Francis, Prayer
Pope Paul VI on the Rosary:
“As a GOSPEL PRAYER, CENTERED ON THE MYSTERY OF THE REDEMPTIVE INCARNATION, the Rosary is therefore a prayer with a clearly CHRISTOLOGICAL orientation. Its most characteristic element, in fact, the litany-like succession of Hail Marys becomes in itself an unceasing PRAISE OF CHRIST, who is the ultimate object both of the angel’s announcement and of the greeting of the mother of John the Baptist: ‘Blessed is the fruit of your womb’ (Lk. 1:42).”
“WITHOUT [CONTEMPLATION] THE ROSARY IS A BODY WITHOUT A SOUL, and its recitation is in danger of becoming a mechanical repetition of formulas and of going counter to the warning of Christ: ‘And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words’ (Mt. 6:7). By its nature THE RECITATION OF THE ROSARY CALLS FOR A QUIET RHYTHM AND A LINGERING PACE, helping the individual to meditate on the mysteries of the Lord’s life as seen through the eyes of her who was closest to the Lord. IN THIS WAY THE UNFATHOMABLE RICHES OF THESE MYSTERIES ARE UNFOLDED. ”
From Marialis Cultus by Pope Paul VI – February 2, 1974 (EMPHASIS added by CtH)
https://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/rosary/how_to.htm
JOYFUL:
SORROWFUL:
GLORIOUS:
LUMINOUS:
YouTube has a bunch of videos for praying along for each of the Mysteries. You can pray the rosary alone, in pieces, or whatever way works for you. The videos are helpful for newbies and those who can’t keep their minds on the thing or when hands are busy with another task. Also, the music is nice. One example:
Glorious Mysteries of The Holy Rosary
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What Rabbi Cahn says at the end of the video I just posted is exactly the same as what Our Lady has been saying at Medjugorje month after month, year after year. Here is her latest:
Filed under Christianity, Prayer
One of my alert readers (God bless her!) asked this question on yesterday’s Mary blogs.
“I’m no Catholic so I’m about as qualified as a stick of butter to discuss a lot of this, but don’t Catholics actually pray to the Virgin Mary and the saints? In the Protestant faith that’s a big no-no, and Protestants who do so are in violation of church orthodoxy. We’re only to pray to the Lord God in the form of Father, Son and/or Holy Spirit.”
In the article I linked below, the author says, “We pray with saints, not to them.” Well, yes and no. It’s a linguistic thing.
In the modern sense, “to pray to” usually means “to speak to God.” This obviously includes worship that is wholly inappropriate for anyone to offer to another created being. However, prayer also includes praise, supplication, thanksgiving, confession, intercession. We do all of these things with our families and friends who are alive, do we not? Catholics simply extend the practice to those who have passed on.
In the now-archaic sense (e.g., in Shakespeare), “I pray thee” also means to ask, implore, or beg. Yes, we pray with the saints. But we also pray to them in the sense that we ask, implore, or beg for their prayers and assistance. Again, we do all of these things with our families and friends who are alive. Moreover, God clearly approves of it. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20).
When I received very scary news about my third pregnancy, I went to church to pray. Father asked why I was crying, then went and got me a little prayer card to St. Gerard. I leaned hard on Gerard throughout the rest of that pregnancy. My daughter, who was very sick at mid-term, was born full term and healthy. Her doctor, a noted specialist in high risk pregnancies, told me, “You can call this a miracle if you want to. I treat every baby in central New York that has this disease. There is no cure. There isn’t even a treatment. I have no explanation for how she recovered, but the tests clearly show that she had the disease at 20 weeks and she doesn’t have it now.” Does St. Gerard deserve the credit? No. Only God can do a miracle. Does St. Gerard deserve my gratitude for interceding for my baby? Absolutely!
I understand that some Christians believe the soul goes to sleep at death and will not awaken to consciousness until the end of time. For them, praying to saints makes no sense. As one of them put it to me (repeatedly), “You can’t talk to dead people.” However, this “comatose soul” thing is neither Catholic teaching nor consistent with the repeated experience of Christians ever since the first century.
We have loads of evidence that those who have died in Christ are alive in some temporary, spiritual body and can hear us, pray for us, and even sometimes assist us in specific ways (as God permits) much as our guardian angels do. Even the Blessed Virgin Mary reminds us often that she only appears and gives us messages because God allows it.
There is nothing in Scripture that says that praying to saints is wrong. And there is LOTS in Catholic history that says God blesses the practice. In fact, the process for someone becoming a canonized Saint is, first, that someone prays to that person and, second, that someone receives an indisputably miraculous answer to his/her prayer. This is the Church’s way of ensuring that only those God chooses are elevated to capital S sainthood.(1)
Note: The RCC is extremely conservative and cautious about presuming to know who is in Heaven.(2) The canonization process is long, tortuous, and expensive. One important aspect is the assignment of an expert in Church law to argue AGAINST canonization. His job — known as Devil’s Advocate (3) — is to dig into the evidence and try to disqualify the person who has been proposed. The Devil’s Advocate closely examines the person’s life history and looks with great skepticism at all the medical evidence. If anything smells the tiniest bit off, the cause for canonization is suspended.
Miracles that qualify as true signs from God are not of the “Jesus’ face on toast” variety. They are of the “this person should be dead, but now has zero sign of their incurable illness” variety. I read about one person who had had a colostomy, who was not only healed of the cancer, but also had had that chunk of colon fully restored! I read another one where bone cancer had eaten away inches of leg bone. This person was also healed of the cancer AND had that bone restored.
Ponder how careful the RCC is and then consider the fact that there are thousands of canonized saints. Is it any wonder we treat our Saints the way we do?!
Grunt of Monte Cristo wrote an excellent comment about this subject.
https://polination.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/hyperdulia-is-not-latria/#comment-59657
Frequently Asked Questions About Saints
http://www.catholic.org/saints/faq.php
St. Gerard
http://www.ourcatholicprayers.com/prayers-to-st-gerard.html
Filed under Catholic Church, Heaven, Prayer
For those who have been taught that Roman Catholics worship Mary, let me assure you we do NOT.
The technical terms are dulia, hyperdulia, and latria.
I remember a day once upon a long time ago when my 6 and 8 year old girls came home from elementary school in tears, because some boys on the bus had accused them of worshiping Mary.
“We don’t, Mommy, right?”said the oldest, with real tears running down her cheeks.
“Of course not!” We sat right down on the grass and I explained to them about dulia, hyperdulia and latria. Then I explained to them about kids who, sadly, are taught lies about our faith and about how we need to teach them what we really believe, pray for them to understand, and forgive them for being mean.
My point here is that even at that tender age, my girls, who had been raised from birth in the Roman Catholic Church, who had been taught to say the rosary and were accustomed to seeing pictures and statues of Mary in our home and at church, KNEW that we DO NOT WORSHIP MARY.
What about statues and pictures of Mary? Is having them or kissing them or parading them around the streets a violation of the First Commandment?
What we do is use statues and pictures as touch points for prayer. We’re physical beings. We often want or need ways to physicalize our thoughts and emotions. The woman in the picture below is not worshiping a stone or a flag or the soul of her dearly departed. She’s grieving.
“A Catholic who may kneel in front of a statue while praying isn’t worshiping the statue or even praying to it, any more than the Protestant who kneels with a Bible in his hands when praying is worshiping the Bible or praying to it.”
Read more @ http://www.catholic.com/tracts/do-catholics-worship-statues
Filed under Catholic Church, Christianity, Prayer
Keep Making Me – Sidewalk Prophets – with Worship Video with lyrics
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Filed under Christianity, Prayer
“Let Me fill in your day planner” was God’s theme for my prayer-time meditation this morning. Then, I logged on and found an email from my daughter with an enthusiastic link to this blog:
http://www.conversiondiary.com/2015/03/cathedral-full-of-light.html
Filed under Family & Friends, Prayer
Monday, March 16, 2015 – As we near the end of the fourth week of this 40 Days for Life campaign, we know of 265 babies whose mothers decided at the last moment to choose life!
Abortions can often be pursued for financial reasons. If times are tough, another mouth to feed may seem like an impossible challenge … and abortion is sold as an easy way out.
In Modesto, CA, a woman slotted for an abortion walked past a group of our 40 Days for Life volunteers who were outside the clinic, keeping silent and prayerful vigil. She went into the clinic, checked in, and sat in the waiting room to be called.
She was eight weeks pregnant with her fifth child, and she and her family were homeless, living in shelters and the occasional motel room. Her husband, fifteen years her senior, was disabled several years ago, but had not been approved for disability, so he received no income. The family was destitute, with nowhere to turn.
Inside the clinic, the woman fidgeted and nervously tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. On her way to her appointment she had prayed to God to give her a sign. She couldn’t get the picture of those prayerful volunteers out of her mind. Why were they there? Why did they care so much? Was this the sign from God she was looking for?
Her heart started beating faster and her conscience was pricked. She knew that the baby she was carrying was just that – a baby – not a lump of cells, as she had been told. She began getting more and more nervous.
Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She knew she couldn’t go through with the abortion and she walked out of the clinic.
She stood on the street corner for a moment, trying to compose herself, when she noticed a kind woman smiling at her. She approached the woman, a member of our 40 Days for Life prayer team, and she was given a loving ear, along with a list of resources and referral to the Modesto Pregnancy Center, a local pro-life, Christian resource in our town.
The Modesto pro-life community is coming together to help her and her family with temporary housing and other needs.
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Filed under Abortion, Christianity, Prayer
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