(John) “Here's the thing, I love languages deeply coming
from a multicultural background myself, particularly I love Spanish and Arabic.
To practice my speaking skills I have friends from countries where such
languages are spoken. Consequently, by learning Arabic, Islam is not far
behind. The Muslims believe that their Prophet (Muhammad) was visited by the
Arc Angel Gabriel with the word of God and told Muhammad to read, Muhammad
being illiterate said he couldn't. My friend directed me to this quote (Isaiah
29:12 Douay-Rheims) And the book shall be given to one that knoweth no letters,
and it shall be said to him: Read: and he shall answer: I know no letters. I do
not understand who Isaiah is talking about, please could you help me.”
(Cristoiglesia) Isaiah is not prophesying a prophet of
God at all in these verses. What is being prophesied is future punishment for
Israel. In verses 10-11 it is prophesied that the prophets will have their eyes
sealed and those of vision will be asleep to the truth. God will no longer
communicate to them divine teaching. These men will no longer desire that which
is revealed by God but will be sealed by their own lack of desire to hear the
voice of God. Verses 12-13 speaks of someone who’s heart is far from God. I
would think that Muslims would be insulted by the fact that this passage which
if applied to Muhammad reveals that such a person is not of God. The prophet
clearly is prophesying a disobedient Israel. It speaks of a time when
understanding will be removed from those who disobey as a punishment. To put it
simply contextually it is impossible to be prophetic teaching of the prophet
about Muhammad but instead it is about the punishment of an apostate Israel.
Isaiah 29:1-13 DRB
1 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city which David took: year
is added to year: the solemnities are at an end.
2 And I will make a trench about Ariel, and it shall be
in sorrow and mourning, and it shall be to me as Ariel.
3 And I will make a circle round about thee, and will
cast up a rampart against thee, and raise up bulwarks to besiege thee.
4 Thou shalt be brought down, thou shalt speak out of the
earth, and thy speech shall be heard out of the ground: and thy voice shall be
from the earth like that of the python, and out of the ground thy speech shall
mutter.
5 And the multitude of them that fan thee, shall be like
small dust: and as ashes passing away, the multitude of them that have
prevailed against thee.
6 And it shall be at an instant suddenly. A visitation
shall come from the Lord of hosts in thunder, and with earthquake, and with a
great noise of whirlwind and tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire.
7 And the multitude of all nations that have fought
against Ariel, shall be as the dream of a vision by night, and all that have
fought, and besieged and prevailed against it.
8 And as he that is hungry dreameth, and eateth, but when
he is awake, his soul is empty: and as he that is thirsty dreameth, and
drinketh, and after he is awake, is yet faint with thirst, and his soul is
empty: so shall be the multitude of all the Gentiles, that have fought against
mount Sion.
9 Be astonished, and wander, waver, and stagger: be
drunk, and not with wine: stagger, and not with drunkenness.
10 For the Lord hath mingled for you the spirit of a deep
sleep, he will shut up your eyes, he will cover your prophets and princes, that
see visions.
11 And the vision of all shall be unto you as the words
of a book that is sealed, which when they shall deliver to one that is learned,
they shall say: Read this: and he shall answer: I cannot, for it is sealed.
12 And the book shall be given to one that knoweth no
letters, and it shall be said to him: Read: and he shall answer: I know no
letters.
13 And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near
me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far
from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men:
(John) My second question is about Protestantism.
Recently I have become close to Mary and the Rosary, I try to pray it daily
(but I'm not perfect). I love the devotion as it brings me happiness and
clarity yet many protestants in my philosophy class tell me that not only the
Virgin Mary was a sinful woman, my Rosary is an act against God (as they see my
prayer to Mary as worship) and no more than a vain repetition. I try to keep my
beliefs to myself but it seems as though they seek a reaction. Please can you
help me with this matter also.
(Cristoiglesia) Of course, I can help you by explaining
to you their errors based not on intellect or scholarship but derived by
nothing more than an innate prejudice. It is good that you focus yourself on
Christ and His redemptive work on the cross by praying the Rosary which focuses
us on Christ’s passion and suffering so that we will develop a deeper
relationship with Him through our spirit receiving His Spirit as a result of
our understanding and in a deepening devotion as a result of the realities of
His suffering revealed by our contemplative prayer.
I am sorry that you have to suffer the attacks on the
blessed mother of God but Jesus warned us that the world would hate us as it
hated Him. As a result the blessed mother is often a focus of this hatred as
she was the epitome of human perfection having been saved from sin at her
conception by her Son in preparation for being the God bearer. She was indeed
free from sin just as the angel at the annunciation professed.
Now let's look at
the issue of blessed mother's sinless nature. Consider that when the angel
addresses the blessed mother at the annunciation, the greeting is almost a name
change:
"Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is
with thee: blessed art thou among women" (Luke 1:28, KJV).
Mary (Miriam in Hebrew) means "beloved." In
biblical times a person's name reflected what they were. Name changes have
great theological significance in the Bible and this is almost as if her name
is being changed from "beloved" to "thou that art highly
favored." Since this is before Jesus has been conceived, to what is the angel
referring? No doubt to her singular devotion to God, forsaking all earthly
distractions and desecrations, and the fact that she had been conceived without
sin in preparation for this event.
Being conceived without sin does not mean that the
blessed mother had no need of a redeemer. In fact, like every descendant of
Adam, the blessed mother had vital need of a redeemer. The blessed mother's
freedom from original sin was an unmerited gift of God in that she was redeemed
by Christ at the moment of her conception. It is at the moment of conception
that God creates the soul and hers was created in a state of sanctifying grace.
If you had the opportunity to create your mother, wouldn't you make her perfect
in every way? This is why there are the doctrines of the perpetual virginity
and Immaculate Conception of Mary.
Jesus refers to the blessed mother's sinless nature when
He addresses her as "woman" in John 2:4 and 19:26. Today, one looks
at Him addressing her in this manner and thinks this is disrespectful or that
He is admonishing her. In fact, the blessed mother was not the first sinless
woman, Adam's wife was also created sinless. When she was first created, Adam
named her "woman" (Genesis 2:23). It was after the fall, when she was
no longer sinless, that her name was changed to "Eve" (Genesis 3:20).
By referring to the blessed mother as "woman," Jesus is recognizing
her sinless nature. Like I said earlier, name changes in Holy Scripture are
important.
It is sad that your colleagues have such a prejudice
against the mother of God that they call our asking her to pray for us as
worship directed to her instead of God. In the context of our actions in
praying the Rosary the word “pray” can most accurately be defined as “ask”. Obviously
they have a lack of knowledge about the Rosary prayer in particular and the
purpose of intercessory prayer in general. Intercessory prayer is when we ask
another to pray for us in the sense of being our prayer partner. Most of the
critics like your colleagues would have no difficulty asking another to pray
for them or to honor a request from another to “pray” for them. Only prejudice
keeps them from conceiving that prayer to one of the Church Triumphant is , in
fact, taught in Scripture which tells us that the prayers of the righteous are
of great benefit. We can be certain that the intercessor prayer of the blessed
mother to her Son can be beneficial as we have the example of the blessed
mother making a request at the wedding of Cana and Christ granting her prayer
to Him. Indeed, water became wine as a result of her intercession.
It is disingenuous for anyone to state that the practice
of praying for each other has no biblical foundation, we are instructed in
Scripture to have a prayer life for others as it is part of God’s commandment
to love one another.
(2Co 5:8 DRB) But we are confident and have a good will
to be absent rather from the body and to be present with the Lord.
The Catholic Church does not teach that it is absolutely
necessary for one to ask for the intercession of saints for salvation. The Church
does teach that prayer to God is necessary for salvation for all believers. For
a Catholic it would be wrong to ignore the liturgical worship offered to God at
feast days for the saints and the prayers asking for their intercession.
The Communion of Saints is a dogma of the ancient Church
and is recorded in the apostles Creed. It simply states that the faithful
because of their relationship with Christ are alive even after the death of
their flesh and worship with us. To us the Church is made up of the Church
militant who represents all those believers living out their hope in the flesh.
(Phi 2:12 DRB) Wherefore, my dearly beloved, (as you have
always obeyed, not as in my presence only but much more now in my absence) with
fear and trembling work out your salvation.
(Phi 2:13 DRB) For it is God who worketh in you, both to
will and to accomplish, according to his good will.
It consists of the Church Suffering who are those who are
temporarily in need of further purgation from sin so that they may enjoy the
presence of God.
(2Ma 12:46 DRB) It is therefore a holy and wholesome
thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.
Lastly, the Communion of the Saints consists of those who
have won the race:
(Phi 3:14 DRB) I press towards the mark, to the prize of
the supernal vocation of God in Christ Jesus.
Their immortal souls are in heaven in God’s presence:
(Rev 5:8 DRB) And when he had opened the book, the four
living creatures and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb,
having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odours, which are the
prayers of saints.
The universal stream connecting all of God’s creation is
His love, which we take on in our baptism into our journey towards
sanctification. This is not an emotional but a desire placed in us by the
Spirit of God that endures as a desire for those other than ourselves and this
love extends even to our enemies. This is truly a love that comes only from God
and is a foreign concept and nonsense to those who have not received God’s
salvific grace. This desire within our souls does not end with the death of our
flesh but continues into eternity where the saints through their intercession
in prayer encourage us in our race and assist us to endure unto our union with
God.
I think that some people of faith, who do not understand
the Communion of Saints, somehow believe that asking saints to pray for us is
detracting from our love or our trust in God. In truth it is impossible, if we
truly love as God commands and has given us the grace to understand, not to
pray to those whom we love and in turn we expect them to return that same love
to us by praying for us and presenting our prayers to God.
Accusing you of praying vainly when you pray the Rosary
prayer without knowing your heart is a personal attack against you. How can
they know your heart as they suppose. Please inform them that your prayers are
in no way done vainly as is prohibited in Scriptures. By the example of Jesus
praying before His crucifixion we know that repetitive prayers are acceptable. Furthermore
make it clear to them that asking another person to pray for you or to be your
prayer partner, which is what we do when we ask the blessed mother to pray for
us, is encouraged in Scriptures rather than discouraged.
(John)I am going to run out of space soon so I will stick
with these questions for now. God Bless
(Cristoiglesia) God bless you also. May our Lord be with
you.
In Christ
Fr. Joseph
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