A reaction to “More on Rosary”
Reaction:
I, too, grew up
in a closely-knit, Catholic indoctrinated environment following what my
brother-in-law (who used to be a deacon but did not take his priesthood vows)
says that we should adhere to the Catholic dogma. I grew up in an environment
of daily rosaries every month of October, novenas at St. Anthony de Padua and
Quiapo Churches, doing the stations of the cross by going to various churches
we can go to every Holy Week which would turn out to be a family excursion in
the end, and so many practices we Catholics devote ourselves to wherever and
whenever there is a holy occasion. My mother led us into these practices and,
frankly, I enjoyed them! But my father was not that devoted.
Dwelling on the
issue of praying the rosary, I could recite it in basically four languages, as
my mother, mother-in-law, and other members of m family do, including Latin.
Allow me to cite my personal experience and give my personal comments.
Personally, I
never learned to appreciate the rosary, along with the other devotions we
Catholics do, in order to seek forgiveness from the Lord and atonement for our
sins or even simply to seek peace within ourselves. I always wondered in
amazement how my mother, along with the other members of my family, could
repetitiously utter such words. We never prayed in detail for whatever problems
we might be having at that particular time and place. Hence, wherever we go, we
say the same prayer with all devotion but in the end, it becomes
embarrassingly, unavoidably boring.
In the
beginning, I thought that I might be committing blasphemy, since I’m a Catholic
and so are my forefathers. It makes you wonder, “Is there life beyond these
things!” Whenever I’m not with my relatives, I would pray to /god in my own
way.
When I went to college, being less scared, I
decided that I would simply go to church every Sunday without any devotion to
other Catholic practices. Of course my mother didn’t approve of this at first,
but what could she do? I was using my scholarship as a reason. It went on like
this until this day. Now, with both my parents dead, I’m glad that no one bugs
me to join same activities that I’ve been doing in my childhood.
As I progressed
in life after graduation, some passages in the Bible have somehow given me the
light on the questions that have been in my mind since I was a little boy.
In 1999, I met
this Italian priest, Fr. Marco Brioschi, PIME. He has become both very good
friend and confidant, although we started out as the worst of enemies-what a
strange way to have a friend. He showed me “the real essence of being a good
Christian” without going through all the traditional Catholic activities. He
made me feel relieved that I really don’t have to feel guilty for not
practicing the same as what my forefathers did, as those practices are not only
obsolete but, from his very own words, are not the true teachings of the Church
and are not embedded in the very teachings of Christ.
As I take it,
man by nature is lazy. It maybe possible that these practices, which are
equally visible in other religions, were made so that they wouldn’t have to
invent so many words during prayer. I’ve seen rosary-like beads in Saudi Arabia, China
and Taiwan
wrapped around the neck or waist of monks, and in many other places I’ve been
to. Then again, freedom, God’s greatest gift to man, as my dear old friend Fr.
Marco would say, is what Jesus is basically trying to tell each and everyone of
us. That is why again, personally, such practices (i.e. praying the rosary,
novenas, etc.) are forms of enslaving ourselves into something we do not really
need in our lives in the first place.
I wouldn’t go so
much into being a well-rounded religious man or academician quoting passages
from the Bible or any other textbooks. I am simply a layman who wants to live a
simple life having the religious freedom to communicate with my God in my own
way. I cannot say that I am ignorant or knowledgeable of my own religion. I am
simply sharing my thoughts as a born Catholic, views that I gathered from a
priest, and what I really want to with the rest of my life. I do not write this
to say that I despise the Catholic religious practices, nor concur what other
Christian denominations says against them. I simply want to express my thoughts
as they are-practice my religion with freedom and not being enslaved with
traditional practices such as what the editor mentions, “is not even mentioned
in the Holy Scriptures.”
Answer:
Thank you for
sharing with us your thoughts about Catholic practices, particularly the rosary
and the novenas, which once became part of your life being a born Catholic.
It is remarkable
that even a Catholic priest who is your friend admits that Catholic practices
neither are the true teachings of the Church nor are they embedded in the very
teachings of Christ, hence are not needed in order to be a good Christian. We
can not blame you for further concluding that “such practices (i.e. the praying
of the rosary, novenas, etc.) are forms of enslaving ourselves into something
we do not really need in our lives in the first place.”
However, though
we agree with you that freedom is one of the God’s great gifts to man, the
Bible nevertheless teaches that one is free to serve Him in any manner he
chooses, if he wants his service to be worthy and acceptable before Him. In
fact, God Himself declares that there are forms of service or worship rendered
to Him that are in vain:
“But in vain do
they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.” (Matt. 15:9,
American Standard Version)
“(Referring to
things which all perish as they are used), according to human precepts and
doctrines? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of
devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are no value in
checking the indulgence of the flesh.” (Col. 2:22-23, Revised Standard Version)
What must guide
one’s freedom is serving God is no other than His commandments or statutes
(Deut. 30:15-16). After all, what really
makes us truly free is the truth or the words of God written in the Holy
Scriptures (Joh 8:32; 17:17; IITim. 3:15-17).