Sunday, October 6, 2013

The Catholic Defender: Vain Repetitions

I've been warned that the Catholic Church was full of "vain repetitions" from some who try to pry me away from God's holy Catholic Church.

They want to refer to Matthew 6:7 which states, "In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words".

The King James Version of the bible exchanges "babble" with "vain repetition". Just looking at this with a sensible mind, you might ask yourself why is this anything special?

The issue is derived from the Protestant usage of the verse who speak out against repetitive prayer.

There is a difference from someone who babbles from someone who prays the rosary. The rosary is a devotion that requires meditation. If you pray anything with mere words without meaning it from the heart would be "vain". You can speak the name of Jesus in vain if your not honoring him. If you look at the whole context coming from Matthews gospel, beginning with Chapter 6, Jesus is giving his teaching about almsgiving.

It is a question of the heart. You either do good works for love of God, or you do things for a price or personal profit. Jesus gives his teaching on prayer.

You either say what you mean and need or you put on an act or show. This is the real issue! In fact, Jesus gives us the Lord's Prayer as the example, Christian prayer par excellence.

Jesus then gives his teaching on fasting. You either fast for all to see or you fast for the Lord doing personal sacrifice.

Jesus then teaches us the importance of storing up treasure in heaven.

You either keep your mind centered on the ways of God or you fall into a secular humanist base, a worldly mind. Just looking at what Jesus is teaching, we should give alms, we should pray, we should fast, and we should seek heavenly treasure as opposed to the worldly carnal mind. The problem is not the rosary or any devotion as long as your heart is properly wanting to do God's will, to seek his direction, and to honor and serve him.

If by chance you are not convinced by my argument and you proceed to believe Catholic devotions such as the rosary are "vain repetitions", then consider the following example:

Psalms 136 repeats "God's love endures forever" 25 times in this Psalms. Should I consider you think God's word can be "vain"? I hardly think not!


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