Valis,
OK, buddy. *Groan*
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A Question Mostly For Catholics...
by Valis 15 Replies latest jw friends
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AuntieJane
OUCH; as a Catholic I hate seeing those personal ads. I think that this is a big cultural thing, here in our area anyway, the Mexican people really go for that stuff. Yet, they don't seem to be at Church much. I really do believe it is part of their background, to pray to the saints, light candles, make little shrines (like Our Lady of the Bathtub..have you see those?!) etc. However, Catholics do pray to saints to help us, just as we ask friends to help us in times of trouble. Some people get "hooked" on their favorite saint, etc. and almost forget that God is really the one who answers prayer.
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simplesally
My Grandma used to say that you prayed to St. Jude when things seemed impossible. My mom lost her high school ring at school.......and it was not the best of schools, so her teacher, my Grandma (my mom's future mother-in-law) told her to pray to St. Jude. My mom did and her ring was turned in to lost and Found.
My Grandma used to keep a statue of St. Jude on her dashboard, just in case she got in an accident, she felt she was protected.
Normally, my grandma said that you say a prayer to St. Anthony (the Patron St. of lost articles) when you lose something. And then you are supposed to spin around and say,"Tony Tony look around, something's lost and must be found".
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DanTheMan
One thing about Catholics that ex and current JW's may have a hard time understanding is - we're talking about a religion with close to 1 billion adherents, some nominal, some radically devout, and some in every shade of gray in between.
My mom is a very devout Catholic, much more sincere and involved in the church than your average Catholic, but she would never take out such an ad in the paper. The Catholics that do that are a different sort, they are superstitious, extremely ritualistic Catholics (Catholic fundies, if you will), which I think make up a small percentage of American Catholics. However as has been alluded to, this brand of Catholicism is more common in places like Mexico and South America.
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marriedtodamob
However as has been alluded to, this brand of Catholicism is more common in places like Mexico and South America.
OK, I have to object here to the above statement because if you haven't checked lately, this so called "brand" of Catholicism is also very common in the very "agricultural" states (i.e. my great state of OR) WA, CA etc. As a Catholic who is married to an almost reinstated JW, I take a bit of offense to being "branded", although I have to agree there are varying shades or degrees of devoutness...not unlike the JW's N'est ce pas? I am NOT superstitious, NOT devout, but would consider praying to St. Jude and publishing IF I felt the need to. This does NOT mean I am from South America or Mexico, nor am I Hispanic. "The Oregonian" and other local papers here have St. Jude notices published regularly.
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Yerusalyim
For some, it's superstition, for others they're trying to encourage devotion to the cult of that particular saint. For others...who knows. MOST catholics don't run ads thanking saints...especially since we are taught (or are supposed to be taught) that it's God who answers prayers...the saint only intercedes for us as we can intercede in prayer to God for one another...
ya knew I was eventually gonna post on this subject.
oh, and a cute story I read some years ago on a related subject. Seems a woman was in a Catholic Church praying before a statue of St Jude...in desperate need of money and at her wits end. Somehow, she looked into an empty flower vase by the statue and there was $10,000 in cash...answered prayer.
Turns out that shortly before the woman was there, another woman who sought the intercession of St Jude had left the money for the use of the Church in gratitude for her answered prayers...she got to asking once she noticed the money wasn't accounted for in the church offering.
The woman who tracked down the money gave it back...but they did end up helping her financially.
Prayer works...I don't believe in coincidence.