Second, I got a well-intentioned (but misguided) email today from a sister in Christ praying for my “deliverance” because I pray the rosary. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to address her points in case any of you has the same concerns:

CLAIM #1: The rosary is “vain repetition” in prayer, which Jesus condemns in Matt 6:5-15 (“Do not babble on as the pagans do…”).

RESPONSE: I love that she quoted from Matthew 6, because that was the chapter I recommended this morning for meditation during our rosary. Don’t you just love the Holy Spirit?!️ I will simply say that the Hail Mary’s we pray are meant to aid in our meditation on specific mysteries from the life of Christ (we meditate on 5 different scenes in each rosary, for a total of 20 different mysteries—Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious—over the course of 4 days). Fingering the rosary beads and praying the scriptural prayers of the Our Father and Hail Mary are meant to bring us into peaceful contemplation of the biblical scenes, that we might know Jesus and the “good news” more intimately. It is not meant to get God’s attention by the multiplication of our words, which is what the pagans (and frankly, some superstitious Catholics) did and do. Watch Karlo Broussard‘s video. He does a great job of explaining this here: https://www.catholic.com/…/did-jesus-condemn-praying-the-ro…

CLAIM #2: The rosary is not in the Bible (and the Bible alone is our authority).

RESPONSE: Here’s a quick response to the doctrine of sola scriptura, which is the belief that the Bible alone is our authority (an idea which, ironically, is not found in the Bible): https://www.catholic.com/…/a-quick-ten-step-refutation-of-s…. As to the prayers of the rosary, the bulk of the prayers are actually straight out of the Bible. The “Our Father” is from Jesus himself. The “Hail Mary” is composed of the words of the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation and the words of Elizabeth at the Visitation. The second half of the prayer, “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death,” was added during the Black Plague in the Middle Ages. We ask her to pray for us just as we would ask our family and friends to pray for us. But Mary, who is “blessed among women,” the Queen Mother of the King of Kings, who was given to us as a mother at the foot of the cross (“Behold your mother”), and at whose prompting Jesus performed his first miracle at Cana, is all the more worthy to bring our petitions before the throne of God.

Shouldn’t we also pray directly to God? Yes, of course! Mary is not a substitution for God, and she is not our Savior. We must listen to the heart of Jesus and converse with him throughout the day if we are to call ourselves Christians. But Mary is part of the family, dearly beloved and chosen by the Lord to be his mother, the Ark of the New Covenant. It must grieve him deeply that his followers do not love her as he does. Still concerned? Tell Jesus about it, and ask him to introduce you to the Woman (as she was called both by Jesus at Cana and then John in the book of Revelation) who cooperated with Him in the plan of your salvation like no one else. Because sometimes (daily, for me) we just need a Mamma, especially one that knows you and loves you and cherishes you like she does, to take you by the hand and lead you straight to Jesus, which is her sole mission.

The “Glory Be” is simply a prayer of praise to the Triune God. And the “Apostle’s Creed,” which starts the rosary, is a recapitulation of the core tenets of Christianity. It was finalized by the Catholic Church in 390 AD. Remembering what we believe is good, and countless saints and martyrs sacrificed everything so that it could be passed down to us. We should do the same.

CLAIM #3: By asking Mary (or any saint) to pray for me, I am worshiping a false idol. The saints are false idols.

RESPONSE: Nope. The only One I worship is the Most Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Mary is not my Savior; she is my beloved Mother. And who am I not to love and honor her as Jesus does? Also, she is not among the dead, she is among the living! Recall what happened at the Transfiguration. Moses and Elijah—who were very much “dead” in the earthly sense—appeared conversing with Jesus. I could go on and on, but others do a much better job explaining why we ask the saints (who know us and love us) to pray for us: https://www.catholic.com/tract/praying-to-the-saints

CLAIM #4: Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (the Holy Eucharist) is idol worship. God is everywhere, and we can worship him in our hearts.

RESPONSE: I won’t lie—this one really stung. Not because my ego is wounded, but because I love the Lord Jesus so much in the Eucharist—his sacrament of profound love and humility. It saddens me for her and for the millions of Catholics who also don’t believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the consecrated bread and wine, where he waits for us with so much love.

I will tell you that 99% (give or take) of the most profound inspirations, consolations, healings, and major breakthroughs in my life have taken place in the presence of the most holy Eucharist. Don’t take my word for it—go into any Catholic Church and ask Jesus to reveal himself to you if he is truly present–body, blood, soul, and divinity–in the Eucharist, the “source and summit of our faith.” It may not happen at that moment, but this is a prayer he will definitely answer when asked with humility and sincerity of heart.

From a post in Catholic Answers (www.catholic.com): “Faith-filled Catholics believe when Jesus said, ‘This is my body’ that he changed ordinary bread into His body. Likewise, when He said, ‘This is my blood,’ that He changed ordinary wine into His blood. The appearance may still be bread and wine, but the theological virtue of faith tells us it is no longer bread and wine, but the body, blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Many of Christ’s disciples left Him when He declared one must eat His body and drink His blood to have life (John 6). It was correctly understood by these disciples that Christ was speaking literally, not figuratively, or else Jesus would have told them He only meant it figuratively. Jesus didn’t call them back, He let them go.

“I hope this gives you a better understanding of the depth of the Catholic belief in the Eucharist. I understand why someone looking at the Eucharist from a non-Catholic viewpoint might think Eucharistic adoration to be idolatry. However, when one understands (not necessarily agrees with) Catholic teaching, it is clear that Eucharistic adoration is worship ‘in spirit and in truth.’ (John 4:23)

Finally, yes, God is omnipresent! He is alive and well in the hearts/spirits of people of good will. Furthermore, he is using this period of quarantine and occasional separation from the Eucharist to remind me even more profoundly of the glorious indwelling of His Holy Spirit, which I received at my baptism (if you have an issue with infant baptism, look it up at www.catholic.com). 😉

Having said all of that, Cecilia and I would love to have you pray the rosary with us LIVE every morning on my YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/c/kittycleveland) and on my Kitty Cleveland Music page (now that they have mysteriously stopped muting most of my songs–hooray!). We’ll be there every morning at 6:00 am CT,/7 am ET through October 7th. And if that time doesn’t work for you, the recordings will always be available (God willing).