If you do not eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood . . .

. . . then you will not have life within you."  Jesus speaking in John 6:53

Continuing from the previous post, I do not understand how Biblical Christians can accept the teaching from their ancestral and current pastoral leaders that Jesus did not clearly, and literally teach and institute the Sacrament of himself hidden in the signs of the bread and wine.

Especially when you read this verse in context. 

John 6
⁵¹ "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." ⁵² The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, (or Solemnly) I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; ⁵⁴ he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As I, who am sent by the living Father, myself draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me.  ⁵⁸ This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."

Jesus tells us that we need to eat his own flesh as food so that we might enter into that divine life shared between Him and the living Father.  Without eating the flesh of Jesus and drinking his blood we remain men and women without the life of God within us.

Question:  How many times during this teaching in John chapter 6 does Jesus mention that his flesh is to be eaten and his blood to be drunk by those who wish to have eternal life, and in verse 55,  to have Jesus abide in him and Jesus in him?

Answer:   Seven times

None of his disciples thought he was speaking using poetic imagery.  We find out in the verses that follow that some could not accept this.  They did not forsee that Jesus would give us his very flesh to eat and blood to drink in an unbloody sacrifice instituted at the Last Supper, forever memorializing his precious blood being poured out for us from the cross.

In verse 60 we learn what some of his followers thought of this teaching, "This is intolerable language.  How could anyone accept it?"

⁶⁵ And he (Jesus the Son of God) said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." ⁶⁶ After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. ⁶⁷ Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; ⁶⁹ and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."

 

We know that the Jewish leaders at the time of Jesus's resurrection paid off those guards who were sleeping while charged with guarding Jesus's tomb.  Then they began spreading the rumor that his disciples had stolen the body so as to suppress the eyewitness accounts of Jesus appearing to the women and the disciples after his resurrection.

 

How is this not analagous to what has happened to the decendants of the Protestant Reformation?  Martin Luther taught the real presence.  But then someone in Switzerland, Ulrich Zwingli, began teaching the presence was symbolic.  John Calvin succeeded him and he taught that the presence was dynamic - when communion was received by "the elect" then the presence of Jesus was present with the bread and wine.

 

None of this is Biblical.  What an amazing irony.  If you are Protestant, please pray and please seek to find if this veiling of the truth by the Reformers was not heretical, and depriving you of the great act of love of the Savior to be united with you in Holy Communion that you might dwell in Him, and he in you, and where he is, so too is the Father and the Holy Spirit. Please research the articles at The Coming Home Network and Patrick Madrid's article, "Where is that in the Bible?: The Eucharist".

 

What a tragedy so many Catholics who have received Jesus in Holy Communion leave the Church when they are taught errors by those who propagate these errors.  What a tragedy that parents who prize the photographic moments of Holy Communion do not bother to carry out Jesus's command to the Apostles and also to us at the Last Supper . . . . "Do this in memory of me."  Many children are not brought to receive Jesus on Sundays and Holy Days and they grow up adopting their parents example and attitude that it isn't necessarily Jesus's command.  It is most certainly not optional but an affront to the Savior, in my discernment.  Attending Holy Mass or Divine Liturgy is our response of love, obedience and gratitude to the Son of God.  God forbid anyone would have their eyes so blinded by this world as to view the remembrance and worship of Jesus as an optional way of celebrating a beautiful holiday like Christmas, Easter, or a wedding or commemorating someone's funeral.

 

If you are Catholic, please pray that the Father would draw you to his Son and increase you faith, devotion, and tender love and gratitude for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

 

Thank you Lord Jesus, for the gift of yourself in the Holy Sacrament of the altar (not the table). 

Father please continue to draw me and all those who you will to encounter and believe and offer love and gratitude to your Son for his great gift of his flesh for us to eat and his blood for us to drink that we might have the divine life of the Trinity present within us.  In Jesus Name, your Beloved Son, our Savior, Amen.

 

The Gospel Accounts of the Last Supper

 ²⁶ Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." ²⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; ²⁸ for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:26-28)

²² And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." ²³ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. ²⁴ And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.”  (Mark 14:22-24)

¹⁹ And he took bread, and when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." ²⁰ And likewise the cup after supper, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:19-20)

²³ Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴ He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. ²⁵ "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. ⁴ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth. ²⁰ "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, ²¹ that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (John 14:23-26,15:4-5,17:20-21)

It was interesting that John's Gospel, while having the most compelling teaching of Jesus in chapter 6 does not parallel the synoptic Gospels account of the institution of the Eucharist. Some Biblical scholars explain that this is because the celebration of Holy Eucharist was already well-established by the time John's Gospel was written.

Words of Consecration in the Roman Catholic Canon

Institution Narrative (recalling the words and actions of Jesus at the Last Supper; see Mark 14:22-24; Matt 26:26-28; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor 11:23-25):

On the day before he was to suffer he took bread in his holy and venerable hands, and with eyes raised to heaven to you, O God, his almighty Father, giving you thanks he said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT: FOR THIS IS MY BODY WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU. In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took this precious chalice in his holy and venerable hands, and once more giving you thanks, he said the blessing and gave the chalice to his disciples, saying: TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT: FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

Words of Consecration in the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom

"You so loved Your world as to give Your only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.  After He had come and fulfilled the whole divine plan for our sake, on the night He was given over--or, rather, gave Himself for the life of the world--He took bread into His holy, most pure and immaculate hands, gave thanks, blessed, sanctified and broke it; He gave it to his holy disciples and apostles, saying:

Take, eat:  This is my body, which is broken for you for the forgiveness of sins.

In like manner the cup after the supper, saying: 

Drink of it, all of you.  This is my blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Notice the Congruence between John 6:55, Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, and the Words of Consecration.
Jesus says this is my body and this is my blood.  The priests also say this is my body and this is my blood.

No mention of symbolism, or mystical presence, or being there with the bread and wine. 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church:
1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."

St. Paul summarized it similarly in 1 Corinthians 11:23-29

23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for^* you. Do this in remembrance of me.’²⁵In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Partaking of the Supper Unworthily

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.²⁸Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup.²⁹For all who eat and drink^* without discerning the body,^* eat and drink judgement against themselves.

Protestants: How can you not believe Communion = Body and Blood of Jesus Christ?

Had a great conversation with a Baptist riding on the softball team's bus back from a game a few weeks ago.  She is the assistant coach, and I am one of the team moms.
 
I wasn't looking to argue doctrine with her, she was just telling me where she went to church, and about the miracles her father-in-law, the pastor, and her mother-in-law experienced as he left the world of business and began to follow the call to be a pastor.  I would not rule out that she was looking to persuade me to come to her church.
 
She started telling me how they believe that we are saved by grace, by believing in Jesus Christ.  I don't disagree with that.  I don't believe our Church teaches that we can be saved, other than by believing and being washed clean in the Precious Blood of our Lord.
 
Then she told me about their belief that the celebration of Communion or "The Lord's Supper" is not the body and blood of Jesus, but just bread and wine.  She asked me what I believed. 
 
It was at this point that I thought she must have forgotten the conversation we had two years ago when I told her I was Catholic.
 
I told her that it is only the body and blood of Jesus if the priest consecrating it was ordained as part of the Apostolic Succession.  So if a church's minister is not ordained by those who were ordained by the the Apostles (Catholic, Orthodox Bishops) who were originally ordained by Christ, then that church only has bread and wine. 

I am shaky, or rather ignorant on the specifics as to whether Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran can validly claim to have this same Apostolic Succession and real presence doctrine in their churches.  I think some "sub-denominations" of each of these do claim and believe this and some are not as strong in the belief and allow for their members to believe in the real or optionally mystical or symbolic presence of Christ in Communion.  That isn't the focus of this post though.  I apologize if I offend any fellow Christians who do believe they are receiving the real presence of Christ at Communion due to my ignorance.
 
Her church is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention and they believe, "The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming."
 
I would agree that all they can celebrate without having a priest is a symbolic act of obedience, but it is not a real act of obedience.  That would actually be a bit of irony contained in this the VII. statement in their confession of beliefs.
 
What puzzles me would be how they can reconcile sola scripture and non-belief in the validity of the Sacrament as practiced in the Roman Catholic, Byzantine Catholic, Orthodox and other churches with priests ordained according to Apostolic Succession. 
 
While I could not at the time quote the chapter and verse, I asked her, "In Corinthians, St. Paul says not to receive the body and blood of the Lord unworthily.  How would we unworthily receive the body and blood if it were not the body and blood of Jesus Christ and instead just bread and wine?"
 
She said her pastor/father-in-law says that has to do with unworthy living, not following Christ, living as we should.

In other words, he preaches on this passage of scripture using a figurative interpretation.  He doesn't interpret the words of St. Paul literally, but instead when he says Body and Blood of the Lord he associates that not with the substance of the bread and wine but with those receiving the bread and wine.
 
1 Corinthians 11:
²³ For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." ²⁵ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. ²⁷ Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.

Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano, Italy - the flesh was determined to be of the myocardium (wall of the heart)

 
So the focus in that Pastor's coverage of this passage is verse 11:28 an unworthy manner and in 11:29 the discernment would be to not discern that one is part of the body of Christ?
 
How do you get past the literal meaning in 11:24, "This is my body".  How can you profane the body and blood of the Lord (11:27) if it is just bread and wine or grape juice symbolically remembering Jesus's last supper? 

After we got off the bus, my daughter said I was a little loud and repetitive with the, "How could we unworthily receive bread and grape juice? It has to be unworthily receiving the body and blood of the Lord." She asked if I could have said it lower and less repeatedly, but of course that is not possible after the fact.
Similarly, and we didn't get this far, how do you interpret John 6:51 -
(Jesus said) "I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."
 
This would have to be symbolically interpretted I guess as well, right? 
 
That is what I heard on the last Journey Home episode I watched.  That for John 6 many of the Protestant sects switch from a literal interpretation of scripture to a figurative interpretation.  Some of the same preachers who tell their congregations how critical it is to believe God created the world in six 24 hour days (see Gen. 1) and rested on the seventh tell their congregations that John 6:51 and 1 Corinthians 11:27 are to be interpretted figuratively, or discern the body and blood is really talking about the body of Christ, the Church, that St. Paul talked about in 1 Corinthians 12:

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free -- and all were made to drink of one Spirit. ¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

But that isn't what St. Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 11 and that isn't what Jesus is talking about in John 6:51 or the preceding verses in John 6.

As Flannery O'Connor said, "The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."

Flannery's quote could be applied to many things that have become tolerable and accepted in our culture, but for the purposes of this post, I am including it because it is a nagging thing isn't it to get good spiritual food in studying the Bible, hearing well-prepared sermons ("messages"), praising God in beautiful, heart-lifting music or traditional hymns and then to be hit in the face with not being in real obedience to Christ who told us to receive his body and his blood of the New Covenant in rememberance of him.  Then what an outrage to realize only those priests, and not all priestly people (see 1 Pet. 2:9), are ordained by Christ to consecrate bread and wine, and through the power of the Holy Spirit have those elements transubstantiated into the Real Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ our Lord.

We as Catholics are sometimes left undernourished by the watered down reverence of our liturgies, ill-prepared homilies, or music gone awry that accompanies the Mass.  We do want it all though.  We want the fullness of the truth, and we want to be filled to overflowing by worshipping in Spirit and in Truth (see John 4:24).

Here are some quick points to remember, paraphrased from Fr. John Bartunek in The Better Part's

commentary on John 6:36-51:

Real Devotion to the Eucharist:

• Active and prayerful involvement in the Mass (or Divine Liturgy for eastern rite Catholics)
• Our recollection in receiving Communion (recollection = attention to the presence of God in the soul)
• The frequency and sincerity of our visits to the Tabernacle

These things follow when we remember:

Jesus is the bread of eternal life, its source and sustenance and Jesus's presence in the bread and wine of the Eucharist is the source and sustenance of our life of intimate communion with God.  In my own life I find that if I do not visit the Tabernacle, do not receive Jesus frequently in Holy Communion then my efforts toward recollection are more strained and less frequent as well.  I still find God and the presence of God in Scripture, as do my Protestant friends, but there is an emptiness and a more hollow recollection for me personally without basking in the Eucharistic presence of Christ in the Tabernacle, Monstrance, and receiving Jesus, my Lord, in Holy Communion.

For my fellow Catholics, you might want to check out this site:  http://www.examiner.com/article/this-is-my-body-are-you-a-believer-or-non-believer.  Also, keep in mind there are many documented Eucharistic miracles through the centuries.  Unfortunately few Catholics in this country were told about them!

On Monday mornings, I pray with the Moms-in-Prayer group at my kids' school.  We pray in the "sanctuary" which is the entire church for the Reformed Church and not just the holiest area of the space where the altar and tabernacle reside.  Many times I notice, palpably, the emptiness of the worship space without the Eucharistic presence of Christ.  Once we begin praying I am aware that there he is in the midst of 2 or more gathered in his name (see Matt. 18:20) and we also pray using Scripture which helps.  For awhile I stopped attending this prayer group opting instead for Mass.  Now I am attending the group again, but stopping in for prayer in front of the Tabernacle at my Church afterward.  I can attend daily Mass on the other days of the week.  Praying for my children, the other moms' children, and the school together, in a focused and intense way is very worthwhile.  When I came back and rejoined them, the Lord seemed to confirm this for me.

I was led to the Church I attend now and it took care of the negative feelings I had when the three Scriptures for Mass were not used for the homily or only nominally used, and when the homilies were essentially as superficial as to find that set of words that would be least likely to cause anyone in attendance discomfort, and the music leader was given full rein to dress and orchestrate the music according to her whims.  In addition the Church I am in now is super reverant.  The priests are preachers in the tradition of the early Church fathers, and the homilies should cause us some discomfort and spur us to action, especially the action to repent of our sins and plead for the Lord's mercy.  Our priests regularly emphasize our personal relationship with all three persons in the Holy Trinity, the need for daily prayer, and the need for daily reading of Scripture.  As I told my Baptist friend on the bus, "You would be surprised that our priests preach many of the same things your Pastor or other Protestant preachers do." 

With the exception of course that the bread and wine we receive are not mere symbols of Christ's body and blood sacrificed on the cross, but his real body and blood to give us divine, eternal life in our souls.

Christ's gift of himself in the Eucharist is to me the way that he fulfills his promise:

"Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." - Matthew 28:20

Is it just me or does the refrain from the Stations of the Cross echo in your mind when you enter a church where Christ is present in the Tabernacle or Monstrance?

Leader: We adore Thee, O Christ, and bless Thee.
All: Because by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.

GREAT NEWS:  If you are attending a Protestant Church and want to learn more about Jesus's real presence in the Holy Sacrament of Communion and want to take steps to get your questions answered and, God willing, take the steps necessary to receive Jesus's body, blood, soul, and divinity, you can.  Please access this link to the Coming Home Network.  There are links from that home page for pastors, and non-pastor lay people.  Marcus Grodi is less "tongue-in-cheek" than I am.  He is more mature that way! 

I apologize if I offended any of my Protestant brothers and sisters in this post in any way.  It wasn't my intention, but I probably could have edited it more thoroughly to ensure it.  Please forgive me. 

My prayer is the same as Jesus's prayer to Our Father, "Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one." - John 17:11b

It's A Shame Protestants Don't Get Mary

By  Pietro Perugino (c. 1446/1450–1523)

John 19:25b-27

^{25 . . .}Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ ²⁷Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

Catholics with devotion to the Mother of Jesus, believe fervently that in these most generous words, in the midst of his torment, that Jesus was not merely telling John to take care of Mary because he was dying, but that he was giving Mary to be John's Mother, and our Mother.  That in this action he established her as the Spiritual Mother for all of us that make up his Mystical Body.  Those of us that have experienced her love, her powerful intercession have no doubts whatsoever that this is what he intended, and that any mere literal reading of his words is regretful on the largest scale imaginable.

We know by experience of the love of God expressed through the love of the Mother he gave to us, the rich truth and deep meaning of the following passages:

Luke 1:46-55, 68-75

⁴⁶And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; ⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.⁵⁰His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.⁵¹He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. ⁵²He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; 

---

Luke 2:33-35

33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. ³⁴Then Simeon^* blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed ³⁵so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

We know that Mary's soul truly does magnify the Lord.  She is blessed, all generations have called her blessed, not because of a violation of the 1st Commandment to worship none but God, but because God looked with favor on her lowliness, and did these great things for her, and it is part of God's holiness that he did so.  It is part of his mercy to those of us who fear him from all generations that he looked with favor on his handmaid.

Reading scripture alone, we don't know what exactly had all been revealed to Mary about her son, that was also God's beloved Son.  This may have been the first time it was revealed to her in poetic terms the suffering she would bear as part of her vocation.  "A sword will pierce your own soul."  We now know, some helped by the movie the Passion of the Christ, how horrific this soul piercing sorrow was.

There is a promise that comes with that prediction.  "So that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed."  Do you know what this means?  I don't fully.  It is part of the metaphysical realities we will not grasp until we enter in the Glory of Our God after death.  Still, I can't explain it, but I know when I am talking with Mary, without vocalizing or writing my words down that she can hear me.  The thoughts of my heart are revealed to her.  I don't know if this is a gift to her or if it is part of the ongoing relationship between her and the Holy Spirit.  I just know that it is true.  

Some of us have also read the role that Mary played in the lives of our favorite saints, like St. Faustina and St. Therese, who wrote, "Mary, is more mother than queen."  St. Therese knew Mary at the age of 12 as the Mediatrix of all Graces.  She credited her with her healing from a serious childhood illness with a smile from their family statue of Our Lady of Victory.

Part of what drives me to write this post is the sadness I felt when one of the girls I drove to our High School's monthly Witness to Life outside of the Aurora, Illinois Planned Parenthood, made a statement mocking one of the Catholics praying to Mary.

I used to vehemently protest when Protestants, or their school books say that Catholics "pray to Mary".  I would go back to what the priests and nuns told me, "We don't pray to the saints and Mary, we pray with them."  Mary, as Jesus's Mother, is a most powerful intercessor.  He didn't refuse her at the wedding at Cana and he doesn't refuse her now.

John 2:1-9

2On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ²Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ ⁴And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ ⁵His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ ⁶Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it.⁹When the steward tasted the water that had become wine . . . 

Then I started thinking about it, having the benefit of Google that I didn't have as a 2nd grade religion student, I googled pray to Mary and found the criticism stems from praying the words of the Angel Gabriel "Hail Mary, full of grace" 53 times during praying of the rosary, versus 12 prayers addressed to either Our Father, or Glory Be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  

I still prize the simple faith I had as a child and the zeal I defended the rosary along these lines, but I also have to reconcile the truth.

We do pray the rosary.  We do pray the greeting of the Angel Gabriel to Mary at the Annunciation 53 times while praying the rosary.  When we ask Mary to pray for us, isn't that request, reverent and full of confidence a type of prayer?  I think it is.

Still we do not worship Mary.  Mary holds special place of reverence higher than any of the saints or angels and is only second in holiness among humans to Jesus, her Son, who was directly conceived by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.  He is the Son of God.  He is true man, and true God. 

God, inclusive of the three persons of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is far above Mary, but Mary is above all of the creation and created spirits and humans.  God created her to be the vessel through whom He became incarnate on his mission to redeem us.  What Protestants do not realize is that in saying those most generous and kind words in the midst of his death agony on the cross, he was also setting up that Mary would be the vessel through whom God's grace would come to us for all time.

One morning when I did not rush off to work, I watched Journey Home on EWTN and saw the testimony of a former Presbyterian who converted to Catholicism at Notre Dame (where I went to school) and also is now serving as a Roman Catholic priest at a parish about 10 miles from my home.  He said many beautiful things about how the Eucharist drew him, but like most Protestants on that show, Mary is usually the final sticking point before their conversion.

He said that what was incongruous with what he was taught about Mary, that she was an idol worshipped in place or alongside of Jesus, a clear violation of the 1st Commandment, was that those he knew with devotion to Mary were the same individuals that he knew to be most strongly and passionately devoted to Christ.  This common sense observation led him to understand the truth that Mary leads us deeper into a saving, and life-giving, transforming relationship with her Son, through the Holy Spirit, to the Glory of God the Father.  She does magnify the Lord to us.  

Personally I have faith in Mary's intercession as strong as my faith that the sun will rise tomorrow in the east, and set in the west, and that Sunday will be the first day of next week, and Saturday the last.  I credit this most loving, most tender, most compassionate, and most efficacious of all mothers with the fact that my husband and I are still married 22 years now, despite what at times has experienced the intense lows, and periods of emotional pain that would no doubt have ended many other marriages that did not have the benefit of recourse to Mother Mary.

Father Corapi said in one of his televised talks that Mary is like EF Hutton.  When she talks the Lord listens.  He said further that she is like the world's best stock broker.  We can take our little intercessory prayers to her with what little merit we might have and she takes them and leverages her great standing with the King so that we gain the help we need because of her.  This is similar to what Scott Hahn teaches about Mary being similar to the "Queen Mothers" of the kings of Israel, whom the Bible records had great influence with the king.

St. Kolbe talked about it being God's will that his awesome presence enter the world and mankind through his vessel, the lowly, beautiful handmaid, Mary, Israelite descendant of King David.  He said it is still his good pleasure that our prayers go through her to him and that his graces pass through her to us.  

This is again metaphysical territory that I am no expert in, and am happy going back to my 2nd grade nun's explanation of "mystery".  I just know I love her, and I know how much she loves me, and all of us . . . having seen the terrible price her son suffered to open the gates of heaven to us, and that she will do everything to aid us . . . in the most important things . . . . following the will of God in our lives so as to follow Christ's command to be perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect by pursuing holiness, and in the more temporally important things like the sickness of a child, the brokenness of a marriage, the wayward son or daughter or husband.  She loves us and IS our mother.  We should expect no less and go to her with confidence.

Mary is also our example as we also hear from her son!  She isn't just the example to women, or to virgins, or to mothers like me, she is the example and role model for all of us.

She treasured, and pondered in her heart every word of God that came into her life . . . not just what Simeon said to her above, but also what Jesus, at the age of 12 said to her when she and Joseph found him after three days of searching, in the temple.

Luke 11:27-28

27 While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!’ ²⁸But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’

Mary heard the word of God and obeyed it.

Luke 1:38

³⁸Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the handmaid of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

I don't know how to say a couple sentences to persuade the girl in the back of my van, the daughter of a Baptist pastor to give Mary a chance.  I should ask for Mary's intercession on that one too.  What a shame she has not been taught how Mary's soul magnifies the Lord for us.  Instead many Protestants emphasize the other part of that passage, when Mary rejoices in God my Savior.  They say that proves she was not sinless because she was in need of a Savior.  If they go the sola scripture route, as illogical and non-scriptural as that is:  

2 Thessalonians 2:15

¹⁵So then, brothers and sisters,^* stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.

. . . then they cannot believe the dogma that Mary was Immaculately Conceived without the stain of original sin due to the merits of the Son she was designed by God to carry in her womb, and raise as her little boy.  The emphasis on that untruth, hides the beauty of the actual truth, Mary's role is to give us the graces to grow in holiness and in a loving relationship with her Son, Our Redeemer.  He is Our God, and she helps us to rejoice in Him along with her!

When my parish priest prays over me sometimes after giving me absolution, he sometimes prays, "Lord, here is your handmaid."  I don't deserve to have that name handmaid applied to me since it is the name Mary used for herself in response to the angel, but it is very powerful to me when he does.  He reminds me that I am to follow in Mary's path of humility and obedience.  It helps that I also get the message when the penance he gives me involves several Hail Mary's because it is through the grace she releases to me that I manage any trace of humility and express any semblance of love and tenderness toward her Son and to those he suffered and died to save.

God Bless You!  Mary, Our Lady of Victory, pray for us, pray for our children, and for our country!