Praying for Muslims

[kleary]

At EVERY MASS at our parish we are led by Fr. Pasley in prayers DURING THE SERMON

“For the conversion of the Muslims to Jesus Christ and His Catholic Church”.

“Hail Mary…”
“Our Father…”

Ken

 

[HailMary]

At EVERY MASS at our parish we are led by Fr. Pasley in prayers DURING THE SERMON

“For the conversion of the Muslims to Jesus Christ and His Catholic Church”.

“Hail Mary…”
“Our Father…”

Ken

And, as someone once said, “where one Catholic is, there the whole Church is also”. The Church prays for the conversion of all souls and if you don’t believe this than serious work needs to be done to come to this basic principle which find its root in charity.

 

[palmas85]

At EVERY MASS at our parish we are led by Fr. Pasley in prayers DURING THE SERMON

“For the conversion of the Muslims to Jesus Christ and His Catholic Church”.

“Hail Mary…”
“Our Father…”

Ken

This the Pauline or a Traditional Rite? I’ve heard of some of the Traditional Masses having such prayers, especially SSPX folks, but not a Pauline Rite. But if he’s doing it great. I would like to see the whole church do it lead by the Holy Father.

 

[palmas85]

And, as someone once said, “where one Catholic is, there the whole Church is also”. The Church prays for the conversion of all souls and if you don’t believe this than serious work needs to be done to come to this basic principle which find its root in charity.

The fact that one Priest does it does not mean the Church endorses it. Many priests do things that Rome does not allow and in fact condemns… Look around. Hey if the priests do it fine, I’m all for it. I would like to see it come from the Holy Father or the Bishops though, , so I would have some assurance that the Church is behind it. There has been enough flaunting of the rules and people doing their own thing in the past forty years. Thats one of the reasons we got to be in state that we are in now. Everybody pulling their own way.

 

[palmas85]

Firstly, it does matter what we think. Faith does not conflict with reason.

Secondly, you said, “As Catholics we do not engage in private interpretation of scripture but accept the teaching authority of the Church through the Magesterium”. Also untrue. The Church teaches the supremecy of the conscience. I am NOT saying we are at liberty to believe whatever we want. And we must accept the teaching authority of the Magesterium, of course. However, we are supposed to conform our consciences to that of the Church **but no where does the Church say we cannot try to expand on a passage in scripture. Otherwise the Church would effectively say that we are not allowed to have bible studies. **

Thirdly, the question I originally asked in the poll was concerned the “Common Priesthood” - the lay. All the items you touched upon had to do with the Public Voice (the Bishopsetc) of the Church.

and “The Church does not currently teach or support or publically call for the conversion of Muslims or Jews to the Catholic faith. . If you can find something in current church teaching and dogmas that does, I will be overjoyed and happy and make a public apology… "
The Church wills all men to be saved. 1 Tim 2:4 " (GOD) who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth.” Period. Whether or not they are currently doing so is irrelevant. And why does it need to be “current”?
Jesus said, " Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit". In order for someone to be a “disciple” they need to be CONVERTED and that requires grace on Gods part and prayer on your part for your muslim brother since we are all family. Also the world recieves graces from the MASS. That is one of its purposes. Why do they need grace if its not for their salvation (which of course, needs CONVERSION first)?

God Bless.

You have out forth a lot of arguments that I agree with. Until comparitively recently the Church taught many things that it no longe rteaches, as I’m sure you know. To adhere to beliefs or practices that the Church no longer endorses, I think, is bad. Very bad, and one of the reasons the hurch is in the state it is in today. people tend to pick and choose which doctrines they will accept, believe and practice. that does not and cannot work if you have a heiracharcial form of government as the Church does.

For instance, slavery. Human bondage. Supported by Saint Paul as a viable institution, and supported by the Church until very recently. No longer

That is but one of many examples of why the teaching we follow has to be the current teaching. of the Church. Otherwise we are not following the teaching of the Church.

As far as **expanding **on scripture as you put it, that is a very well traveled road. Montanus, Marcion, Arius, Nestor, Mohammed, Martin Luther, Jan Huss, John Wycliff, Zwinglii, etc. They all read scripture and expanded on the Churches teaching. True the church encourages Bible study, but when you start as you say expanding on what the Church interpretation is, you drift into the Protetstant or heretical mindset that everyman is his own preacher and arbitrator of scripture. Doing that you can fall into a conflict with the Magesterium of the Church very very easily.

 

[Andruschak]

Since we Catholics are privledged to be a part of the Public Service (the Divine Liturgy) I wanted to know how many Catholics are fervently praying for the conversion of the Muslims? Do not be try be pious and just answer yes because it is a good thing to do; how many have actually done it?

Not me. I am not sure just how “fervently” I do it, but I recite The Divine Mercy Chaplet daily. The prayer on the 5 decades of small beads end with “Have mercy on us, and on the whole world”. But this is for the whole world, not just Muslims.

 

[Mordocai]

No, but I should. And I probably will now.

 

[tequilamac]

Great then. I’ll tell you what. Ask your parish priest to publically offer prayers for the conversion of Jews or Muslims or any other group for that matter, tell me when he is going to do it and I will come in to hear it.

Hows that? That is how certain I am that it will not be done.

And yes, I know that as an individual I can pray for whatever I want and my conscience has to guide me.

I still have to accept what the Church teaches. I cannot pick and choose.

The Church nev er changed the teaching on evangelization.
The Curch never changed it’s teaching on fasting either.
A wise man once explained it to me this way:
By the time of Vatican II- the Church had matured in faith. We do not need the Church to define every little action on our part complete with consequences. A person of good conscience knows whether he should fast or not. And does so accordingly without the Church regulating the fasting for us.
It would seem a person with a clear understanding of his faith also would know whether we should pray for the conversion of others as well.
We know clearly what we are NOT supposed to do. Some people are content doing just that. Avoiding what we are NOT supposed to do. It seems that people are unclear then how to move forward from there.
Obviously, if praying that people come to know and receive Christ was a good thing before 1964, it still is.
Obviously, if fasting for the correct reason was a good thing before 1964, it still is.
The difference is the Church has not made it compulsory. When I was five, my mother made it compulsory that I eat all my vegetables. When I was a teen, she merely made the suggestion because by then it was assumed I was old enough to know that I should eat my vegetables.
But, in retrospect, it seems Vatican II emancipated people prematurely. Since the Church no longer tells we have to do something we assume it means we are not supposed to do it. Which is not true at all. Really.
Acts of love out of compulsion can be good. Acts of love that are purely voluntary are the best.
Praying for the conversion of those who are your enemies is a good thing to do and not at all forbidden.

 

[Little_Mary]

Since we Catholics are privledged to be a part of the Public Service (the Divine Liturgy) I wanted to know how many Catholics are fervently praying for the conversion of the Muslims? Do not be try be pious and just answer yes because it is a good thing to do; how many have actually done it?

Not every time I pray or am at Mass b/c I don’t think about it
but tonight at Mass I prayed that He change their hearts at least - to make them more understanding and tolerant of others and to give them the desire to live the peace and forgiveness that they preach. Until they do that, we’ll never have peace with them (unless of course they convert overnight).

Not all of them, but the radicals who truly hate.

 

[Jaypeeto4]

Let me be very, very blunt here.
IF the church actually has renounced any intention to convert Jews, Muslims, or whoever to Christ and Christianity, then the Church has Apostasized.

No ifs, ands, or buts. Period.

There is no way that the Church has apostasized,
and even if Prelates refuse to call for public prayer for peoples conversions, the command of Christ in Great Commission trumps any and all church policies of the moment.

Pray for the conversion of Jews, Muslims, atheists, you name it, to the Catholic Faith.

Jaypeeto4 (aka Jaypeeto3)

 

[Flopfoot]

Just posting the CCC 839-845 as was mentioned by a previous poster. However, still unsure as to whether we are supposed to pray for conversion of Jews, Muslims and other Christians (besides Catholics) or not.

The Church and non-Christians
839 "Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways."325
The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People,326 "the first to hear the Word of God."327 The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God’s revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews “belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ”,328 "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable."329
840 And when one considers the future, God’s People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.

841 The Church’s relationship with the Muslims. "The plan of salvation also includes those who acknowledge the Creator, in the first place amongst whom are the Muslims; these profess to hold the faith of Abraham, and together with us they adore the one, merciful God, mankind’s judge on the last day."330
842 The Church’s bond with non-Christian religions is in the first place the common origin and end of the human race:
All nations form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city. . .331

843 The Catholic Church recognizes in other religions that search, among shadows and images, for the God who is unknown yet near since he gives life and breath and all things and wants all men to be saved. Thus, the Church considers all goodness and truth found in these religions as "a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men that they may at length have life."332
844 In their religious behavior, however, men also display the limits and errors that disfigure the image of God in them:
Very often, deceived by the Evil One, men have become vain in their reasonings, and have exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator. Or else, living and dying in this world without God, they are exposed to ultimate despair.333
845 To reunite all his children, scattered and led astray by sin, the Father willed to call the whole of humanity together into his Son’s Church. The Church is the place where humanity must rediscover its unity and salvation. The Church is “the world reconciled.” She is that bark which “in the full sail of the Lord’s cross, by the breath of the Holy Spirit, navigates safely in this world.” According to another image dear to the Church Fathers, she is prefigured by Noah’s ark, which alone saves from the flood.334

 

[LilyM]

Of course we are - as it has been pointed out in the previous post we are still bound by the Great Commission to ‘make disciples of the whole world’ - so we are absolutely bound to pray for and do whatever else we can to further the conversion of all non-Christians.

Surely we don’t need the Holy Father to do so publicly, to explicitly tell us that it’s necessary or even a good idea before we do it? Weren’t we all praying for peace in Lebanon before he mandated a day of prayer and penance for that particular cause?

Sheesh, we ARE rational, independent adults. We don’t have to wait for orders from Rome to do something so obviously right, good and in accord with our faith.

 

[Trelow]

I reckon I’d be a fool not to. :tiphat:

 

[undeserving]

I never used to, but I started to after the attacks on the Holy Father. Muslims are badly deluded by Mohammed, they need all our prayers.

 

[BeeSweet]

I have, but only a few times. I received a penance earlier this month asking me to pray for the conversion of sinners, and with all the bad press, their images popped into my head while praying the Rosary. It was during the general intercessions at mass recently when the priest suggested we pray for them, and then it was like a light bulb, or one of those Homer Simpson “doh!” moments: “Oh! Of course we should pray for their conversion!!” So, it’s starting to become more of a frequent habit to remember them in my prayers. Shame on me for not thinking of it myself! Especially considering I’ve heard the Muslim people know the Blessed Virgin, and do hold her in reverence. If only we could fly over all of Arabia and shower them with Rosaries!!! I think it’s illegal to even have a Rosary is some countries like Saudi Arabia though.

 

[mommyof4]

Pray, but not frevertly. I should probably start.

 

[rpp]

It is not something which I had thought much about before, as prayer intention at Mass. I think I will begin this. It is certainly a very worthy prayer.

 

[PauloFreire2]

a Catholic, an American, and a huge fan of Western Civilization, I take a very dim view of Islam. It began its almost constant attacks against the Christian West within a century of its conception, and hasn’t stopped.

 

[carol_marie]

a Catholic, an American, and a huge fan of Western Civilization, I take a very dim view of Islam. It began its almost constant attacks against the Christian West within a century of its conception, and hasn’t stopped.

I agree with you 100%. i suppose that’s why we should pray?

 

[Kevin42]

The people that I usually pray for are my atheist friends. I have so many great friends who are atheist. It is very painful for me to see them in that state, so they get most of my prayers. I rarely pray for Muslims, but I’ll be sure and add them to the list .