Rosary Beady Eyes

First he adds a station to the Stations of the Cross, proclaimes 464 Saints & 1297 Blessed, and now he is adding another set of mysteries to the rosary; who died and made him Pope? I think that the powerful bead and religious items merchandisers have lobbied him so as to be able to increase sales of longer rosaries, statues, holy cards, and other items. He has gone to predominately Orthodox countries not to heal the schism but to expand religious article businesses into those areas. The Orthodox and Easter Catholics use a knotted string for their prayers, where is the markup in that? He has been receiving kickbacks and placing them into his secret "Swiss Guard" account.

This conspiracy theory doesn't seem to be half as whacked as some of the criticisms I have read over the last couple of days since the first initial news. Soon I guess Oliver Stone will be making a movie called JPII where he disputes the lone ungrassy Vatican knoll gunman theory. Over at Amy Welborn's blog because of the number of comments the comment counter is now using exponents. I don't quite understand all the criticism, I personally like the idea of mysteries on the public life of Jesus, but if you don't like them don't pray them. There have been many versions of the rosary throughout the centuries as Disputations has shown, including Franciscan and Carmelite varieties. The critics probably glide right past the Fatima prayer added to the rosary and complain about the St. Michael the Archangel prayer being removed from the Mass even thought it was added only about seventy years before Vatican II. They must think there are two dogmas - one where revelation was closed at the death of the last Apostle and another that church tradition was closed at the end of the Council of Trent. It reminds me of the saying that "The best Bible version is - the one that you will read" and the best set of mysteries are the ones that you will truly pray.

I have written a set of mysteries that even those of the constant critical gaze set would like.

The Lidless Eye Mysteries
(With scriptural meditations)

Just say woe

"Woe to you, Chora'zin! woe to you, Beth-sa'ida! for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes."

"woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed"

"But woe to you that are rich, for you have received your consolation."

"Woe to you that are full now, for you shall hunger."

"Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep"

"Woe to you, when all men speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

Us against them

"For he that is not against us is for us."
"He who is not with Me is against Me,"

Condemnation

"I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?"

"But he who has doubts is condemned, if he eats, because he does not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."

"And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade."

You hypocrites

"Why put me to the test, you hypocrites."

"hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."

"Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me"

"You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky; but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?"

Brood of Vipers

"You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?"

"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

"You brood of vipers! how can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."

*All quotations from the RSV (Really Steady Vision) version

Posted by Jeff Miller at October 16, 2002 8:21 PM | TrackBack