“Why do Catholic believers pray to Mary?” This was just one of the questions that we
came up with as we evaluated the weekend whilst sitting in the Taverne
restaurant on a boulevard at Port Louise in Brussels. It had been a busy
weekend. Within 48 hours we had visited a Catholic bible study and prayer time,
a service at the Antwerp International Protestant Church where we heard a
testimony from a lady working to free prostitutes from human trafficking, a
meeting with youth in Zaamslag to plan the next MeetPoint and a Christmas carol
service at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Brussels.
At the restaurant table our conversation diverged into many questions
and gave us food for thought about worship styles and even the concept of
denominations.
'De Grijze Kat' or 'The Grey Cat'' is a Catholic group doing community
work in Antwerp as well as meeting together for times of fellowship. We joined
them for their weekly bible study and dinner. None of interns have a Roman Catholic
background, so this was probably the most thought provoking group we visited. I realised
that I was perfectly aware of Catholic traditions such as, crossing oneself
when entering or leaving the worship area, using rosary beads and saying Hail
Mary's. However, I had no idea why they performed such rituals and where these
traditions stemmed from.
We discussed our opinions about the various experiences, covering a
wide array of topics including whether or not it was moral to pray to Mary, and
if salvation is achieved through faith alone or if faith must be supplemented
with works. Furthermore, I became aware that I had lots of questions. Why do
they say the Hail Mary ten times? Why is the Lord's prayer cut short? Why do
they pray to Saints? Questions we as Protestants couldn’t answer.
Within our group our standpoints spanned from being strongly against
Catholic traditions, to being apathetic towards their ways, to being indifferent
about denominations as they all worship the same God. I personally realised
that I should not judge Catholic traditions until I understand why they do
them, and only then when I grasp their Theological perspective can I truly
decide my own. Thus we think it would be beneficial to learn more about
Catholicism as this will help us build bridges to the Catholic Community.
A naive and stereotypical view of Catholics would be that they are
strict, cold and closed off. However, from my time there, I can say they were
very kind-hearted, warm and hospitable. It was evident that everyone was unconditionally
welcome, as I sat opposite Syrian refugees at the dinner table. Furthermore,
Catholicism certainly doesn't prevent its followers from enjoying themselves as
the evening unfolded into a sing-a-long, resulting in me dancing with an 81
year old man to a rousing chorus of 'My Bonnie lies over the Ocean'.
The two Protestant services felt more familiar to me and I was
thrilled to finally attend a traditional carol service in Brussels, a custom in
N.I. that I was most certainly missing. Additionally, much to my delight, we
were provided with some homely festive treats such as shortbread and mulled
wine after the service. Having been in Anglican and Evangelical churches before
I'm accustomed to their ways however I realised that I’m rarely in a Catholic
environment.
Don't get me wrong, I don’t have any resentment towards Catholicism I
simply know very little about their practices. However, what I do know is that
every person in each of these churches was seeking the same God. Thus whilst I
find denominational differences interesting it is not a viable reason for
conflict within the church. Ultimately the church is one body, that of Christ,
and whilst we all do different things, Christ is at the head, and that is the
most important thing.
Sophie