Stephen K. Ray's Blog, page 67

Did the Angel bow to Mary at the Annunciation?

Greetings from Jerusalem!

Today somebody wrote me and asked me about a comment I had made in one of my talks. He asked,

“In responding to a Twitter message about Mary, I had a link to one of your videos where you said an angel bowed to Mary. They went crazy saying no where in the Bible does it say the angel bowed to Mary — can you clarify?”

I responded briefly,

The Bible doesn’t say a lot of things. But if one understands a bit of cultural literacy, especially of antient Israel, and the proper response to a queen, one doesn’t have to find everything in the Bible to know how things probably took place in biblical times.

I was talking with Cardinal Schoenborn of Austria. He’s the one that suggested that the angel coming to Mary bowed profoundly as he recognized her as the woman who would become the queen of heaven.

The king always has a queen, but the queen is never his wife. The queen of Israel is always the mother. Since Mary is the mother of the king, Jesus, the angel would’ve come with great respect.

The Cardinal suggested that the angel bowed to her, knowing that she was at that very moment, becoming the mother of the king, and therefore the queen, not only of Israel, but the queen of all of heaven and the queen of the angels.

The proper response is to bow before the queen.

See also my article on the Queen ship of Mary HERE.

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Galilee Boat Ride, Syrian Border, Caesarea Philippi, Haifa & Jerusalem

Our schedule got changed a little bit because of New Year’s Day and certain closures but we still covered it all and added more.

We started out today with the lovely boat ride on the sea of Galilee before driving up to the Syrian border where we talk to the folks about the situation and the countries in the Middle East.

We had Druze bread sandwiches up in the Golan Heights, and then visited Caesarea Philippi where Jesus said to Peter “You Are Rock and on this rock, I will build My Church!“

Then we headed southwest to Haifa and the Mediterranean Coast looking out over the cliffs. This is where Elijah stayed and is the Headquarters of the Carmelites. We had Mass in the Monks Chapel. Then I gave my Conversion sStory on both buses on our way to Jerusalem. Msgr. Droll also shared his location, story and both buses.

Then we arrived at the Notre Dame in Jerusalem, which will be our home base for the next five days.

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All Around the Sea of Galilee and New Year’s Eve in Nazareth

The cooler weather in December and January is always lovely compared to the heat of summer here. We started out the day with the sumptuous breakfasts at the Ron Beach Hotel before heading to the Mount of Beatitudes for Mass overlooking the sea.

Then to Tabgha to celebrate the multiplication of loaves and fish. I then gave my talk at the Primacy of Peter and we saw the table where the Lord fed his disciples in John chapter 21 and walked down to the shore of Galilee.

Lunch in Capernaum, where we all had Saint Peters Fish, the very fish caught by the disciples and eaten by Jesus. Wonderful view of the sea during lunch. Capernaum was our next stop where we viewed the home of Jesus, for three years during the time of his earthly ministry living with Saint Peter. I gave my talk “Defending the Eucharist“.

We stopped by the hotel for an hour to give everybody time to rest and regroup, and then we drove to Nazareth for the most marvelous New Year’s Eve dinner that could be imaginable. Compliments were raging! People had a choice of salmon, lamb chops, or fillet steak. Everybody’s now enjoying themselves in the lounge or going to bed and we will see you all next year!

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Evangelism Antennas for New Year: One Woman’s Day and the New Evangelism :-)

A while ago I gave a talk in Ann Arbor Michigan. It was about the New Evangelization. As part of my talk I explained how Janet and I have our “evangelism antennas” up first thing in the morning – alertly watching for open doors and ways to share our Catholic Faith throughout the day. And the Christmas season is such a great time to do it!!

I explained that God sets up “divine appointments” for all of us and then holds his breath to see if we will do his bidding. If we don’t, it disappoints God, someone fails to hear the good news, and our days are more boring. Sharing the gospel is a great joy of life once we get over that hurdle of fear and self-consciousness.

After my talk I received this e-mail from Marnie. It was too good not to share. Learn from this! Take her ideas and use them yourself throughout the day. Enjoy!

Dear Steve,

Sue passed along your email.  I was telling her about the day after your Evangelization talk at Christ the King that I prayed in the morning about my antennae being up and had three occasions to share my faith on Wednesday.

Here is how it went.  I am M and the other person is J for Jennifer.  Jennifer works in the laundry room at Schoolcraft College where David and I go to work out.

M- (walking past big window of laundry/custodial room)  Oh, I love your purple decorations.  Purple is the color of Advent.  Are you Catholic?

J-  smiling says, yes, and added that purple is for royalty

M – Jesus is royalty!   I’m a convert to the Catholic Church because Jesus did not want disunity; He did not create divisions or denominations.  Merry Christmas!

J – Thank you for sharing that.

(The man in line, waiting to be handed a towel by Jennifer looked bewildered!)

After working out, the young girl at the gym desk told me that I knew her boyfriend from my teaching days.  I said I remembered what a good student her boyfriend was and how he had a nice, church going family.  I told her I knew all about Ward Presbyterian and Oakpoint where the boyfriend now attends.

 I told her how David and I were Kids Kamp directors at Ward for 14 years (she was a camper), but now we are Catholic and love the faith.  Went on to explain how Ward friends don’t understand why we are converts but that we still love Jesus, perhaps more.  Then we talked about whether or not she had a favorite Bible verse, which she didn’t.  I challenged her to find one and report back to me!

Later in day was checking out at Lord and Taylor, purchasing a gift.  I told the clerk that her accent reminded me of my friend, Ula, who is from Poland.  When she declared that she is Polish, I told her about Ula from Krakow, Poland who had met John Paul II. 

She smiled and I told her how much I loved the Catholic Church and that I was a convert.  I asked her if she had been to the gift shop at The Shrine of the Little Flower that sells hand painted Polish ornaments?  That led to talking about the Eucharist and praying the Rosary.  Meanwhile another customer was waiting and I felt like I should not hurry  

 So….thanks for all the encouragement at the Tuesday talk!  Your talk was excellent, exciting and made me think.  I was taking notes as that is my ADD way of listening better!  In about 2001 or was it 2002, your Defending the Faith talk (@Steubenville) about the Pope, had a huge impact on me.  That is the moment when I finally “got it” – about having a Pope.

On Thursday, at CSS Joshua study, I shared all this with my small group, and at our next fellowship lunch in January, the women decided we would all bring an antennae story to share.

Thanks for using your God given gifts to reach and teach so many of us!  May God bless you and your family this Christmas time.

~Marnie

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Test Post

Testing

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Can the waves on Galilee really be dangerous?

A sea that is only 8 miles x 13 miles seems to be immune from big storms and dangerous waves. We live in Michigan with the five Great Lakes. We know a sea when we see one. the first time my wife saw the Sea of Galilee, she said, “That’s no sea. It’s a wimpy pond!”

But the gospels tell us a small lake can get very dangerous. If you doubt it, watch this video. And this is a calm storm. There are no clouds or storms or rain or lightning. We’ve been here when it’s been much much Worse.

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Enthusiastic Pilgrims Visit Transfiguration, Cana and Nazareth

A lovely first full day as we all joined together for the first time. People having come from all directions in countries meeting together last night, and we finally board our assigned buses and takeoff for the day.

All is well and everyone is happy and luggage all arrived. Today we started out at the top of the Mountain of the Transfiguration 1,900 feet above the Jezreel Valley. From there the renewal of wedding vows in Cana and a visit to the site of the First Joyful mMystery in Nazareth.

A great way to start a pilgrimage. I gave my talks at all three of the sites to help people understand the deep meaning of the Bible as it relates to the sites and to our Catholic faith.

Back to the Sea of Galilee for some free time and a great dinner here at the hotel.

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Demon of a Riddle

From where God placed me I did fall,
I knew the Christ and knew of Paul.
They showed great power, this is true,
But I would never flee from you.
For though your number was complete,
I was not one you could defeat.
When you told me to go my way
I thought I’d have the final say.
When the time came you did flee
With wounds exposed for all to see.
For in your clothes you could not hide
You left without a show of pride.
I was a demon, this is true
All I asked was “Who are you?”

After you give up, if in fact you do
Read Acts 19.

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Our 10th Pilgrimage this Year – Family Holy Land

Today we start our 10th pilgrimage of 2022. We’re certainly back in the air! After a trip to Italy, two to Germany, then Wisconsin, a St. Paul Mediterranean Cruise, and five to Israel. We are excited to be bringing pilgrims back to share our favorite places in the world.

This afternoon we picked up by our group of two buses as they arrive to go in pilgrimage through the lands of the Bible. This pilgrimage is entitled “Family Christmas Holy Land, Pilgrimage.“ We plan it for families to come over Christmas break when school is out. It has a powerful impact on young people.

We picked them up at the Tel Aviv Airport and drove two hours north to Tiberias right on the Sea of Galilee where we settled in for the night. A quick dinner and Mass and we got everyone to bed. Thanks for joining us. We have many exciting days ahead!

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"First Confession" the Hilarious Story of a Seven Year Old Irish Boy

Batt Burns is one of the premier story tellers of Ireland. He is our guide and has mesmerized us along the way. One evening he performed his one man show “Wisperings of Ireland.” 

Part of this show was the enchanting and hilarious story of the seven year old boy going to his first confession with his older and nasty sister.

Unhappily, YouTube limits the length of videos so some of the beginning had to be cut. I think you will enjoy it!

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