Why do Catholics pray through Mary? Because they are Jewish of course...

This is something I learned today as I was reading the first pages of Taylor Marshall's book "The Crucified Rabbi" as he explains how a Rabbi began his journey from Episcopalean pastor to Catholic Priest. On his first assignment he was asked to do a hospital visitation. He got his prayer book ready, along with his stole and went to the hospital, only to find the patient he was to pray for was Jewish (her husband was Episcopalian and she attended the services with him). As Fr Taylor was leaving the hospital room he bumped into her Rabbi who had also come to pray with her. The Rabbi asked the husband for the name of his wife's mother (as the patient had fallen asleep and could not be asked). The husband was perplexed and asked Rabbi why he needed that info and the Rabbi replied: "We Jews believe that if someone is suffering and you invoke the name of his or her mother in prayer, God will be more merciful in granting your prayer for that person."
This series of events began Fr Taylor's discovering the Biblical roots of Catholicism and his conversion.
I researched a bit further on this topic and found that it is rooted in Psalm 116 which reads "I worship you, LORD, just as my mother did, and you have rescued me from the chains of death."  (Psa 116:16 CEV). We must also note that the Jewish faith is passed down from the mother and when praying for someone they would emphasize their eternal link to God which comes from the mother.
As Catholics we pray for Mary's intercession as our mother, the mother of all of us in Faith. We can say, even, that Mary is the new Abraham, but whereas Abraham was spared the sacrifice of his son Isaac, Mary was entrusted to see her son sacrificed for our salvation. She is, so to say, Abraham going even one step further. She, like Abraham, watched her only son carry the wood for his own sacrifice up the hill. However, she was not spared the sacrifice of her son. Truly, just as Abraham is our father in Faith, so Mary is our Mother, believing that God's plan brings salvation in any circumstances.
We also know that Mary is our mother from the word's spoken to John from the Cross: "Behold your mother" (Jn 19:27).
Let us thank Jesus for given His blessed Mother to us and pray continually for her intercession, remembering that it was at the prompting of Mary that Jesus performed His first public miracle at the wedding feast at Cana (John Chapter 2).
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Catholic Woman Priests on London bus!

I have just spent most of today travelling on busses. My journey to and from work took no less than 5 hours. But I do believe that the union's have to retain the right to strike and so offer my suffering for that purpose. Although the journey was more fascinating than it was frustrating. I saw the BNP protesting outside the courthouse as their rascist and fascist leader Nick Griffin ppeared before the court. Then, I saw the parade in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Blitz. This was at St Paul's cathedral and there was one of the WW2 fighter planes outside. I also got to ride on one of the old style busses. This was great as I saw that those old busses didn't try and sell you stuff when you looked in any direction. The new ones just seem to bombard a person with horrible adverts for abortion, STD clinics, abortion providers, IVF and sperm banks. But post-Christian society in Britain is a topic for another discussion. The old ones have no place for adverts and are more suited to enjoying the ride, which I did as we passed by Hyde Park. One advert that struck me on the way home was for Pope Benedict to ordain woman priests. I have inserted the picture below. I was a little taken aback, but it is not the first time in this month that I have been confronted by the question: "Why don't we ordain woman as Priests?"

There is a simple answer: we can't. The Catholic Church was not founded by men, but by Jesus. Jesus was a man and chose men to continue his work. The Church is simply not in a position to change the teaching of Jesus. For a more full discussion (from a woman too) I urge you to read "Why woman can't be priests" by Mary DeTurris.

The Church doesn't just make the rules up as She goes (yes, the Church is referred to always as She as She is the bride of Christ). If you are truly interested please read the document. The Church has not got a hidden agenda and truly loves woman, holding the example of Mary especially dear. Mary, we love you, pray for us. Men and women are equal yes, but we are different. It is irrational and untrue to claim otherwise. Those differences help us to better each other, to challenge each other, but most of all - to complement each other - this is especially displayed in the act of sex. A man and a woman, together, coming together in the image of God to create life (please refer to the creation narrative in Genesis, in the Hebrew it is easier to see that where it says God created "them" in his image, the "them" is plural. The man and woman together are the creative image of God). 

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2010/08/26/ordain-women-london-bus-ads-will-urge-pope-benedict-during-september-visit/

Let us celebrate our different roles, and work to produce God's work more fully together. Let's trust that Jesus knew what He was doing and not let men mess it up by bowing to the ever changing modern "progressive" view, also known as PRIDE. The sin above all sins.

The Truth about the Catholic Church