BRO. MARS' RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS CONCERNING REPETITIOUS PRAYERS, Refutation of Anthony Pezzota

Jesus healing the blind man, by Eustache Le Sueur, 1625-1650. The blind man Bartimaeus received healing after repeatedly asking the Lord: "Son of David, have pity on me."

Bro. Marwil N. Llasos said...

Thank you, dear brother Anonymous. I also made the same point in my refutation of Dr. Anthony Pezzotta, apostate priest-turned-Baptist pastor.

Please see:

http://bromarwilnllasos.blogspot.com/search/label/Rosary

Here are some excerpts:

Finally, Pezzotta attacks the Rosary and calls it “unacceptable” supposedly because of the “repetition of words.” The Baptist pastor claims that Jesus is against “repetitive prayers.” He quotes Matthew 6:7 of Today’s English Version –

When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long.

Notice that there is nothing in the passage from TEV quoted by Pezzotta that condemns “repetitive prayers.” The verse says that when we pray, we should not use “a lot of meaningless words as the pagans do.” Catholics don’t use meaningless words in praying like the pagans. The words in the Rosary are certainly not meaningless. Pezzotta himself concedes that there are “positive things” in the Rosary like the “very good aspect” of meditating on the important events in the life of Christ. So, how can the prayerful meditation of the Christ-event be meaningless?

Our Lord also condemns the lengthy prayers of the Pharisees in Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47: “They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.” Here, Our Lord condemns making lengthy prayers “for a show.” This condemnation, in fact, seems to apply more to Protestant worship or Evangelical fellowship. Pastors and ministers like Rev. Anthony Pezzotta pray lengthily, oftentimes using grandiloquent words for effective histrionic effect. It is noticeable that in almost every service, they repeat their rather bombastic and intensely emotional prayers. The pastors’ and ministers’ flair for theatrics in praying is truly remarkable. They always seem to be haranguing God and their congregation.

In attacking the Rosary as “repetitive prayer” Pezzotta should have used the King James Version instead. For praying the Rosary, Catholics are often accused of “vain repetition” by Protestants pointing to Matthew 6:7 of their King James Version of the Bible:

"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."

The Protestant attack on the Rosary as “vain repetition” is based on an erroneous translation of the Bible. The original Greek text of Matthew 6:7 (which Pezzotta never mentions) states:

"Proseuchomenoi de mE battalogEsEte hOsper hoi ethnikoi dokousin gar hoti en tE polulogia autOn eisakousthEsontai."

The root word of “battalogEsEte” is “battalogeo” which is better translated as “babbling.” Protestant scholars already realized their mistake. They corrected the error and rendered Matthew 6:7 in the New International Version as:

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Thus, for deliberately changing the Word of God, Protestant (mis)translators “have perverted the words of the living God” (Jer. 23:36).

We see an example of vain repetition by pagans In 1 Kings 18:25-29. The prayer of the prophets of Baal is obviously “vain repetition.” In the first place, they are addressed to a false god who cannot hear them. One definitely does not need to leap around, cut oneself and cry out loud from morning until afternoon in praying to a non-existent being.

In Chapter 19 of the Acts of the Apostles, we find the Ephesians repeatedly heaping praises on their goddess Diana: “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:28; 34). Certainly, that is empty repetition because they are praising a non-existent being. In fact, Paul was persuading the Ephesians to abandon their idol worship (Acts 19:26). Paul’s preaching angered the populace because it threatened their trade of making silver temples and idols. If Paul would be successful, they would have to close shop.

Actually, Matthew 6:7 condemns the “babbling” of pagans. What does “babbling” mean? In Today’s English Version which Pezzotta quotes, Matthew 6:7 is rendered:

When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long.

The Amplified Bible renders the same verse as:

"And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking."

We should always remember that what counts most in our prayer life is our sincerity. We have to mean what we say. Our Lord insists on this when He said: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Mt. 15:8, NIV). What we say should come from our heart because “the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart” (Mt. 15:18, NIV).

The Bible does not condemn repetitious prayer per se. In fact, Our Lord Himself engaged in repetitious prayer during His agony in the garden. In Matthew 26:44, we are told: "So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.”

If Pezzotta is correct in saying that Jesus is against “repetitive prayers” then the Lord Himself ate His own words and contradicted His own teaching.

As Catholics, we take Jesus as our Model in our prayer life: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk. 11:1). Jesus is our example in everything we say or do, as He Himself told us: “I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also” (Jn. 13:15, DRV). We Catholics follow His example because He said: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart” (Mt. 11:29).

In Luke 18:9-14, we read about the prayer of the tax collector. In that passage, the original Greek text uses the imperfect tense meaning that the tax collector "kept beating his breast and saying, “Have mercy on me O Lord, a sinner.”

The angels in heaven also engage in a repetitious prayer of adoration before the thrice-holy God as indicated in Revelations 4:8:

"And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."

The Book of Psalms occupies a place of honor in Jewish Liturgy (and in Christian Liturgy as well). It is a treasury of prayers for almost any thing. The Book of Psalms is repetitiously used in the Liturgy of the People of God in which Our Lord Himself participated. Psalm 136 is an antiphonal Psalm with the refrain “for His mercy endures forever.” This same refrain is mentioned in Psalm 106:1, 107:1, 118: 1-4, 29 which parallels 2 Chronicles 5:13, 7:3,6.

An ejaculatory prayer, “Praise the Lord!” is mentioned countless times in the Bible (See: Ps. 116:17, 111:1, 112:1, 135:1, 146:1, 147:1). So-called “Born Again Christians” like Dr. Pezzotta are fond of shouting “Praise the Lord!” whenever they can without realizing that they are actually engaging in repetitious prayer.

The Jews also pray “Our help is in the name of the Lord” repetitiously (Ps. 121:2, 124:8). Jews also repeat a number of times the interjection “Amen” (Ps. 89:52) like we Christians do. Finally, Psalm 120:164 tells us: “Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.”

Jesus gave us two parables to illustrate that persistence and repetitious prayer can be just the right approach (Lk. 11:5-13, Luke 18:2-5). Our Lord taught us to “pray always” (Lk. 21:36). Jesus told His Apostles that “they should always pray and not give up” (Lk. 18:1). St. Paul the Apostle exhorts us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). He engaged in repetitious prayer himself: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me” (2 Cor. 12:8). Clearly, St. Paul practiced what he preached.

Formulary prayers are not the only prayers Catholics pray. The Catholic Church has a beautiful theology of prayer that Pezzotta should have known as a Catholic priest. The Church encourages her children to engage in spontaneous prayer, vocal prayer, mental prayer, contemplative or meditative prayer, liturgical prayer, as well as a host of other forms of prayer constituting her inexhaustible treasury of prayers that ascend like fragrant incense to the throne of the Almighty.

In praying, Catholics are not bound by the language of exact science or precise theology. We speak the language of love. By using the language of love, we are bound to repeat ourselves to impress to our beloved our beautiful message of love. Our loved ones do not get tired of hearing the same words from us, especially if they come from the innermost recesses of our heart. We can never say “I love you” enough. We believe that God appreciates our language of love because “God is love” (1 Jn. 4:16).

October 20, 2010 3:21 PM