She is a Protestant from Indonesia and we spoke in Bahasa Malaysia/Bahasa Indonesia. I am glad to have this conversation because it somehow give me an insights into other Christians denominations. In fact, since my conversion to Catholic Christian, this is the first time someone from the Protestant denomination engaged me in this discussion.
She asked me why do Catholics ‘pray’ to Mother Mary? So, I explained my Catholic views to her.
“Perawan Maria ialah ibu Yesus semasa Yesus di bumi. Sebelum Yesus meninggalkan pengikut-pengikutNya, Yesus ada berpesan…
19:25 Di dekat salib Yesus berdiri ibu Yesus, saudara perempuan ibu-Nya, Maria istri Klopas, dan Maria Magdalena.
19:26 Ketika Yesus melihat ibu-Nya dan pengikut yang dikasihi-Nya berdiri di situ, Ia berkata kepada ibu-Nya, “Ibu, itu anak Ibu.”
19:27 Kemudian Yesus berkata kepada pengikut-Nya itu, “Itu ibumu.” Semenjak itu pengikut itu menerima ibu Yesus untuk tinggal di rumahnya.
Jadi, kami orang Katolik cuma memberi hormat yang tertinggi kepada Perawan Maria. Kami bukan sembayang kepada Perawan Maria. Hanya Tuhan yang patut kita sembah.
So, she was made aware of it. Still, she asked me why people are so devoted to Mary. I explained that many people are devoted to Mary because they find it easier to share their heart feelings with Mary. And they believe Mary will intercede or ‘menjadi orang tengah untuk meminta tolong dari anaknya, Yesus.”
It is a very humbling experience for me to be able to talk about Tuhan, Yesus dan Roh Kudus in Bahasa Indonesia – Bahasa Malaysia with a person from another country. I wanted to ask her if we should pray together but then, I chickened out because I was worried the prayers in Bahasa Malaysia won’t pop out of my mouth.
Never mind, I am learning each day. Semoga Tuhan memberkati dia dan memberi dia ketabahan dan kekuatan untuk menghadapi rintangan yang besar ini.
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