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Posted on 09/11/2014 11:19:06 AM PDT by Jan_Sobieski
Pope Francis has been a breath of fresh air for many Catholics seeking greater liberty and a growing concern for conservative Christians who take issue with his comments about homosexuality and other cultural issues.
But the pontiff's latest statement is sparking an uproar from believers around the world. Pope Francis sent a tweet Tuesday that absolutely violates the truth of Scripture:
"The Christian who does not feel that the Virgin Mary is his or her mother is an orphan," Pope Francis tweeted.
As of the time I wrote this column it had been retweeted about 4,000 times and many of the responses were in appropriately unkind. It's not appropriate to attack the pope for his beliefs. It's more appropriate to share the truth...
Ain't gonna happen. Mary is too tied into their salvation. Jesus wasn't and isn't enough.
Am I asking too much; would that compromise the object of your faith?
Yes and yes.
It's telling isn't it, their reaction to Mary?
If they focused as much as Jesus as they do on Mary, they'd turn the world on its ear.
I've challenged Catholics before to focus only on Jesus for one whole month, and to not pay any attention to Mary as all. Just make it about Jesus.
They get the heebie-jeebies. They just can't and won't do it.
That tells me right there that way too much attention and importance is given to Mary and that she, not Jesus, is central to their belief system.
They can carry on all they want about the *real presence* but that is all that you hear about Jesus. EVERYTHING else is focused on Mary.
Look at how much they talk about her, talk about *adoring*, *venerating*, *honoring* her and see how much they say that about Jesus. The only time they talk about Jesus and worshiping Him is when they claim He's in that wafer they eat.
Pray to Mary and other dead people. Eat Jesus.
Take Mary out of Catholicism and the church would collapse.
All the faithful, weekly mass attending Catholics I know are liberal, democrat voters.
When confronted by the Christians (who voted conservative and Republican when it was conservative) about how they could vote for pro-abortion democrats, we'd get excuses that always began with *Yeah but.....*, and the answers were, *The democrats are "for the poor"*, or (within the last year) *I know what the Catholic church teaches, but nobody has the right to tell a woman what she can do with her own body.*, by the same very elderly, lifelong faithful Catholic who is excited about her homosexual niece's wedding.
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“Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.”
Imagine what might have happened if Billy Graham had led the Pope to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Likewise, imagine the Kingdom impact if any of these zealots had the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide them to speak the Truth to an unsaved world!
oops
oops
She chose? So how did that work? A lot of planning must have gone into that on her part to have been able to arrange being of the lineage she was. No wonder Catholics think she is some kind of deity.
Actually I've got news for you. It was God who chose her and any Catholic who truly wants eternal life in heaven had better stop always giving credit and glory to man and give credit and glory to God where it belongs.
Matthew 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
That is a sad truth.
Where did the angel ask?
They would not know how to worship without praying to her. That is really sad that they would rather pray to her than pray to the Only One who truly matters. I use to watch tv a lot but not since I found the wonderful Music Choice stations. I came across many programs where someone was praying to Mary or saints. Never to Jesus. I found that kinda wierd and sad. Why didn’t they pray to Jesus and go right to the Source? Do they honestly think that the dead can answer prayers?
They obviously do. One only needs to peruse the prayers to Mary and their so called saints to see that they ask them to do specific tasks. It's easy to see that the ruse of "we just ask them to pray for us" is utter nonsense and not true. They give attributes that only God has to Mary and their so called saints.
“Wrong. He said it was the GREATEST commandment, not the first.”
Read down a little further.
And you guys are so proud of your knowledge of scripture.
How can there be two greatest commandments?
And you guys are so proud of your knowledge of scripture.
Link?
“Talk about bilgewater.....”
How would you know? You have no experience of it. Your opinion on the matter is worthless.
“We are to be set apart for God and to God and NO ONE ELSE.”
Because there were Protestants in my life whom I loved and respected, I thought my mother was too harsh when she called them petty and narrow-minded.
“To do so is idolatry.”
Okay, so in your world, to love someone whom Christ loves is idolatry. Wow. I sure am glad that your world is not the one God created.
“If Catholicism is so tied to Mary, then it’s not about Jesus.”
That idea is petty and narrow-minded. God gives with both hands, freely and generously. He gives us wise men to guide us, holy men to show us the way, Saint Joseph to be an example to fathers; the Blessed Virgin Mary to be an example to mothers; Saint Peter to teach us about courage, loyalty, and human failings; Saul of Tarsus to teach us that we can be wrong, and Saint Paul to teach us that even if we are wrong, God can put us right—et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
“If Mary had played such a pivotal role in salvation, God would have told us in Scripture”
Right, sure, that idea is not petty and narrow-minded, because everything God has ever wanted to communicate to us or will ever want to communicate to us is in there. And the KJV is not incomplete and rife with translation errors.
Here’s some news: God still communicates with us; sometimes directly, sometimes through saints. He still works miracles. And sometimes He chooses to allow the Blessed Virgin Mary or some other saint to be the agent of His works.
“All that extraneous stuff that Catholicism loves to add on about Mary is NOWHERE mentioned in Scripture by the Holy Spirit.”
So, if God talks to you, you’re going to reject what He says because it’s not in scripture. Good thinking.
“Mary fulfilled the role God had for her when she, as a virgin, gave birth to Jesus. That was ALL she had to do to fulfill prophecy and once that was done, there is nothing about her life that had or has any bearing on Jesus bringing salvation to the world, or the Holy Spirit working our salvation out in us.”
Reading that filled my nose with the stench of Satan. It’s frightening. Martin Luther would probably have dealt a severe beating to anyone who said that.
“Mary has no power to do what is God’s work alone”
Mary has whatever power God chooses to give her, as is true of all His creatures. We Catholics are aware that, out of love for us, God has given Mary power and authority to help the living. You protestants, for whatever twisted reasons, insist that God is not capable of using Mary—or, apparently, anyone else—as He pleases.
“and to claim that she does diminished the work of God and exalts her beyond what ought to be for a human being”
Bilgewater. A God who can create the universe, all that is visible and invisible, can certainly use His creatures as He pleases. Since Mary wants to help us, God allows her to warn and comfort, and when she prays to Him, He listens. It is truly tragic that you Protestants cut yourselves off from the gifts God offers to us.
“God will share His glory with no other.”
Your god is a third-grader. Your god is stingy. Your god only gives his creatures a tiny fraction of what God offers. Your god is a limited god, a god who can’t rise above human failings, a god who thinks, as did the elder brother of the prodigal son, that anything received by anyone else diminishes himself.
Shake off your ego. Admit that you could have been wrong all these years. Come worship God, the real God, the One who is above pettiness, who can allow His creatures to help Him in His plan—not because He needs help, but because He is infinitely loving. Come worship God, who doesn’t scrimp on blessings, who doesn’t give just the bare minimum needed to scrape our way to salvation, but showers blessings on us even beyond our ability to comprehend.
Some Protestants think “If a person could be saved without this, it must be false.” That’s the way their god rolls. But God wants everyone to be saved, so he gives more than just the bare minimum. If a person *could* be saved without something, that means he *might not* be saved without it, so God offers it anyway—and this, and that, and the other thing, whatever might help.
And you Protestants just fling it back in His face, judge for yourselves what is “necessary” to salvation, and, in so doing, impoverish yourselves spiritually.
Stop that. Come worship God.
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