I think I've lost the thread of the argument somewhere. Forgive me.
Where exactly does it say that grace is something you earn for what you do?
You can't "earn" grace. God gives grace freely - you can reject it because of free will (this is a Catholic teaching which the Reformers opposed), but you can't receive grace unless God decides to give it to you.
Me too, trying to work and carry on an interesting conversation over FR is tough.
Somehow we have a big disagreement over the scripturality of Marianism. You suggest that through "inference" we can move from a small handfull of verses to the many writings of popes and DeMontforts out there. I disagree and suggest that with the same kind of "inference" we could have picked the donkey He rode in on or John the Baptist or the bronze snake that Moses made to save the people and invent all the same kinds of things about it. It's been done before and it is a human failing. I mention the bronze snake for a specific reason because there is an example of an object that was given for a positive reason that later became an idol. This is what we have in the RCC with Mary.