“I hear you saying that the difference between worship and veneration is based in the nature of the glorified saints, that they have attained to a higher status (status...for want of a better word).”
You’re leaving out God and me. I didn’t. Who made the saints? God. If I go to Heaven, who got me there? God. The saints will aid me, but only through Him. They are nothing without Him.
“(I’m putting words in your mouth not out of anything other than attempting to understand.)”
Okay.
“You are saying that you know the difference between worship (only to God) and veneration (to saints/angels) because worship is only to God no matter if it is the same acts that are performed. (Did I get that right?)”
Some acts are strictly reserved for God, yes. I assume you kiss your spouse differently than you do your parents or your children. You love them all, but some acts are restricted to your spouse alone, correct? We only offer the Eucharist to God the Father, for instance, because that was always only intended for Him. We can ask the saints for help, but we never worship them. I know I never have. Ever. Not even once.
All the sacraments are about worshiping and honoring God. Baptism is done through invoking the Trinity. Confirmation is done through the Holy Spirit. Confession is done through the power of Christ. The Eucharist is given by the Son through the invocation of the Holy Spirit and offered to the Father. And so on.
The saints are mere helpmates to God. They do nothing on their own.
“Now, to be fair to those not of that same Church, it does appear to be circular reasoning.”
Nope. I think the problem is your apparently small circle of “appearance” and not our reasoning. The Eastern Orthodox and many Anglicans have no problem understanding what I am saying here so you can’t just say “those not of that same Church”. That just doesn’t wash. That blindness on the part of Protestants makes no sense to me.
“It isn’t worship because you know that it isn’t.”
No. If it isn’t worship it isn’t worship because it isn’t worship. Offering up the Eucharist is worship. That’s only done in adoration of God the Father. Period.
“When I argue with my wife, she can say, “You’re angry.” I can reply, “It isn’t anger because I know when I’m angry.” She says, “But it looked like anger.” Again I reply, “But it isn’t. I know what I felt, and it wasn’t anger.” You’ve got to feel for the wife. She’s not a mind reader.”
But is she right? Notice how you don’t say she is or isn’t? Do you know what you do and don’t do? I do know what I do and don’t do. And I don’t worship anyone but God.
“The same with us non-Catholics.”
Except for the Eastern Orthodox, Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox, and Anglicans you mean. Again, that blindness that Protestants are stricken with.
“We could take you at your word, that it isn’t worship, but it looks the same as when you worship, so at least give us the benefit of understanding, since we’re from a different ‘culture’.”
So if a Protestant gets on his knee to ask his girlfriend to marry him, he must actually be worshiping her because he’s kneeling in front of her, proclaiming his love, his fidelity and so on, right?
That...or get a very cold shoulder for a while. :>)
But you do see the issue of 'appearance' even in your jest. So, we non-Catholics (don't the Orthodox claim to be 'Catholic'?....in any case, we're not all out of protestant churches...some of us came about after the reformation. My own, some 200 years later, and then again 200 years after that.)