A bone of contention. You 'say' she's not God according to Catholic teaching, but then you treat her as if she is.
Only God should be prayed to, bowed to, or receive titles and Honors that belong to God ALONE. And only Christ (God) is our mediator in direct contradiction to your catechism #969. (I Timothy 2:5-6). When Mary has been raised to any of the above positions that ONLY belong to God you HAVE made her God. This is not rocket science. Catholic teaching SAYS one thing then DOES another. Its the ACTIONS that are the proof in the pudding, not what is SAID.
You cay SAY until the cows come home that you don't worship Mary or make or a God, but your ACTIONS prove otherwise. At this point the only thing that any Catholic can do to prove sincerity to me is to repent of these actions. Preaching and word games means nothing.
Repentance should include the following:
1) Repent from the practice of praying to Mary. The Bible nowhere teaches that prayers are to be directed to anyone but God, and that God is the only one who knows our hearts (1 Kings 8:39).
2) Repent from the practice of seeking grace from Mary. The Bible teaches us that all grace comes from God alone (1 Peter 5:10).
3) Repent from the practice of referring to Mary as 'our life' and 'our hope'. The Bible teaches us that only the Lord is our life and hope (Colossians 3:4; 1 Timothy 1:1).
4) Repent from the practice of making her into a co-redemptrix equal to Christ. The Bible says that there is only one mediator, Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5) and that Christ is the only one interceding for us (Hebrews 7:25). Why in the world would anyone seek Mary to be a mediator or intercessor when the Bible clearly says that role belongs to Christ. Is Christ insufficient or weak that He needs Mary to accomplish what HE cannot do? Nonsense!
5) Repent from the practice of trusting eternal souls into Mary's care at the hour of their deaths. Isn't the Good Shepherd able to keep His sheep and bring them safely to glory (John 10:27-30)? Is Christ inadequate to this task also? Only Mary can save??? Again nonsense! Shame on all who have done this!
6) Repent from the practice of bowing to Mary. This is idolatry and forbidden in Lev. 26:1. And don't give me any nonsense about 'divine worship' gobbely gook. The Hebrew word for 'worship' in Exodus 20:5 = "shachah" שָׁחָה. Strong's says:
"172 occurrences; AV translates as “worship” 99 times, “bow” 31 times, “bow down” 18 times, “obeisance” nine times, “reverence” five times, “fall down” three times, “themselves” twice, “stoop” once, “crouch” once, and translated miscellaneously three times. 1 to bow down. 1a (Qal) to bow down. 1b (Hiphil) to depress (fig). 1c (Hithpael). 1c1 to bow down, prostrate oneself. 1c1a before superior in homage. 1c1b before God in worship. 1c1c before false gods. 1c1d before angel."
Bowing down is clearly described as WORSHIP. Clearly, Roman Catholics who bow down before statues of Mary (and others) are risking breaking the commandment not to worship other gods and not to bow down before idols. The Catholic Church responds by saying that as long as it isn't divine worship given to Mary, it is okay. But this is nothing more than a word game. They do the same thing to Mary that they would to God and excuse it by saying that it isn't divine worship. The funny thing is that God doesn't make the same distinction as the Catholics do. God says don't do it. Don't bow down before images in Lev 26:21! REPENT!!
You said it correctly when you said, "The answer is not to teach falsely about Mary or Jesus..." AMEN!!! So come out of the Catholic Church and REPENT for the RCC teaches FALSELY!!!
you treat her as if she is [God]
I do know the difference between the finite and infinite, between icon and idol, between God and Mary. For you to know how I treat Mary would require you to have knowledge of my thoughts that you cannot possibly have.
I do realize that for some the distinction between honor, high honor and worship does not seem to exist when it comes to saints or other religious figures. For them there's just worship. A bow is worship, a kiss is worship, etc. They can only think of what they would be thinking if it were they.
But that would be an error of projection.
There is also the difference that the meaning of the Communion of Saints, Body of Christ, etc. has been lost in some areas of Christendom. Combined with intercessory prayer this causes confusion and error in some when viewing Catholic prayers.
AMEN!!!
PREACH IT, SISTER!!!
Sadly, the only time Catholics will do that is AFTER they have accepted Christ and know the truth.
I do not know of any former Catholics who have not seen the truth of what you said and forsaken that idol worship. Every last ex-Catholic will admit that it really is worship of Mary in practice.