****It seems such an unnecessary loss and a sad decision to separate one’s self from Her, to rebel against His Church.****
I know just what you mean and have heard many Protestants express the difficulty they had converting because of the “Catholic” Mary.
Protestants literally see everything in the black and white of the written word. I wonder sometimes if they believe that Jesus and His mother had a loving relationship. There is no record of it in Scripture. On the contrary, protestants honestly think Jesus rebuked her and belittled her.
***The Word became flesh and dwelt among us... born of a woman.***
Mary’s is the most singular and most profound role of any human in the salvation of the world.
God said Abraham would have children as numerous as the stars in the sky. If we are all stars, then Mary is the brightest. She carried within her the fullness of God’s love for us (John 3:16) and through her came our salvation. Though she is not the source of that salvation, she is the way in which He came. For God ordained that only Jesus, the Son of God and the Son of Man could redeem us and He chose Mary to bear our redemption.
Mary was not a random choice. God knew her from before the creation of the world and prepared her for Himself.
But, their hearts are hardened and no words from us can soften them. Only Jesus can show them the honor He has given her. Pray He shows them His mother as He sees her.
thanks for your reply; very well stated. There’s lots in it that will open eyes and hearts as well as prayers and doctrine there.
One of the main frameworks for the early Church was family. Our saviour, God, had a family, just like us. And He had a mother, just like us.
I remember entering the Cathedral the first time during my conversion and seeing the statue of St. Mary. And thinking of my mother, deceased, and of Christ’s mother, and she watching him hung on a cross, and he looking down on her...
All of this and more is inherent to the Incarnation which is what separates us from all other revealed religions.
To not fully realize this, or to put some wall up against a part of it is to lose much of what being Christian means. It is like cutting yourself off from your family and God’s family.
That is a sad and needless thing to do to yourself and others in your family.
thanks again for your post.