Posted on 12/08/2012 2:24:39 PM PST by NYer
Do Catholics worship Mary? This question is as old as the Protestant Reformation itself, and it rests, like other disputed doctrinal points, on a false premise that has been turned into a wedge: the veneration of Mary detracts from the worship of Christ.
This seeming opposition between Mary and Christ is symptomatic of the Protestant tendency, begun by Luther, to view the entirety of Christian life through a dialectical lens – a lens of conflict and division. With the Reformation the integrity of Christianity is broken and its formerly coherent elements are now set in opposition. The Gospel versus the Law. Faith versus Works. Scripture versus Tradition. Authority versus Individuality. Faith versus Reason. Christ versus Mary.
The Catholic tradition rightly sees the mutual complementarity of these elements of the faith, as they all contribute to our ultimate end – living with God now and in eternity. To choose any one of these is to choose them all.
By contrast, to assert that Catholics worship Mary along with or in place of Christ, or that praying to Mary somehow impedes Christ’s role as “the one mediator between God and men” (1 Tim 2:5) is to create a false dichotomy between the Word made flesh and the woman who gave the Word his flesh. No such opposition exists. The one Mediator entrusted his mediation to the will and womb of Mary. She does not impede his mediation – she helps to make it possible.
Within this context we see the ancillary role that the ancilla Domini plays in her divine Son’s mission. Mary’s is not a surrogate womb rented and then forgotten in God’s plan. She is physically connected to Christ and his life, and because of this she is even more deeply connected to him in the order of grace. She is, in fact, “full of grace,” as only one who is redeemed by Christ could be.
The feast of Mary’s Immaculate Conception celebrates the very first act of salvation by Christ in the world. Redemption is made possible for all by his precious blood shed on the cross. Yet Mary’s role in the Savior’s life and mission is so critical and so unique that God saw it necessary to wash her in the blood of the Lamb in advance, at the first moment of her conception.
This reality could not be more Biblical: the angel greets Mary as “full of grace” (Luke 1:28), which is literally rendered as “already graced” (kecharitōmenē). Following Mary, the Church has “pondered what sort of greeting this might be” for centuries. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception, ultimately defined in 1854, is nothing other than a rational expression of the angel’s greeting contained in Scripture: Mary is “already graced” with Christ’s redemption at the very moment of her creation.
Because God called Mary to the unique vocation of serving as the Mother of God, it is not just her soul that is graced, as is the case for us when we receive the sacraments. Mary’s entire being, body and soul, is full of grace so that she may be a worthy ark for the New Covenant. And just as the ark of the old covenant was adorned with gold to be a worthy house for God’s word, Mary is conceived without original sin to be the living and holy house for God’s Word.
Thus Mary is not only conceived immaculately, that is, without stain of sin. She also is the Immaculate Conception. Her entire being was specifically created by God with unique privilege so that she could fulfill her role in God’s plan of salvation. “Free from sin,” both original and personal, is the necessary consequence of being “full of grace.”
Protestants claim that veneration of Mary as it is practiced by Catholics is not biblical. St. Paul encouraged the Corinthians to “be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor 11:1). Paul is not holding himself up as the end goal, but as a means to Christ, the true end. And if a person is imitated, he is simultaneously venerated.
If we should imitate Paul, how much more should we imitate Mary, who fulfilled God’s will to the greatest degree a human being could. Throughout her life she humbled herself so that God could be exalted, and because of this, Christ has fulfilled his promise by exalting his lowly mother to the seat closest to him in God’s kingdom.
Mary is the model of humility, charity, and openness to the will of God. She allows a sword to pierce her heart for the sake of the world’s salvation. She shows us the greatness to which we are called: a life free from sin and filled with God’s grace that leads to union with God in Heaven. She is the model disciple, and therefore worthy of imitation and veneration, not as an end in herself, but as the means to the very purpose of her – and our – existence: Christ himself.
God’s lowly handmaiden would not want it any other way.
“”Jesus is the truth. He indwells us “”
We agree, but one must open themselves to His love completely and recognize they could have been in complete error even though they believe they love Our Lord .
correctly
It’s not an easy thing to let go of a life dedicated to error, dear friend, even though one has convinced themselves that what they are doing in right in one’s mind.
My prayer is for you and you’re family ,that this year, Our Blessed Lord will continue open your heart.
I wish you a Blessed New Year,CB!
Some on e this thread...
... have emotional handicaps that THEY can't see...
And the sun will come up tomorrow.
You mean like a certain NARSES does?
So it’s still listed under .
Roman Catholic sects
There are many groups outside the Roman Catholic Church which regard themselves as
Catholic, such as the Community of the Lady of All Nations, the Palmarian Catholic
Church, the Philippine Independent Church, the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, the
Free Catholic Church, the Society of St. Pius X, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, and others.
The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae started in Lima, Peru, has multiple cases of psychological abuses experienced by youth that were attracted to the movement.[14]
As I said before the entire revision history is public record. The page was established in 2006 and the section in question has NEVER been revised. What other conclusion would you have us reach? Now please stop.
Of COURSE it is!
And, an easy mind to read, for you have expressed it's output many times in this thread.
It ain't very hard to read your typed WORDS and make a JUDGEMENT based on them.
Then you should stop listening to the RCC and rely on scripture and the Holy Spirit.
My prayer is for you and you’re family ,that this year, Our Blessed Lord will draw you to Him and away from the deceit of the RCC.
John 7:17 If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
John 8:31-32 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
First, that is not what Metmom posted. Second, they have no authority to declare themselves Catholic while outside communion with the Church.
And Christ will continue to bless those He calls saints who rely on Him alone who are truly His saints. Notice the difference!
BTW It's common courtesy to ping those mentioned in posts.
John 8:59
Mom; they’re BOTH pickin’ on me!!!
Teacher! Teacher! She’s ………
Aw...
...leave the poor man (?) alone!
We can handle this.
LOL I thought the same thing. I actually hesitated to include.
Well good, that's what is important in a Christian's life.
After all, I have the Mass which is all about Jesus
I am glad of that, I thought it was also about Mary.
...just a verse here or there topped off ... an hour long sermon which is mostly the pastor's opinion.
I have been in quite a few Protestant (and those that are assumed to be Protestant)church services and have not found that to be the case.
And I have known personally several of the Pastors and all the ones I knew preached from Scripture (praying first for the Holy Spirit to direct the sermon) not their own opinion.
Looks like you were in a weak church.
Did you mean to be so condescending and snarky with that remark of yours?
I'm sorry you saw it from that perspective, it wasn't meant that way at all.
I have talked to many Catholics as well as other people,(Christian and non Christian), and only from a Catholic did I get the answer "No I am a Catholic" when I asked her if she was a Christian.
Thus including "future Christians," who exist in probably every Christian congregation.
If you meant your last sentence to reflect Scripture, here it is in context:
Sorry about the misunderstanding in our communication with each other.Proverbs 16:18
King James Version (KJV)
18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
While I refer to his valued associate: Calvin.
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