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.
You caught that ey? :-)
Being that I can't read your mind and your previous post seemed to suggest to me that you could be someone who rejected free will. I decided to see in my last post if your response would indicate a denial of free will by you.
There is sin that is unforgivable and suggesting that grave sin has no consequences is like walking on the edge of the abyss,dear sister
Why don't you just admit that Luther should not had such a thing and move on ,lest you be accused of condoning grave sin as well
Well, RC exhibit a voracity for attacking our reliance upon the veracity of Scripture over that of Rome. Rome being a law unto itself, there is not need to do as the Bereans did.
“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. “ (Acts 17:11)
Of course you did. Free will either before or after one is saved does not say that one is partly responsible for his salvation.
Does knowing that your parents would support you even if you did something bad mean that you would go out and do it? Are you convinced that your parents would always be there to support you and turn you back to doing good even if you did do something bad? Would you be willing to admit that they would?
That sure puts into perspective who the supreme authority to Catholics is doesn’t it.
I’m interested in knowing what sin is “unforgivable”, stfassisi. In this dispensation of the grace of God, whereby He seeks all men to be reconciled to Himself through the finished work of His Son, Jesus Christ. And if you are going to tell me that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the unforgivable sin, I’m afraid we’ll have to take a walk down the Kingdom Gospel trail and the prophesies and promises concerning a nation, Israel. But go ahead. I’m all ears.
Got my attention!
Sigh...
Psalm 51: written by a man after GOD's own heart.
Galatians 5:13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Stood up and took the “bull” by the horns did ya?
"Wherefore I (Jesus Christ) say unto you, All manner of sins and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shalll not be forgiven unto men." Matt. 12:31.
"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enable me, (Paul)for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; WHO WAS BEFORE A BLASPHEMER, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I OBTAINED MERCY, because I did it IGNORANTLY IN UNBELIEF." 1 Tim. 1:12,13.
Hmmmmmm.....something seems different between these two statements. And yet they are both true. How can that be?
"Howbeit FOR THIS CAUSE I obtained mercy, that IN ME FIRST Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, FOR A PATTERN TO THEM which should HEREAFTER BELIEVE on him to life everlasting." 1 TIm. 1:16.
Different dispensations, different gospels to different people. One to a kingdom of believers (the nation Israel) and the other to a body of believers (the Church the Body of Christ).
Yet another reason that 2 TIm. 2:15 is necessary in studying the word of God to be effective workman for Him.
There is a VAST difference between SOLO and SOLA Scriptura. Luther and the Reformers taught sola Scriptura. If we agree that the Scriptures are Divinely inspired, which means "God-breathed", and that they are the "ultimate" authority for our faith, then there should be no problem at all with recognizing what Jesus, the Apostles and the early church fathers attested to - the primacy, sufficiency and ultimate authority of Scripture. No one is suggesting that there is or was no need for pastors, teachers, prophets and evangelists in the church and their role is to expound upon the Scriptures so that the body of Christ is edified and built up in the faith of Christ.
If you claim that the doctrine of the Scriptures being the infallible and inerrant word of God and sufficient to lead us into all truth of the faith through the illumination of the Holy Spirit is not to be found in Scripture, then you are not in agreement with the Lord Jesus, the Apostles and the early church fathers. This link http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/search/label/An%20Ancient%20Voice%20For%20The%20Day quotes many of the "ancients" on the source of the rule of our faith. I hope you take a few minutes to see what they believed about God's word.
I never said sin, not just *grave* sin, but rather ANY sin, does not have consequences. Of course sin has consequences. But that does not equate to losing one's salvation.
And the idea that there are grades of sin is ridiculous.
James 2:10-11 10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 11 For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.
Venial and mortal sins? Pfftt... What nonsense. Sin is sin. ALL of it breaks fellowship with God and none of it results in the loss of salvation.
But I've argued with you, answering near every post, for about a month now. Why did you misrepresent your faith?
That you are, but baptism does not equate salvation. It cleanses sins past; express denial of the Body of Christ, which is His Church, and persistent teaching contrary to the Holy Scripture after the mistakes are corrected are sins new. If you wish to be saved, your (all you's are plural) road to it lies through honest reading of the Holy Scripture in an attempt to be sanctified by it according to your own tradition that puts such a great emphasis on the scripture; and then in a desire to overcome what remains to separate you from the Catholic Church. There are Protestant who do that; there are Protestants who deny themselves through their heroic works of charity and these shall be saved. The rest, -- you have my prayers. There is still time, -- little time. Hurry.
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