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 mean Peter and the eleven, who, according to Galatians 2:7-10, when they perceived the GRACE that was given unto Paul, the ones who had been sent into "all the world" to preach "the gospel" to "every creature" and make disciples of "all nations"....after this commission given to them by Christ (Matt.28:19, Mark 16:15), after they perceived the GRACE given to Paul, that OTHER Apostle, entered into a SOLEMN AGREEMENT with this OTHER APOSTLE, that he, Paul, should go to the Gentiles WHLE THEY CONFINED THEIR MINISTRY TO ISRAEL.(Gal. 2:7-9). Don't you understand that with that act, Peter and the 11 LOOSED themselves from that "great commission" to take the Kingdom Gospel to all nations??
They REMAINED IN ISRAEL, ministering to the Jews. There IS NO APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION, according to this very Scripture, which, correct me if I'm wrong, Rome claims to have written, along with the rest of the NT. Uh-oh...
Why?
I have rather often posted this.
Romans 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
I judge no one on what they celebrate. Nor am I responsible for the lack of reading comprehension on your part, assumption you make, or guilt you may have self inflicted for some reason.
You have repeatedly accused me of saying something I have not said. I will leave it to the readers what that indicates. I would suggest that you either prove that I said what you claim or leave in the mind of the readers an additional reason to take what you say with little credibility.
Wrong.
James 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
And the opposite: denial of the Church founded by Christ separates them from His grace.
Book, chapter, and verse please.
God gives grace, not the church.
OK, since you are changing your tune, tell us what Christian Creeds you agree with?
Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem;
Creatorem caeli et terrae.
Et in Jesum Christum,
Filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum;
qui conceptus est
de Spiritu Sancto,
natus ex Maria virgine;
passus sub Pontio Pilato,
crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus;
descendit ad inferos;
tertia die resurrexit a mortuis;
ascendit ad caelos;
sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis;
inde venturus est
iudicare vivos et mortuos.
Credo in Spiritum Sanctum;
sanctam ecclesiam catholicam;
sanctorum communionem;
remissionem peccatorum;
carnis resurrectionem;
vitam aeternam. Amen.
In English:
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ,
his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived
by the power of the Holy Spirit,
and born of the Virgin Mary,
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended into hell.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
he will come again
to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen
I was hungry this morning and you gave me nothing. Uh oh.
OK, since you are changing your tune, tell us what Christian Creeds you agree with?
To explain the reason for the good works, that we might walk in them.
Doing good works brings God honor and glory and testifies to the validity of our faith. They do not save us. Works don’t save because they can’t save.
Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. There is no other means of salvation.
To verify if your claims about CB are valid and accurate.
If the links to the posts are not forthcoming, then not a poster on this forum is under any obligation to believe any of them. They can be dismissed as slander and calumny.
No one here other than Catholics have denied the church founded by Christ. Catholics continually deny that those who have accepted Christ as their savior are part of the church founded by Christ.
The church I belong to is much older than the RCC.
Romans 16:5 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.
Colossians 4:15 Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house.
Philemon 1:2 And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:
We see the RCC which was established years later this way.
Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
What a joke.
Agree with the CCC and you’re OK.
Agree with the creeds and you in.
Agree with Scripture and you’re a heretic and will burn in hell forever.
Go figure.
Indeed:
Neglect not the grace that is in thee, which was given thee by prophesy, with imposition of the hands of the priesthood. (1 Timothy 4:14)
LOL Prove that I am changing my tune. Or is that one more false accusation? You made the accusation now you need to back up what you say.
You were part of the Church by baptism, but lapsed when you accepted Protestant heresies. At his point, judging by your posts, you are not in her.
Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, and the other “religions” that claim they have “additional information” all claim the scriptures aren’t enough. All claim they are the only true church. There seems to be a common thread there.
It should. There is little to say about that depth of understanding of theological study.
Then you evidently don’t realize that you are trying to tie the two different observances together and intimate that when you get together on Easter Sunday you are celebrating the Passover. You need to get it through your head that the rituals of Easter are not celebrating the Passover. Easter ham, hot cross buns, sunrise services, and all the rest are of Pagan origin and have nothing to do with the Passover.http://209.157.64.201/focus/bloggers/2709485/posts?q=1&;page=301#317
It’s interesting that you attack me personally rather then point to scripture that condones Easter. I pointed to scripture that condemns the practices and rituals of Easter started long ago by Semiramis after the death of her son Tamuz. There are many instances in scripture where God warns of adopting the pagan practices. Rather then attack me why don’t you do some study on the history of Easter. You have been warned.http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2708561/replies?c=34
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