It’s really a shame that so many people don’t have enough trust in the promises of Jesus concerning prayer that they think that they can;t come boldly to the throne to find grace in time of trouble.
Praying to Mary and the saints displays a lack of trust in God, His faithfulness to us as He promised, and His willingness to provide for our every need as He said He would.
God is NOT a respecter of persons. He treats us all with the same love, not based on our performance, or some perceived merit system, but while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. How much more will He freely give us all things?
He’s not a stingy God, doling out grace in little packets to those who perform properly, but He LAVISHES His grace on us out of the abundance of His mercy and love.
God is not an intolerant taskmaster who needs to be appeased, but a loving Father who longs for our intimacy and fellowship. And that’s not the way God is portrayed in Catholicism with it’s constant emphasis on having to do this, that, or the other thing to qualify, or earn, God’s favor, His grace. Cause then it’s not grace any more but wages due, owed to us by God for duties performed.
It’s a sad situation to be in such bondage.
Indeed.
Yes, and how sad it is that so many who believe in Christ are kept from coming close to Him. Growing up as I did in lukewarm Lutheran churches, in a mostly Catholic area, I knew the very basics of the Gospel, but didn’t see it in the churches and lives around me. Studying the Gospels helped a lot but reading and studying all of God’s Word really brought me close to the Lord, and I also saw how little I’d been taught.