How do Catholics view Mary?
Part of me really respects devout Catholics because of how reverent and devoted they are to serving God. But I have a lot of trouble understanding Mary being at the center of Catholicism, along with Christ. I understand she isn't considered like God, and that Catholics don't pray to her, but through her...but still, something about having your faith center around anything more than Jesus and utter devotion to him gives me a really uncomfortable feeling...even the idea of Mary being immaculate, since I've never come across anything about that in the Bible, really bothers me...How is it possible to give such enormous esteem to a human if it was not derived from inspired scripture? I even understand having great respect and even love for her (even asking her intercession)--but only as a fellow believer. It seems the maternal aspect Catholics take of her would lead a person to lean on Mary the way we should lean on God. Am I misunderstanding something here...can someone clarify, preferably a Catholic?
Comments
Christ is the center of Catholic Christianity, not Mary.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is important to Catholics because the Bible says she is important to God.
• Mary is the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38), a servant of God just like us.
• Mary is the first Christian. All other Christians follow her on the road of faith. She is the model for all of us because she actively cooperated with the Will of God by saying "Yes" to God in the plan of salvation.
• Mary is the model of faith. Mary's faith never wavered throughout Jesus' life, even while watching him die on the cross when most of the Apostles ran away.
• Mary is full of grace. The angel Gabriel called her, "Full of grace" and said, "The Lord is with you." She is full of grace at that moment; the Lord is with her at that moment, before she says "yes" to the angel's question. Catholics believe the state of grace was with her since her Immaculate Conception. God prepared her for her later role as the mother of Jesus.
• Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, of God the Son.
• Mary is a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, a tabernacle. The angel Gabriel says to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow." (Luke 1:35)
• God praised Mary through His messenger, the angel Gabriel, "Rejoice, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you." If God and his angels praise Mary, shouldn't we?
• Jesus honored Mary. Jesus kept the Commandments and did not sin. Jesus fulfilled the Commandment to honor both his father and his mother. WWJD? What would Jesus do? Jesus would and did honor Mary, his mother.
• The Holy Spirit inspired praises of Mary. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women," and "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." (Luke 1:41-45)
• The Scriptures tell of Mary's place with Jesus. Mary gives birth to Jesus, presents him to the shepherds, to the wise men, to God in the Temple. She lived with him for many years in Nazareth, intercedes with Jesus in Cana, suffers with him at the foot of the Cross, and prays to him with the apostles in the Upper Room.
• Mary was a prophet. "Behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me." (Luke 1:48-49) As Christians who believe the Bible, we must call Mary "blessed."
• Mary is our Mother too. While he was on the Cross, Jesus said to his beloved disciple (who represents all Christians), "this is your mother." (John 19:27)
The Hail Mary prayer simply recites Bible passages (the Word of God) and asks Mary to pray for us:
Hail Mary Full of grace, the Lord is with you. (These are the words the angel Gabriel said to Mary, a Bible quote.)
Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. (This is Mary's cousin Elizabeth's greeting, another bible quote.)
Holy Mary, (The angel Gabriel said she was full of grace and Elizabeth said she was blessed.)
Mother of God, (the Bible says Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, God the Son)
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. (A simple request to pray for us.)
Amen.
For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 484 and following: http://www.nccbuscc.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chp...
With love in Christ.
Your misunderstanding only comes from an incomplete knowledge of Catholicism. You hear one or two phrases, even repeated, and yet you don't spend sufficient time to fully realize what you're talking about with respect to the Roman Catholic Church. Mary never has been "at the center of Catholicism along with Christ". For obvious reasons she plays a very significant role, but to adore her, as we do, is very different from worshipping her or treating her in any way like Christ. I must admit, however, that I have some of the same concerns about the way protestant churches treat Saint Paul, almost as though he has as great a voice in Christianity as Christ. And I've been very involved in two mainline protestant denominations wherein I saw what concerns me in that regard and others. Get some reading material and study instead of relying on "gossip" and your troubles will be alleviated. God Bless you.
I wouldn't say that our religion is centered around Mary. She is highly revered, but for the exact same reasons as she is in other Christian religions: for being the chosen mother of the Savior.We do pray to her for intercession, and you are correct that she IS NOT held as a separate god/goddess or anything like that. In no way is she meant to take the place of God in anyone's life. If any Catholic you know does this, they have done this themselves because the Catholic Church does not teach this.
Well, if you accept that Jesus was fully human and fully God, you know where the God bit comes from, but his whole human body, personality, human feelings and so on, come from Mary. She actually carried him and in that way it makes her the first to have been redeemed; to have received Christ.
So we believe that she should be honoured as the Mother of God. And also we believe that in heaven, she is Queen of the Saints (because she's the first one) and also Queen of the Angels. Some of this stuff is taken from Revelation so you may want to have a look there :-)
Mary was the most perfect human being who ever lived (God could have chosen no less for His Mother).
Catholics believe that merits some respect.
The scriptural basis for the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is Luke's greeting at 1:28, where he calls Mary [kecharitomene]. Kecharitomen refers to a person who has an unusual clarity of grace about them.
But a major reason Catholics accept the doctrine is that when Mary appeared at Lourdes in 1858 she herself confirmed the dogma.
If Mary herself thought it was worth coming and telling us about it, we are willing to listen.
All of the doctrines about Mary in the Catholic church are made up from man's traditions and NOT from the scriptures. No where in the Bible does it say we are to pray through Mary. This is a false doctrine from a false church.
There is nothing in the world that has authority over the scriptures. For the scriptures are inspired by God and they are the truth that we are to live by.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
The scriptures are our truth and only by them are we to live, not by the traditions of men. But only by the truth that is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit that is in the scriptures, the word of God.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Mark 7
“‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
Matthew 6
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"the Catholic Church makes Mary a faux God.whilst i grow to be in Catholic college I heard extra approximately Mary than God.the rosery is prayer to mary. the bible says to worship God purely,Prayer is worship." those anti-Catholics extremely have not any concern with mendacity, of course. to respond to the query: Catholics honor Mary as Jesus honor her.
Catholic faith isn't centered around Mary. She is loved, and respected, but she isn't the center of Catholic faith.
Mary, is after all our spiritual Mother. I honor her just as God honors her.
a. GOD called Mary Blessed, and He venerated her.
b. GOD needed her to bear His Divine Son.
c. GOD chose Blessed Mary above all women.
d. Blessed Mary gave birth to the divine 'Incarnate Word'.
e. As a child, Jesus Christ obeyed the commands of His mother.
f. Jesus Christ honors His very own mother.
g. Jesus Christ will defend His mother as any good son would. Doesn't that make Blessed Mary special?
Does not this make her worthy of our honor? Can we do less than what GOD Himself did? Does any man or woman have the right, or the authority, to say we should not honor Blessed Mary? Jesus Christ was the only person in history who was able to choose His own mother. Why did He choose Mary? Because she is special
This is a very good book that has been put online for public view: http://www.olrl.org/apologetics/statueworship.shtm...
That explains the Catholic Views of Our Blessed Mother. (these were questions asked by Protestants)