...Jesus said 'no one may pray to the father but by me'.
i read up on the catholic denomination and i found out that they use saints as a link to heaven. that's wrong! and worshiping mary is wrong too! mary was a sinner and she was a mortal. she is blessed becuz she was chosen but that doesn't make her the 'mother of God'. i don't care what the reason behind that is. no disrepect meant, it's just that the catholic denomination is filled with misinterpretaions of the bible. you don't need a link to heaven, your link is praying directly to God! praising mary and the saints is idol worship!
praying is a form of communication
love needs communication
God orders you to love your neighbors
if you can love your neighbors why can't you love saints?
I am presently not Catholic; but apparently from the comments in the above question; you have not made the 'jump' up to the '2 or more witnesses' (Matt. 18:16) level. While I can not speak for all of them, the 'praying to Mary' is not worship but respect.
Catholics dont realize and make the connection that if you believe mary was sinless and trying to "pray through her" then youre basically deifying her which is breaking the 1st commandment of not following other gods.
Jesus never said "I and my earthly mother are 1" he said "I and the Heavenly Father are 1." They are a victim of their own poor philosophy in believing that church tradition is equal to Scripture in authority.
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. -Collosians 2:6-8
We do not worship, but honor the Blessed Virgin.
Prayer is offered to a person in two ways: first, as to be fulfilled by him, secondly, as to be obtained through him. On the first way we offer prayer to God alone, since all our prayers ought to be directed to the acquisition of grace and glory, which God alone gives, according to Psalm 83:12, "The Lord will give grace and glory." But in the second way we pray to the saints, whether angels or men, not that God may through them know our petitions, but that our prayers may be effective through their prayers and merits. Hence it is written (Apocalypse 8:4) that "the smoke of the incense," namely "the prayers of the saints ascended up before God." This is also clear from the very style employed by the Church in praying: since we beseech the Blessed Trinity "to have mercy on us," while we ask any of the saints "to pray for us."
Many Christians begin to learn about the Trinity through knowledge of Baptism. This is also a starting point for others in comprehending why the doctrine matters to so many Christians, even though the doctrine itself teaches that the being of God is beyond complete comprehension. The Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed are structured around profession of the Trinity, and are solemnly professed by converts to Christianity when they receive baptism, and in the Church's liturgy, particularly when celebrating the Eucharist. One or both of these creeds are often used as brief summations of Christian faith by mainstream denominations.
One God
God is one, and the Godhead a single being: The Hebrew Scriptures lift this one article of faith above others, and surround it with stern warnings against departure from this central issue of faith, and of faithfulness to the covenant God had made with them. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4) (the Shema), "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Deuteronomy 5:7) and, "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel and his redeemer the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." (Isaiah 44:6). Any formulation of an article of faith which does not insist that God is solitary, that divides worship between God and any other, or that imagines God coming into existence rather than being God eternally, is not capable of directing people toward the knowledge of God, according to the trinitarian understanding of the Old Testament. The same insistence is found in the New Testament: "...there is none other God but one" (1 Corinthians 8:4). The "other gods" warned against are therefore not gods at all, but substitutes for God, and so are, according to St. Paul, simply mythological or are demons.
www.geocities.com/cbnc17109/answer21.htm::
21. Dont Catholics worship Mary? Why is she considered so important? Catholics do honor Mary and hold her in the highest regard among the saints. Why?
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So, in the trinitarian view, the common conception which thinks of the Father and Christ as two separate beings, is incorrect. The central, and crucial affirmation of Christian faith is that there is one savior, God, and one salvation, manifest in Jesus Christ, to which there is access only because of the Holy Spirit. The God of the Old is still the same as the God of the New. In Christianity, it is understood that statements about a solitary god are intended to distinguish the Hebraic understanding from the polytheistic view, which see divine power as shared by several separate beings, beings which can, and do, disagree and have conflicts with each other. The concept of Many comprising One is quite visible in the Gospel of John, chapter 17, verses 20 through 23.
God exists in three persons
The "Shield of the Trinity" or "Scutum Fidei" diagram of traditional Western Christian symbolism.This one God however exists in three persons, or in the Greek hypostases. God has but a single divine nature. Chalcedonians â ” Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants â ” hold that, in addition, the Second Person of the Trinity â ” God the Son, Jesus â ” assumed human nature, so that he has two natures (and hence two wills), and is really and fully both true God and true human.
The singleness of God's being and the multiplicity of the Divine Persons together account for the nature of Christian salvation, and disclose the gift of eternal life. "Through the Son we have access to the Father in one Spirit" (Ephesians 2:18). Communion with the Father is the goal of the Christian faith and is eternal life. It is given to humans through the Divine union with humanity in Jesus Christ who, although fully God, died for sinners "in the flesh" to accomplish their redemption, and this forgiveness, restoration, and friendship with God is made accessible through the gift to the Church of the Holy Spirit, who, being God, knows the Divine Essence intimately and leads and empowers the Christian to fulfill the will of God. Thus, this doctrine touches on every aspect of the trinitarian Christian's faith and life; and this explains why it has been so earnestly contended for, throughout Christian history.
Your last sentence is where I would like to start.
'you don't need a link to heaven, your link is praying directly to God!'
I am told by Christians I have to go thru 'Jesus' to get to 'God'. I am not Christian but brought up on Christian values through my parents. Due to their own reasons I was never baptised or christened or drowned in any bird bath.
My Mother was adamant 'Jesus' is the ONLY way! Catholics are adamant on Holy Mother etc.
Orestes Brownson Society - Saint Worship - Part 4::
Mary is not worshiped as a saint because she was of the royal line of David, but principle of Catholic saint-worship, a principle natural to the human heart, and
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Protestants: why do you insist Catholics worship Mary when Catholics ::
Whether I pray to saints or Mary, say the Rosary with its repeated (but not vain) if what you insist about the worship/idolatry thing happened to be true, wed be
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080829034309AAE8sLkHOME |
It does not MATTER who you pray throught, to or for .... to get to God. You are already of God. He created You. You already have a DIVINE LINK to him. You do not need ANYBODY ELSE, to connect to God. You just need to go WITHIN to find him or you do indeed go WITHOUT.
How one chooses to find their divinity within, is a selfs spiritual journey, not for anyone else to intervene or stop one from seeking their divine connection. Religion and the history of it has kept man in FEAR OF GOD. God is love, God is Divine, God is not to be feared. The word Fear is what keeps you from mastering your own destiny and being the driver of your own life.
I have always known God was already within me, I connect to God Source, our Divine Whole Source every day I wake and breathe. I work with this Divine source whom sees no judgement only unconditional love.
Jesus came to me in a vision shared with me by a friend. We both enjoyed this vision together, each being eachothers witness to this holy event that happened in MY HOME. It did not take a church or religion for this wonderfull being to appear, with his mother and my daughter that I miscarried over 13 years ago. Also Archangel Michael and Archangel Raphael were there too. Yes I had a one on one conversation with these beautiful energies, that stood there in their human form, albeit, they are of no form, but they presented themselves so that I could recognise them and the love feeling was all too consuming that I was absorbed in total emotion and humbled myself in spirit and ego, before them. It was in this moment with my friend that we both knew that we as humans with all of you, had been lied to by all those that portray that they walk in the light of Jesus through whatever religion they hide behind. Jesus already knows all of you.....his name is changed throughout all religions, his energy appears to each religion as the way to their God. That messiah, son, guru, teacher....all of them are JESUS. And the name JESUS, is also not his name....he was labelled by man. God is ONE GOD, he is labelled by many names by man, but God is only but one God, and he created all that you are now, have been, and ever will be in future lives with God either here on earth or forever in the realms of the multidimentional heavens, the many and the more, that exist outside of our 3rd/4th dimentional realities, that exist to our naked eye. The ones that do not are not 'out there' but are within you, and we need to seek and define our connection to the greater whole that leads you to your whole source, your divinity that is within you. Jesus died for us, how many times are you going keep killing him? His energy is spirit and he is one with us and God and all that is and all that ever will be. Find him yourself, bugger the lies, find that divine source, now....ask him...tell him...you want YOUR TRUTH, nolt the truth of the falsities of religion and the so called 'good people' who sit and do nothing where so much sadness exists in this world. The churches together have the money to save all from poverty TODAY. But they wont, they keep the FEAR alive, so you PAY materiallly, not spiritually. What do you receive for your sins? Forgiveness from God and judgement from your fellow man.... go figure?????????? Blame, blame keeps you guilty....your guilt keeps you in fear...what do you have to fear if you walk with God? He loves you, you judge yourself, you forgive yourself, and walk with God and Divinity within you. So many bibles, so many projections, so much hate and unforgiveness amongst all of you, yet the love that is promoted goes to the wayside, for one feels they need to defend their own beliefs. You do not need to defend your own truth. We are not here to question the truths of others, but only to find OUR OWN TRUTH. That truth leads you to God, be it thru Jesus, Muhummad, Angels, Master Guides, Saints or Goddesses, it is all the same thing...energy is energy...the Universe is energy, God is energy, we are energy, the plants, animals, earth is all energy. Atoms, Molecules....energy....God energy.....Jesus ..energy.... ....HELLO? Smiles abound God is with us now, he knows what I am writing and he knows your judgements will come firsts before HIS WORDS.
Catholics and Protestants::
and insisting that Catholics believe the Bible, do not worship Mary, and the Catholic Church, most Protestants dont have to look long to find things
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Blessings be in light and peace be yours eternally,
Harriett Potty
There is your answer regading the Ave Maria, thansk to he/she who did it. i must tell you that i admire your spiritual honesty. God bless. Report Abuse
Well it's already been said, but I'll point it out again. Catholics do not worship Mary or the saints. It is honoring because they were good examples, not worshipping. Asking them to intercede is done by asking them to pray for you, much the same as a protestant might ask a friend to pray for him/her.
great points Sir.
you hae your religious beliefs, they have theirs, and I'm sure they would insist that many of the things you do are wrong as well.like judging thingswront when you know nothing about them. Please get educated before making statements like that. And yopu are what, all of 14, so you just know all about right and wrong?
Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist Churches.
The Communion of Saints is the belief where all saints are intimately related in the Body of Christ, a family. When you die and go to heaven, you do not leave this family.
Everyone in heaven or on their way to heaven are saints. You, me, my deceased grandmother, Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mother Teresa.
As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends here on earth to pray for you. Or you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother in heaven to pray for you.
Prayer to saints is communication, not worship.
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.
With love in Christ.
I've been told by Catholics that it's because they're trying to get Mary to put in a good word for them.
Seems childish to me. Like they're trying to get mommy to make daddy be nice to them.
Catholics do not WORSHIP Mary or the saints. We ask them for help, to intercede.
Praising Mary and the saints is not idol worship. And the Catholic church isn't filled with 'misinterpretations'.
That is one of the greatest missunderstandings. neither catholics nor orthodox Nor maronites or Assyrians, or any ancient church has ever worshipped mary or any Saint. Mary is HONORED! And the Saints are set as example of a Christian and Holy life for us all to follow, to look up to, to be a role model in our perfectioning towards God. If you think that catholics stress too much the "image" aspect, you haven't seen nothing. Orthodoxes and assyrians really stress this aspect much more than we do. But anyway, the image of a Saint has no more sacredness than the picture of your mom in your wallet or the statue of Lincoln in Washington DC. It seems funny to me that those who criticize the Church for having images of Saints are those who do the same they criticize towards secular figures and heroes.
We do not worship mary, not the Saints...we honor them.
Let me put it this way...do you admire Billy graham? or Martin Luther King? aren't they wexamples of a good christian life to be emulated? is the same with Saints, that is all there is to it, although I must admit there are many catholics who mistakenly end up praying to the saint for favors, and that is not what it;s suposed to be.
And how can Christians totally ignore mary and not set her up as an example? that's impossible. Mary is a model of obedience to God and a model of Sanctity. how can you say you love Christ and you despise his mother?
Truth is what is, and truth must be spoken.
Saints are a "link" to heaven, as you say, not because they will grant it to us, but because we by following their example can become more holy in our lives and manifest more strongly the grace received by God, to whom we only worship
Worship god alone, period.
It is a slippery slope. I have asked people how they are communicating with a saint when they ask them to interceed. It gets all messy as they are communicating with those who are dead here on earth but who are alive to God. I think it ultimately comes down to the issue of 'why would one ask a (dead) saint to pray for them when that person could go directly to God or ask a lliving friend to interceed?' It is all very bizare.
Honoring Mary and the saints is honoring God who has made them holy.
And honoring the One who has made great things with them.
I agree with you completely. There are many things in Catholicism that disturb me. The basic teachings of Catholicism removes the sufficiency of Christ. Praying to Mary and saints suggests that alone Christ is incapable of the very reason He came here, to have victory over sin and make a way for us to spend eternity in heaven with He and the Father.
I was raised Catholic but am now of no denomination. Not to say that I am not Christian, I follow the Word not a religion. I am defined by Christ not a religion.
If you ever become Catholic, we'll explain it all to you.
For now though, you must continue to suffer in ignorance, because you chose to put your faith in a book, instead of the universal church of the risen Christ.
Oh yeah ... no disrespect meant.
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Why do Catholics worship mary and do the saint thing when...?