Ok… I hate be the stinky fly in the ointment, but I’ll play the part.
Catholics spend a lot of time in love and devotion to Mary. This is a great thing especially for the poor. I’ve seen many good people at the edge of society who have gotten great comfort and a great opportunity to get to know god through their love of Mary. If the Catholic were to merge with us, would getting rid of this cherished part of their faith be diminished?
Another example from our point of view - Lutherans have great hymns and a liturgy that takes advantage of this gift from God. Not to be too rude but I don’t think I’d quite want to trade our songs for those of my Catholic friends.
I pray that we are united in one day, but a unity of our graces around Christ.
Benjohnson, you state :
“Catholics spend a lot of time in love and devotion to Mary”
And, rightfully so. Apparently, God honored Mary above all other people, above all men and women and gave her the privilege and dignity of carrying the Word of God in the flesh within her womb. Did God find favor with Mary above all others? Apparently so.
See Scripture: Luke 1:26-35 where God sends the angel Gabriel to announce this amazing good news that God has found favor with her and is asking her to allow God, the almighty, the all-powerful God of the Universe to become a little baby in her womb!
Mary’s yes to God’s will in her life opened up the door of salvation to the world.
You also state that:
“you have seen many good people…get to know God thru their love of Mary”
Many? How about the whole world got to know God thru Mary! God became Man and stepped into your world for no other reason than to share His life with you. Jesus desired to share His mother with the world!
Perhaps today you will offer up praise and thanks to God for the gift of the Blessed Virigin Mary who He created.
Such harsh words “get rid of”.
How horrible! Who would do such a thing? Do you really think that Jesus is calling you to get rid of His mother? I believe Jesus wants you to love His mother with the same respect and love that He has for her. We see this in John 19 where Jesus entrusts His mother to the Apostle John at the cross.
I leave you with the following Scripture which is a foreshadowing of Mary’s pureness and holiness. Mary is priceless in God’s eyes, so shouldn’t she also be priceless to us and be treat with respect?
Ezekiel 44:1-3 The Closed Gate
Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. And he said to me, “This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. Only the prince may sit in it to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.”