Jesus Christ is our only 'mediator' as stated by St. Paul

[Richard_Kastner]

Placido:

Dear Richard,

In post #116 I said:
Lazarus’ spirit was where the Bible says the spirit goes: at death the body returns to where it came from (dust) and the spirit returns to where it came from (God).

Your response was:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Kastner
I agree with everything you say here, but this is not what you originally said.

And here is what I “originally” said (in post #93):

Quote:
Originally Posted by Placido
"Typical of people who pretend not to know that, at death, the body returns to where it came from and the spirit returns to where it came from.

Brother Richard, please don’t argue for the sake of arguing. Don’t try to see a difference where there is none. Anyone else shall see no difference between what I said in post #93 and what I said in post #116.
That is all for now. I will reply to the rest of your post later.

placido

I certainly am not arguing for the sake of arguing. Anyone else **would **see no difference between post #93 and post #116 from what you choose to put on this post. But what you reproduce here is not what I have a problem with. It’s what was in your post #93 that you creatively edit out that I have a problem with. Here is the post again.

“Typical of people who pretend not to know that, at death, the body returns to where it came from and the spirit returns to where it came from. So, what came out of the tomb was not Lazarus’ spirit but his body.”

The first sentence I have no problem with. It’s the part about Lazarus coming out of the grave without his spirit that I take issue with.

 

[placido]

I certainly am not arguing for the sake of arguing. Anyone else **would **see no difference between post #93 and post #116 from what you choose to put on this post. But what you reproduce here is not what I have a problem with. It’s what was in your post #93 that you creatively edit out that I have a problem with. Here is the post again.

The first sentence I have no problem with. It’s the part about Lazarus coming out of the grave without his spirit that I take issue with.

Okay, thank you very much. Now I can see where the problem is. You believe that, if someone comes out of a tomb, body and soul, his body stayed together with his soul in the tomb. Is that what you believe?
If yes, then you have to tell me: was this the case only with Lazarus and those “many bodies” that came out of the tombs, or was it the case with Jesus as well?
BTW, my last sentence was not “creatively” edited out, I simply could not imagine that is the part you had the problem with.
And thank you for the correction regarding shall/would … some of us are still learning English, but with your help we hope to improve.

placido

 

[Brendan]

Think about this v. a minute placido, it says “The spirit shall return unto God who gave it”.
Does not the Catholic church teach that the soul of the damned goes to a place of eternal torment. Yet this verse makes no differentiation between the righteous and the wicked. The spirit (breath of God) of both the righteous and the wicked returns to God.

No, EVERY soul returns to God, who judges it. It will then join Him in Heavenly Light, or into eternal damnation.

 

[placido]

No, EVERY soul returns to God, who judges it. It will then join Him in Heavenly Light, or into eternal damnation.

That is what I have been telling brother Richard. He seems to agree with that statement, the only problem being the timing. He wrongly believes the “dead soul” remains in the tomb together with the dead body until resurrection day … and here is where we need to help him.

placido

 

[Richard_Kastner]

I’m sorry placido, if I came across a little brash. I didn’t realize that English was not your first language. I will try to be more concise.

Okay, thank you very much. Now I can see where the problem is. You believe that, if someone comes out of a tomb, body and soul, his body stayed together with his soul in the tomb. Is that what you believe?
If yes, then you have to tell me: was this the case only with Lazarus and those “many bodies” that came out of the tombs, or was it the case with Jesus as well?
BTW, my last sentence was not “creatively” edited out, I simply could not imagine that is the part you had the problem with.
And thank you for the correction regarding shall/would … some of us are still learning English, but with your help we hope to improve.

placido

I think the problem here is that you are laboring under a misconception of what a soul is. Let’s go to Gen2:7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. You will notice that man is composed of two parts. Part one is the body which is made from the dust of the earth. Part two is the breath of God. The word used for that in Hebrew is neshama which also means spirit. So, what we have here is the body which is animated by the breath or spirit of God. This entity becomes a soul. A soul is not something that lives in the body and at death it departs the body to go live in heaven or hell. When the body dies the soul which is the combination of the body and the breath of God ceases to exist. You can’t have one without the other.

 

[JonNC]

What’s your evidence to support your opinion ?

Did Christ leave the early Apostles churchless? Was M. Luther the measure of Peter, Paul, or even Mary ?

Get a grip on reality. Read Early Church history and find us some evidence of another Church here on earth other than the RCC and her Eastern Brethren.

Strawman.

Why bring in Martin Luther? Richard never said he was Lutheran. His testamony here doesn’t appear Lutheran. Why would you think he would think that of Luther?

I’m Lutheran, and I don’t even think Luther was the measure of Paul or Peter. And considering God’s gift of grace to Mary, probably no one is her measure.

Jon

 

[Richard_Kastner]

No, EVERY soul returns to God, who judges it. It will then join Him in Heavenly Light, or into eternal damnation.

7Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

So, why doesn’t Eccl12:7 say anything about this judgment. I’m not saying there won’t be a judgment at the end of the world, it’s just that I don’t beleive that that happens at the time we die and I don’t think the bible supports that theory.

 

[Jeeda555]

Thanks. As I suspected, context is everything. Paul is saying that only Christ is able to mediate strictly speaking between man and God; but Mary is a mediatrix of grace insofar as she is 1) the mother of God, from whom all grace flows, and 2) she is the most perfect intercessor, because she was saved from original sin and is yet still fully human. Again, she is not God and thus hasn’t authority in herself to mediate grace, but through her grace is mediated.

For notes on Mary as the mediatrix see especially Redemptoris Mater JPII

This is a tradition of the Church, but it is not yet dogma; although a petition has been sent to the Holy Father for this reason.

Question (just so I understand): So this part “but Mary is a mediatrix of grace insofar as she is 1) the mother of God, from whom all grace flows, and 2) she is the most perfect intercessor, because she was saved from original sin and is yet still fully human.” - is that anywhere in scripture as well? I know you said above “This is a tradition of the Church, but it is not yet dogma; although a petition has been sent to the Holy Father for this reason” but where did this tradition come from. And can tradition go against scripture? I mean, if it’s not stated clearly in scripture, how can this belief form? I’m just a bit confused.

Also, regarding Mary…can I just say as a Protestant this is a little difficult to embrace? And it has nothing to do with Mary herself. To describe it better, it’s kind of like how Jewish people write G-d instead of “God” for fear of taking his name in vain (even in museums and scholarly documents and what not). Most Chritians would say “Well, but you’re not taking it in vain, you’re communicating a thought; that’s not using his name in vain.” but Jews have *such *a respect and *such *a revenece for God and such a fear of breaking that commandment that they go the extra mile and take that procaution, just in case.

That’s kind of how we feel (well, some of us. I’m certaintly not the embassador for all Protestants everywhere!). It’s just, it seems like such a fine line for us…a line I know I’m very much afraid to cross. Does that make sense?

 

[GraceDK]

Also, regarding Mary…can I just say as a Protestant this is a little difficult to embrace? And it has nothing to do with Mary herself. To describe it better, it’s kind of like how Jewish people write G-d instead of “God” for fear of taking his name in vain (even in museums and scholarly documents and what not). Most Chritians would say “Well, but you’re not taking it in vain, you’re communicating a thought; that’s not using his name in vain.” but Jews have *such *a respect and *such *a revenece for God and such a fear of breaking that commandment that they go the extra mile and take that procaution, just in case.

That’s kind of how we feel (well, some of us. I’m certaintly not the embassador for all Protestants everywhere!). It’s just, it seems like such a fine line for us…a line I know I’m very much afraid to cross. Does that make sense?

Absolutely. Don’t cross it… don’t get near it even.
The one thing Mary and Elijah and Moses and all the saints in heaven want from you is that you follow and love Jesus Christ…

 

[SHW]

I certainly agree with everything you say here, but this certainly begs the question. If after death, the spirit of the wicked go to a place of eternal torment and the righteous go to heaven to be with God for all eternity. Why have a resurrection at all?

The purpose of the Resurrection is to join our new immortal incorruptible bodies to our living spirits. We will have our human nature (body and spirit/soul) for eternity.

 

[SHW]

Absolutely. Don’t cross it… don’t get near it even.
The one thing Mary and Elijah and Moses and all the saints in heaven want from you is that you follow and love Jesus Christ…

Mary is the “moon” who reflects the “light” of the “Son” perfectly. She has no “light” of her own. Mary always leads people to her Son. Jesus exalted her, she did not exalt herself. Since Jesus expects us to honor His mother as He does Himself, then I think it prudent to do so, since He made her queen of heaven by His own birth. (Mothers of all the kings in the Davidic line of kings are always called queens.)

 

[Richard_Kastner]

The purpose of the Resurrection is to join our new immortal incorruptible bodies to our living spirits. We will have our human nature (body and spirit/soul) for eternity.

I’m afraid that doesn’t quite work with John 14:2In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

This says that Jesus will receive us when He comes again, not at death.

 

[GraceDK]

Mary is the “moon” who reflects the “light” of the “Son” perfectly. She has no “light” of her own. Mary always leads people to her Son. Jesus exalted her, she did not exalt herself. Since Jesus expects us to honor His mother as He does Himself, then I think it prudent to do so, since He made her queen of heaven by His own birth. (Mothers of all the kings in the Davidic line of kings are always called queens.)

To me, Mary leads no one nowhere if we have not first been led to her by the Holy Spirit or Christ. I met Mary through Jesus when He introduced her to me. Before that the Holy Spirit opened my heart to believing in Christ.
There are people who have Mary as part of their new age spirituality. These people do not always become Christians.
If you dont see Mary through and by the Holy Spirit, you dont see her as she is. So I think your words, which are widely used among Catholics, should be taken with moderation.

Peace.

 

[placido]

I’m sorry placido, if I came across a little brash. I didn’t realize that English was not your first language. I will try to be more concise.

I think the problem here is that you are laboring under a misconception of what a soul is. Let’s go to Gen2:7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. You will notice that man is composed of two parts. Part one is the body which is made from the dust of the earth. Part two is the breath of God. The word used for that in Hebrew is neshama which also means spirit. So, what we have here is the body which is animated by the breath or spirit of God. This entity becomes a soul. A soul is not something that lives in the body and at death it departs the body to go live in heaven or hell. When the body dies the soul which is the combination of the body and the breath of God ceases to exist. You can’t have one without the other.

Brother Richard, I think you and me believe the same thing.
You once said: “The spirit (breath of God) of both the righteous and the wicked returns to God.”
Here you have the spirit returning to God, leaving the body behind. That is precisely what I believe, the only disagreement being “when” the spirit returns to God.
I believe the spirit returns to God at the moment of death. You believe the spirit remains in the tomb together with the dead body until resurrection day.
But I can see you also have a problem with me using soul/spirit interchangeably. I have been talking about “body” and “spirit” all along. So, when in my last post I replaced “spirit” with “soul” I essentially meant the same thing. Sorry for the inconvenience.

placido

 

[Mikejw]

When a Christian confronts a Catholic on his/her worshipping of Mary, the reply is always the same: “We don’t worship her! We just give her honor that is due her as the Mother of God.” But is this true? I can, from experience, tell you that we prayed to her, through her, by her and for her as taught by the Roman hierarchy.

Yet the Bible tells me:

that all things are “by him [Jesus], and for him” (Col.1:16), “…of him, and through him and to him” (Rom.11:36).
Acts 4:12 clearly states: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is NONE OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN GIVEN AMONG MEN, WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAVED.” (Emphasis mine)
So why worship Mary? How did Jesus’ offer to “Come to me…” (Jn.7:37) turn into “Go to Mary”? In the same book, “My Catholic Faith”, on page 204 we read: “WHEN DOES A PERSON SIN BY SUPERSTITION? - A person sins by superstition when he attributes to a creature a power that belongs to God alone.”

Catholicism has admitted by her own writings that it is a sin to attribute to a creature a power that belongs to God alone. Now we know that God possess the following attributes:

Omnipotent (all-powerful)
Omni-present (everywhere)
Omniscient (all-knowing),
“To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.” (Isa.40:25)
We know that the angels are not Omni-present as God is. Notice that after Daniel prayed, the angel sent by God was detained: “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days” (Dan.10:13-14). (Emphasis mine)

When the Lord asked Satan: “Where comest thou?”, Satan answered, “From going to and fro in the earth and walking up and down in it.”

This Scripture verifies that even Satan is not Omni-present. Psalms 139 speaks of the Omni-presence of the Lord. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou are there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” (v.7-8)

Elijah, knowing that only God is Omni-present, mocked those who called on Baal saying,

“…Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.”

Their reaction? The prophets of Baal cried even louder and cut themselves “till blood gushed out”, but still “there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.” (I Kings 18:20-40)

God and God alone is Omni-present. God, and God alone, is the only one who can dwell in every man’s heart because He alone is everywhere. Therefore, when we call upon the Lord, we know He hears us. He is even at our hearts knocking at the door. (Rev.3:20) God alone can read the hearts of men and know their intent (Rev.2:23, Jer.17:10)

But what about Mary? Isn’t she omni-present? After all, you have millions of prayers a second being offered to her. People in Mexico, Russia, Europe, America, and all over the world, are praying the Rosary, asking Mary to be there at the hour of their death, asking her to guide them, help them, teach them, secure for them eternal redemption (something a Catholic believes that even Jesus did not do) and imploring her to come dwell in their hearts as though she were able to fulfill all these requests! A Catholic may deny that Mary is a god, but by asking all these things of her, she would have to be God to do them. She has powers and capabilities that even the pagan gods of Greece, Rome and Egypt did not possess, yet men called them gods.

 

[Mikejw]

Let our Christian readers decide if the Church of Rome has committed the “sin of superstition” (as they interpreted it - by attributing to a creature a power that belongs to God alone).

The following song, “Daily, Daily Sing to Mary”, I learned in 2nd grade. It was one of my favorites, and as a child, I sang it with all my heart.

"Daily, daily sing to Mary Sing, my soul, her praises due;

All her feasts, her actions** worship**, With the heart’s devotion true.

She is mighty to deliver; Call her, trust her lovingly;

When the tempest rages round thee, She will calm the troubled sea.

Gifts of heaven she has given, Noble Lady, to our race;

She the Queen who decks her subject, With the light of God’s own grace." (Baltimore Catechism No.1, 63)

If Roman Catholics do not worship Mary, then why does line three say to worship her? Take in consideration that in Rev.19:10, it says, “And I fell at his feet to worship him [the angel of God], And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God:”

Would the Catholic Church have me believe that Mary would accept what the angel of God rejected? Mary was a Hebrew woman who was acquainted with the book of Psalms 89:9 which says, “Thou [God] rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them”. But, she is now presented as telling the Catholic people that SHE can calm the troubled sea!

When Jesus calmed the raging sea, the disciples said, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Mary is not God to command the sea, Jesus is. Line 8 of this song, above, says, “Gifts of heaven she has given” which for a Catholic means that Mary is the Mediatrix of all graces! This is truly the spirit of idolatry, for by “ONE SPIRIT” we have access to the Father, not two! (Eph.2:18, 4:4, I Cor.12:13)

As you may recall from the debate, the Catholic Church teaches that all graces flow through Mary; therefore, she is present in all the sacraments. That means, if a Christian attends mass or prays with a Catholic, he must join with the spirit of idolatry, who claims to be able to give the grace that God alone can give. Now we have Mary taking the place of the Holy Spirit! What blasphemy!

What more proof do we need that the Roman church has given to Mary the attributes that belong to God alone? Even Archbishop Paul Hallinan, in 1964 said that devotions and prayers to Mary were so exaggerated that they were a “blasphemy to the Son, an embarrassment to the memory of the mother and a pathetic deviation”.

There is a Catholic organization called “Legion of Mary” which has an “Apostolic Blessing” from Pope John XXIII, and from Pope Pius XI, “We give a very special blessing to this beautiful and holy work - the Legion of Mary.” On page 225 of their book, “Legion of Mary”, we read:

“Put thy feet into her fetters, and thy neck into her chains. Bow down thy shoulder and bear her; and be not grieved with her bonds. Come to her with all thy mind; and keep her ways with all thy power…Then shall her fetters be a strong defence for thee, and a firm foundation, and her chain a robe of glory. For in her is the beauty of life: and her bonds are a healthful binding. - Ecclesiasticus vi, 25-31, applied to Our Lady by the Church. Applicable by Legionaries to the Legion system and especially to the meetings.”

But, Jesus says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden [to overburden with ceremony] and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matt.11:28-30)

A Catholic reading this quote from Legion of Mary would find nothing offensive, but a Christian’s mind would be flooded with Scriptures rebuking such powers as belonging to anyone but God. A Christian would believe that he should go to God, for God Himself has said:

“For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?” (Deut.4:7)

.

 

[JonNC]

=Mikejw;5399239]When a Christian confronts a Catholic

Is this implying that Catholics are not Christian?

But what about Mary? Isn’t she omni-present? After all, you have millions of prayers a second being offered to her. People in Mexico, Russia, Europe, America, and all over the world, are praying the Rosary, asking Mary to be there at the hour of their death, asking her to guide them, help them, teach them, secure for them eternal redemption (something a Catholic believes that even Jesus did not do) and imploring her to come dwell in their hearts as though she were able to fulfill all these requests! A Catholic may deny that Mary is a god, but by asking all these things of her, she would have to be God to do them. She has powers and capabilities that even the pagan gods of Greece, Rome and Egypt did not possess, yet men called them gods.

I’ll let Catholics respond to some of the specifics, such as Mary securing eternal redemption, my question is, is it possible for God to grant to Mary and the saints of heaven the ability to hear individual requests for intercession?

Jon

 

[rbarcia]

Mary, a human, is the Mother of Jesus the Word Incarnate and so Jesus now has both a divine nature and a human nature. Jesus is God, and Mary is Jesus’ Mother, therefore Mary is the Mother of God. She is Mother of God the Son only, of course. She is not the Mother of God the Father and she is not the Mother of God the Holy Spirit.

This is flawed logic. You use the logic to justify that Mary is the mother of God, but then you do the opposite to say she is not the mother of the Father or Holy Spirit, but you have to be consistent then. But if you follow this logic, then you can say that Mary is mother of all 3 parts of the trinity.

Jesus is God and Mary is the mother of Jesus. therefore Mary is the mother God. SInce Mary is the mother of God, and God is the Father, then Mary is the mother of the Father (uh oh, I used the same logic to prove that Mary is the mother of the Jesus). And since Mary is the mother of God, and God is the Holy Spirit, then Mary is the mother of the Holy Spirit.(Oh no). Where does it stop.

You see the logic is flawed to begin with. if you make an assumption one way, you have to make it all the way, or else the theory is flawed. You are using Mathematical Induction (even though you do not know you are). And this proof fails cause you have to prove it for case 1 and case n+1.

Mary was the mother of Jesus on earth, but not the mother of God.

 

[Richard_Kastner]

Brother Richard, I think you and me believe the same thing.
You once said: “The spirit (breath of God) of both the righteous and the wicked returns to God.”
Here you have the spirit returning to God, leaving the body behind. That is precisely what I believe, the only disagreement being “when” the spirit returns to God.
I believe the spirit returns to God at the moment of death. You believe the spirit remains in the tomb together with the dead body until resurrection day.
But I can see you also have a problem with me using soul/spirit interchangeably. I have been talking about “body” and “spirit” all along. So, when in my last post I replaced “spirit” with “soul” I essentially meant the same thing. Sorry for the inconvenience.

placido

Well, I don’t think that we beleive the same thing at all. You seem to think that when the spirit or soul as you put it, returns to God is lucid and concious of it’s surroundings. Consider these vs.

Psa 146:4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

Ecc 9:6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any [thing] that is done under the sun.

Job 21:32 Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb.

Psa 115:17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.

Psa 88:10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise [and] praise thee? Selah.

These vs. clearly show that when you die, your thought process stops, the dead know not anything, they neither love nor hate nor envy, they remain in the tomb, they praise not God, they are silent. Now you may think that our respective veiws on the state of the dead are very close and the difference between the two veiws is negligible. I would have to disagree with that also. Stop and think about it a minute (or two). The Catholic church and most other churches teach that when you die you receive your just reward of either eternal life in heaven with God or eternal life in an everlasting place of torment with Satan and his minions. The idea of God a God who “is love” 1 John 4:8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love, tormenting His beloved creation for all eternity is just ludicrous.
Rev.21:3,4 says: 3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. It is impossible for these vs. to be true, along side the idea of souls writhing in agony in an eternally burning hell. Also the Catholic church teaches Mary is in heaven and they pray to her along with the saints whom they also beleive are in heaven. Matt.24:4&5 says: 4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And
Gen 2says:16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Then Gen3:4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Christians the world over have decided to beleive Satans lie “Ye shall not surely die:” They are being deceived placido. There have been apparations of Mary throughout the world. She usually gives some message supposedly to the world. To use Jesus’ own words placido “Take heed that no man deceive you.” I beleive we are living in the world’s end time and this idea of the dead comming back to give messages to the living is going to come into prominence. Be ye not deceived placido.

 

[Jeeda555]

Mary is the “moon” who reflects the “light” of the “Son” perfectly. She has no “light” of her own. Mary always leads people to her Son. Jesus exalted her, she did not exalt herself. Since Jesus expects us to honor His mother as He does Himself, then I think it prudent to do so, since He made her queen of heaven by His own birth. (Mothers of all the kings in the Davidic line of kings are always called queens.)

I find this thought a little confusing (not the “moon” reflecting the “Son” bit, I understand that train of thought). I confused more about this part: “Jesus exalted her, she did not exalt herself. Since Jesus expects us to honor His mother as He does Himself, then I think it prudent to do so, since He made her queen of heaven by His own birth. (Mothers of all the kings in the Davidic line of kings are always called queens.)” What confuses me is:

1.) I don’t understand where this idea comes from that Jesus exalted her (aside from the commandmant of “Honor your mother and father”). Is this also Catholic tradition or is it mentioned in scripture somewhere?

2.) Does Jesus expect us to honor his mother? Again, I don’t know where this idea comes from (Church tradition? Scripture?). I know in Luke 11:27-28 there is a woman in the crowd who feels the desire to bless his mother: “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you!” she calls out. And Jesus replies “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Blessed rather. (Now that’s the NIV version, although it looks like most protestants translations word it like that, from what I’m seeing… And it looks like that’s how the New American Bible words it as well…

Now I’m not saying Jesus is saying “Ignore my mother!” or “don’t be nice to her”, but he is getting their focus back on target. Mary is great, sure, but I don’t see any hint of extra devotion or attention. She should be loved and respected, sure, like any other human being. That the impression I’m left with.

3.) I don’t understand this Queen of Heaven idea. It’s interesting to learn that “Mothers of all the kings in the Davidic line of kings are always called queens”; could you please send me a source?