Mary and other things

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I need some advice. I have been Catholic almost 2 years now, and I am wondering if certain things, like devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary are necessary. I have a hard time accepting those devotionals, for they seem contrived by man, and I really have a hard time wrapping my heart around them. Also, I am reading some prayers to Mary and it really seems like worship, not adoration. The way some of my Catholic brothers and sisters talk about Mary, one would think she is a god. Coming from over 35 years of being Protestant, the old opinions I had are once again coming up.
 
Only to accept the teaching of the Church and to live honest life according that is necessary. Devotions are optional.

However to judge others because their understanding is different from you is against any Christian teaching:

Matthew 7:1 Judge not, that you may not be judged,
 
I`m quite sure the holy spirit has much to do with these devotions.

You could argue that jesus did not specify to be worshipped,but to his father through him.

The word worship is used too loosely sometimes,like the word love,you must have full will to be directly conscience of of such aim,so dont get to hung up on the words.

Mother Mary to most whether protestant or not,is as close to being a god as possible or you would be refuting being a god yourself knowing good and evil.“that coming from the mouth of our lord”.
 
We don’t worship Mary. We do not offer sacrifices to Mary – and an essential component of worship is the offering of sacrifice. (That, I think, is one of the difficulties that Protestants have in understanding Catholic devotion to Mary and the saints: they are missing this understanding that worship entails sacrifice.)

It is important not to misunderstand the effusions of devoted hearts. We are not meant to remain in a purely polite, arms-length relationship with God. Nor are we meant to despise those who are His friends: we must love them for His sake; and in loving them, we increase in our love for Him, because He is the One Who made them what they are. Remember that Scripture says we cannot love God while despising our neighbor – and the saints are our neighbors too, nearer than we think.
 
t68ware said:
I need some advice. I have been Catholic almost 2 years now, and I am wondering if certain things, like devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary are necessary. I have a hard time accepting those devotionals, for they seem contrived by man, and I really have a hard time wrapping my heart around them. Also, I am reading some prayers to Mary and it really seems like worship, not adoration. The way some of my Catholic brothers and sisters talk about Mary, one would think she is a god. Coming from over 35 years of being Protestant, the old opinions I had are once again coming up.
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My advice is don’t do these devotionals until you are good and ready, if ever.
 
The ONLY thing that is necessary is belief in God and Jesus, that he died for our sins, and by repenting of our bad actions, we obtain his grace. Devotionals and adorations are nice, but they are extraneous. And you are right, they are contrived by man, but that doesn’t make them wrong or evil. Consider America’s Pledge of Allegiance. By speaking the pledge, you are not worshiping America, or the flag, but you are declaring that you believe in them and what they stand for. Devotions and adorations help people to feel closer to the entity of their devotion, and what that entity represents.

You mention that it seems at times like Catholics are worshiping Mary, rather than simply adoring her. I talk a little about that here: http://rmarcejaeger.com/2011/04/05/do-catholics-worship-mary-and-the-saints/" (Do Catholics Worship Mary and the Saints?). I hope it will answer your questions.
 
The thing about saying these things are “contrived by man” is that any time you pray, the words you use are contrived by you. You choose the words. They, too, are “contrived by man”. It is rather difficult to pray without using words either you or someone else “contrived”, unless you are going to limit your prayer to the Lord’s Prayer exclusively.

Or unless one has managed to reach the highest state of contemplative prayer in which words are not necessary. But although that is ideal, most of us use words of our own choosing.
 
t68ware said:
I need some advice. I have been Catholic almost 2 years now, and I am wondering if certain things, like devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary are necessary. I have a hard time accepting those devotionals, for they seem contrived by man, and I really have a hard time wrapping my heart around them. Also, I am reading some prayers to Mary and it really seems like worship, not adoration. The way some of my Catholic brothers and sisters talk about Mary, one would think she is a god. Coming from over 35 years of being Protestant, the old opinions I had are once again coming up.
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No, devotionals are not necessary. They are for individual private prayer time with the Lord.

Try the Chaplet of the Holy Wounds or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, they are very similar. For each bead, dedicate it for the forgiveness of each of your sins, and when you run out, dedicate each bead for every sinner you know, and so forth…
 
t68ware said:
I n Also, I am reading some prayers to Mary and it really seems like worship, not adoration. The way some of my Catholic brothers and sisters talk about Mary, one would think she is a god. Coming from over 35 years of being Protestant, the old opinions I had are once again coming up.
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no you are not required to embrace any private devotions
unless you know what is in the minds and hearts of other people who do, it is best not to speculate on their motives or orthodoxy

that being said, to better understand such devotion, the way to do that is to study more deeply Church doctrine on the person and mission of Jesus Christ the Redeemer. All–repeat all–doctrine about Mary is about Jesus and defined in order to defend challenges to doctrine about Jesus.
 
t68ware said:
I need some advice. I have been Catholic almost 2 years now, and I am wondering if certain things, like devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary are necessary. I have a hard time accepting those devotionals, for they seem contrived by man, and I really have a hard time wrapping my heart around them. Also, I am reading some prayers to Mary and it really seems like worship, not adoration. The way some of my Catholic brothers and sisters talk about Mary, one would think she is a god. Coming from over 35 years of being Protestant, the old opinions I had are once again coming up.
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Two years is a short time to grasp the many different beliefs and teachings of our faith.
I suggest you ( and all catholics) study the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Pay attention to the data under Mary in the back of the Book. There has been many , many saints and Popes that can enlighten you thru their writings .
We venerate Mary, the greatest creature God produced, as the “Mother of God”, no other gave birth to God. In time her position will become known to you if you persevere!
 
Yes i get the point,but as near as “possible” semantic expression excused.If i was allowed i would worship her,and so would many others.Is it not her that leads us to her son,and was it not the fathers choice of choosing Mary also,there is a distance and it will always be there like it or not.

Worship no,but the near highest reverence yes.
 
We ask Mary to intercede on our behalf. I think that we all accept that Mary is not on a par with God. I would suggest that the OP reads the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
 
marcella_1981 said:
We ask Mary to intercede on our behalf. I think that we all accept that Mary is not on a par with God. I would suggest that the OP reads the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
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Mary cannot intercede for us. There is only one mediator…Jesus Christ! All of our praise and worship belongs to him.

1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV)

5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
 
The Bible is very clear that there is one mediator, Jesus. Would you disagree? Is the Bible wrong? was Paul lying?
 
No, it is standing up for the authority of Scripture and bad teaching.

So, is the Bible wrong when it said there was one mediator?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that Mary has the title of Mediatrix.
 
The catechism of the Catholic Church says that Mary has the title of Mediatrix. However, there is one mediator. Conflict?
 
Romans_Road said:
Mary cannot intercede for us. There is only one mediator…Jesus Christ! All of our praise and worship belongs to him.

1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV)

5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
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Do you pray for friends, family and members of your church? Have you ever asked such people to pray for you - that is, to intercede on your behalf?

If there’s literally only one mediator, then what are we to make of this?

[BIBLEDRB]James 5:16[/BIBLEDRB]

And why did you say “all of our praise and worship belongs to him?” You can’t mean that in a slavishly literal sense, or else you’d never offer anyone praise for a job well done… For example, a great sermon preached by your pastor, or an exemplary lesson taught by a Bible study leader.

And certainly Catholics would agree with you that there’s only one worthy of worship, and that is Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Is there something about asking someone to intercede for us that makes you think we’re worshipping the intercessor? I frequently ask my Christian friends to pray for me quite frequently, and the thought of worshipping those friends never enters my mind.

Or is your objection that Mary and the other people we call saints are dead? Not so, saith scripture:

[BIBLEDRB]Mark 12:26-27[/BIBLEDRB]
 
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