Mary overused?

[FuzzyBunny116]

Why is there so much devotion to Mary? I’m Catholic and certainly not against it, but there seems to be quite a lot. At our church we have a statue of Jesus and Mary on the walls, and even a small little statue/shrine/garden to her. I brought a friend who’s Methodist and he says it’s easy to see why people think Catholics worship Mary, or even consider her part of the Trinity. I know that she is nothing without God, and I love her and pray a decade of the Rosary everynight, and maybe it’s just my parish but does anyone else think that there should be more for Jesus?

 

[alyssa]

How can Mary be without Jesus? Everything we ask of her helps us to get to Jesus, she always points toward Him, and He makes her that which she is.

 

[Trelow]

Overused? She’s not used enough! If we all used her as we should then there would not be a non-Catholic soul on this earth!

To paraphrase fr.Corapi; Our Mama wears combat boots…and we know who’s getting stomped when we pray the rosary!

 

[snowman10]

Coming from a Methodist background, I was thrown off by this but Alyssa made a good point about Mary pointing us towards Jesus. But here is a good little piece of info for you:

When a child is little and you want them to look at an object, you point to it. However, the child focuses on your arm, hand , and finger and not the object you are trying to show them, becuase they do not have enough experience to understand the gesture. Catholics understand Mary to be the finger pointing to Christ.

And if it helps at all, when a Protestant asks about why Catholics pray to Mary say She points you towards God, the same way the BIBLE does…since it seems many Protestants don’t realize the Bible isn’t God, simply a finger.

DU

 

[Trick]

Fuzzy Bunny,

The Church is all about Jesus.

Mary is all about Jesus .

I love Mary.

I love and adore Jesus.

I feel good about being part of the Church that gives the proper honor and respects she deserves as the mother of God.

Trick

 

[FuzzyBunny116]

I’m sorry if the topic sounded accusing. I was just wondering why, I love and adore Mary as well.

 

[snowman10]

FuzzyBunny116:

I’m sorry if the topic sounded accusing. I was just wondering why, I love and adore Mary as well.

No you didn’t sound accusing. You just needed someone to help you talk to a Protestant…haha. The Mass is all for Jesus and if you pay attention, almost everything during Mass is about Jesus. Soo…no worries, just realize that Mary is only important when seen in the light of Christ.

DU

 

[Kyenta]

When you go to visit someone at their home and their mother is there you always acknowlege her and show respect.

It’s the same thing with the Blessed Mother (I never call her just Mary). She is always by Jesus’ side. She was with Him when He was born and with Him when He died.

 

[JDSinSA]

The Virgin Mother, behind the Eucharist, is what I believe leaves Protestants so woefully bereft. It’s really frustrating at times.

Cannot imagine life without Christ’s Blessed Mother, and personally, I feel the Blessed Mother’s role in our lives is greater than merely a signpost pointing to Jesus. Pope John Paul II was in the process of naming her co-redemptrix…That is heavy.

Will those that know more about this title, please elaborate while I research the Late Holy Father’s proposition myself!

 

[Pug]

FuzzyBunny116:

At our church we have a statue of Jesus and Mary on the walls, and even a small little statue/shrine/garden to her. I brought a friend who’s Methodist and he says it’s easy to see why people think Catholics worship Mary

Point out that compared to a Methodist church (zero statues), there will surely be more statues of Mary in a Catholic church! So they stand out more to your friend than they do to a Catholic. Also, since Jesus is fully there in the tabernacle, there is less of an urge to have assorted statues or pictures of him about. Often there will only be the crucifix at the front, a great reminder, and maybe one other assorted Jesus statue. But the red light and gold box are there in the front, and everyone genuflects to Jesus when they go by or enter the pew, etc. He is our focus in the church area. We kneel and immediately talk to him!

Also point out what two items are carried in during the procession. (the gospels…a crucifix…)

Perhaps you could count how many times we refer to Jesus during mass, and also how many times Mary (okay, don’t do this on the feast of the assumption or something ). Jesus takes center stage big-time. More for Jesus should not mean nothing for his mother, however!

Oh, often Protestants have lots of pictures of Jesus in their church facilities, like one in each sunday school room. Maybe that is what your friend is missing. Remind him of Jesus in the tabernacle, and all those crucifixes we have floating about in our homes and schoolrooms. He may simply overlook them as foreign (they only use the cross).

 

[FuzzyBunny116]

Actually he’s very ok with it-he’s refering himself to a “closet Catholic” now (his parents don’t want him to convert) so I loaned him a book on Catholcism and some prayer cards, and he told me he even prayed the whole Rosary, and a decade later to take a break from hims homework.

 

[Fergal]

FuzzyBunny116:

I’m sorry if the topic sounded accusing. I was just wondering why, I love and adore Mary as well.

FuzzyBunny116, just a word of caution. As Catholics we do not adore Mary. We adore God in Christ. We adore the Blessed Sacrament.

To adore Mary would be a serious departure from what is expected.

We love Mary because of her ‘Yes’ to God. We love her because we have been entrusted to her by Christ Jesus her son and our Lord and God. We love her because she loves us and will not stope interceding for us until the last of her children are at home in Heaven.

Why do we choose to pray to God through her?
See if you think of it this way. Mary was the way God chose to enter the world. he could have appeared, he could have been found as Moses was, he could have revealed himself in all glory. He chose none of these ways. For God the most perfect way to come into the world was through once woman, Mary.

Now if God found Mary to be the most perfect way to enter humanity, for us to go to God in prayer there is no more perfect way than through Mary.

For more in depth info see ‘True Devotion to Mary’ by St Louis De Montfort.

 

[puzzleannie]

FuzzyBunny116:

I brought a friend who’s Methodist and he says it’s easy to see why people think Catholics worship Mary, or even consider her part of the Trinity. I ?

please correct your friend’s misaprehension. NO Catholic worships Mary or thinks of her as part of the Holy Trinity - that is a new age feminist concept, not Catholic teaching and never has been.