Mary

[TheInquisitor]

Up until this point, I saw that Mary was only there to pray for us. But it seems in Catholicism that she is able to do much more than just intercede for us. I can’t find anything on the internet about it. Can you guys tell me what else she can do?

 

[bmullins]

She can only do what God allows her to do. Anything your mother could do for you Mary can do for you. She can pray for you. She can ask God to help guide you, etc. Anything you ask Mary for comes through God.

People ask her for guidance. I ask my mom for guidance. etc.

 

[TheInquisitor]

She can only do what God allows her to do. Anything your mother could do for you Mary can do for you. She can pray for you. She can ask God to help guide you, etc. Anything you ask Mary for comes through God.

People ask her for guidance. I ask my mom for guidance. etc.

So, she can do a lot with God’s allowance.

Just curious then, why pray to God when I could pray to Mary since she has such Graces from God?

 

[bmullins]

So, she can do a lot with God’s allowance.

Just curious then, why pray to God when I could pray to Mary since she has such Graces from God?

I suppose some people do pray to Mary most, if not all the time. I think of it like a phone call though. Yeah I can send messages to my dad here on earth by calling my mom and giving her the message, and many times I do. It’s easy to talk to my mom. She also knows my dad intimately and knows his moods etc. But you know… sometimes I want to hear my dads voice… and my dad misses me too. Being 600 miles way makes it hard for us to talk. So I don’t call him because I have to… I call him because I love him.

The same with the Father. You pray to God the Father, because you love him. Because you want to be closer to him. You pray to God because you want to hear his voice. You can pray and ask Mary to intercede for you, and it’s good too. It’s good to talk to your Spiritual Mother… but not to the point of neglecting the Father.

 

[TheInquisitor]

I suppose some people do pray to Mary most, if not all the time. I think of it like a phone call though. Yeah I can send messages to my dad here on earth by calling my mom and giving her the message, and many times I do. It’s easy to talk to my mom. She also knows my dad intimately and knows his moods etc. But you know… sometimes I want to hear my dads voice… and my dad misses me too. Being 600 miles way makes it hard for us to talk. So I don’t call him because I have to… I call him because I love him.

The same with the Father. You pray to God the Father, because you love him. Because you want to be closer to him. You pray to God because you want to hear his voice. You can pray and ask Mary to intercede for you, and it’s good too. It’s good to talk to your Spiritual Mother… but not to the point of neglecting the Father.

That makes sense. However, it seems to take away a little from worshiping God. What do you think?

Btw, thank you for all of your responses. You have been in almost all of the threads I have made. It’s been a blessing having your time

 

[davidv]

That makes sense. However, it seems to take away a little from worshiping God. What do you think?

Why does it seem this way to you? Does a mother’s adoration of her son’s/daugther’s accomplishmenta take away from her love for her husband? On the contrary, it adds to it.

Btw, thank you for all of your responses. You have been in almost all of the threads I have made. It’s been a blessing having your time

 

[DavidFilmer]

Mary is a Saint in heaven. She is fundamentally no different than any other Saint. She cannot do anything that any other Saint can do. She has no “special powers” or anything.

However, the Church teaches that there is a hierarchy of Saints in heaven. She is at the top of that hierarchy. Jesus teaches us that “the prayers of the righteous accomplish much” and she is the most righteous of all the Saints. It is possible, then, that her prayers have greater effect (though I’m pretty sure this is not a Doctrine of the Church).

 

[TheInquisitor]

Why does it seem this way to you? Does a mother’s adoration of her son’s/daugther’s accomplishmenta take away from her love for her husband? On the contrary, it adds to it.

I can see your point. I am just thinking of the personal relationship with God. I guess that’s just the after affects of my protestant upbringing lol. However, you make a good point that since it is for God’s glory that it’s done, then it doesn’t take away from him .

 

[bmullins]

That makes sense. However, it seems to take away a little from worshiping God. What do you think?

The other day I had someone say the same thing on my Facebook page, let me see if I can find the response that I gave them (it’s a loose paraphrase of something someone else said on this very forum.)

Everyone seems to think if we notice the ‘light’ coming from anyone other than God, we are detracting from God. That’s like saying using the word ‘moonlight’ detracts from the Sun. When in fact, moonlight means light coming from the sun but reflecting off the moon. I feel the same way about saints and Mary… we don’t respect them for what they themselves are, but for what God has done through them… for the way they lived their life in a way to let the ‘light’ of God come through them or reflect off them.

When we honor Mary, we are honoring God. We are honoring what he has done through her. Just as the moon points back to the sun, Mary always points back to Jesus Christ. It only detracts from God if you worship Mary instead of God.

When a very holy man or woman does good work on earth, like Francis of Assisi or Mother Theresa, do we see them as detracting from God’s glory? Or bringing God glory through feeding the poor, and giving homes to the homeless? The same with Mary. When we acknowledge the role she plays and the good things she does, we aren’t detracting from God but acknowledging the things God is doing through her. That always brings God the glory.

(It is my pleasure to talk with you anytime, I am still searching for answers myself but have a great passion for God and his Church.)

 

[TheInquisitor]

The other day I had someone say the same thing on my Facebook page, let me see if I can find the response that I gave them (it’s a loose paraphrase of something someone else said on this very forum.)

When we honor Mary, we are honoring God. We are honoring what he has done through her. Just as the moon points back to the sun, Mary always points back to Jesus Christ. It only detracts from God if you worship Mary instead of God.

When a very holy man or woman does good work on earth, like Francis of Assisi or Mother Theresa, do we see them as detracting from God’s glory? Or bringing God glory through feeding the poor, and giving homes to the homeless? The same with Mary. When we acknowledge the role she plays and the good things she does, we aren’t detracting from God but acknowledging the things God is doing through her. That always brings God the glory.

(It is my pleasure to talk with you anytime, I am still searching for answers myself but have a great passion for God and his Church.)

Thank you for your answer . Great analogy too.

And thank you to everyone else who replied. I understand now.

 

[rom422]

You can’t love Mary too much. Because no matter what you do, you will never be able to exceed God’s own love for Mary. The Three Divine Persons love and honor Mary even more greatly than the highest of the angels. They chose her to be the daughter of the Father, the mother of the Son, and the spouse of the Holy Spirit. Imagine the honor of having such relationship with the Three Divine Persons? So. if God Himself gave her such honor and love, then why couldn’t you love her as much as you want to? We Catholics have no scruples about this. With each decade of the rosary, for example, we pray only one Our Father and one Glory Be, but we pray ten (10) Hail Marys! Do you think God is jealous? I don’t think so. When Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, St. Elizabeth exclaimed, “Blessed art thou among women, and blesssed is the fruit of thy womb!” (Luke 1:42) Didn’t you notice, that Elizabeth blessed Mary first before she blessed her Son, Jesus? Did God mind? No, ha ha ha. I guess He didn’t care because He loves her just as much.

Good luck to your RCIA and God bless!

 

[pablope]

That makes sense. However, it seems to take away a little from worshiping God. What do you think?

Btw, thank you for all of your responses. You have been in almost all of the threads I have made. It’s been a blessing having your time

Praying, to a catholic is not worship. Please take note of this distinction, if you have not come across it yet.

Our worship is during the Mass. Prayers are our pleas, petitions, prayers of thanks to the Lord…prayers to saints, to Mary are for asking their help, their intercession for our pleas, petitions…because as the James says…the prayers of a rightoues man availeth much.

Prayers are our personal time of devotions, but our worship is as a community…hence the Mass.

So do not worry, that your personal prayers, pleas, to Mary and the saints take away from worshipping God.

 

[Todd_Easton]

Can you guys tell me what else she can do?

You seem to be looking for a list of specific abilities but you won’t find one. Think about it… What could the apostles do during their earthly life besides pray for us? Heal the sick, cast out demons, draw down fire from heaven, move mountains, raise the dead, etc. Our Lord Jesus Christ set no limit on what a person with faith could do. If the apostles could be petitioned to do such miracles while on earth, it makes sense that they can be prayerfully petitioned to do the same now that they are in heaven. Otherwise, the saints in heaven would be less powerful than the saints on earth, which makes no sense at all. What is true for the apostles in heaven is also true for the Blessed Virgin Mary in heaven, namely, that you can prayerfully petition her to do anything and, if it is according to God’s will, the Blessed Virgin Mary can do it. Of course, it is understood that the power of the saints to do such miracles does not originate with the saints themselves but with God, who works miracles through His saints.

 

[TheInquisitor]

Well, now that I think about it. I do have another question about this.

I understand that praying to Mary is not taking away Glory from God.

But it seems I would get to heaven and then know Mary much better than Our father. What do you guys think about that? Is that a good or a bad thing?

 

[bmullins]

But it seems I would get to heaven and then know Mary much better than Our father. What do you guys think about that? Is that a good or a bad thing?

I think that when we truly study Mary and get to know her… we find that that would be very untrue. Every single story of Mary in the bible shows her doing God’s will. It shows her pointing to God.

At the wedding of Cana she asks Jesus to do something. She intercedes for the people at the party. Then Jesus even seems to indicate that it’s not something he wants to do at the moment, warning her about where this road will lead.

What does Mary do? Does she go back and go look I’ve taken care of it, get me some water and I’ll make sure it happens? No, she points to Jesus. “Whatever he tells you, do”. Though the people there knew her, asked her for her help, and waited for her response… she points to Jesus.

We find that knowing Mary immediately makes us know God better. Just another way to look at it with a modern day parable of sorts:

When someone is writing a book about someone famous, do they only get to know the person involved? Or do they spend a great deal of time with all those people who know or knew the person? If you spend three years talking to my mother and all she ever talks about is me, did getting to know my mother make you know me less? or more? If while getting to know Mary she continually teaches you not about Mary, but about God and the proper attitude towards God, then getting to know her doesn’t draw you further from God… but closer.

 

[bmullins]

I just wanted to give a side note, Mary has been the hardest doctrine for me to accept during my studies of Catholicism. All my life I’ve been taught to avoid talking about Mary because people placed her above God. I was even told “She’s just a woman. If she had said no, God would have just asked somebody else.” People referred to her like she was just a womb, with no personality or body.

The one book that helped me the most was “Hail Holy Queen” by Scott Hahn. It was when I realized that Mary spent more time with Jesus than anyone else in scripture. Not only did she spend 9 months in the most intimate bond possible, but she raised him. She knew him in the way only a mother could. Then she followed him. She was there when he was crucified, and she was there at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended in tongues of fire. She was there when he was buried, and there when he was risen.

How can we reduce that relationship to just a womb? She is so much more. She’s not God, and we Catholics know that. But she is special.

 

[TheInquisitor]

I think that when we truly study Mary and get to know her… we find that that would be very untrue. Every single story of Mary in the bible shows her doing God’s will. It shows her pointing to God.

At the wedding of Cana she asks Jesus to do something. She intercedes for the people at the party. Then Jesus even seems to indicate that it’s not something he wants to do at the moment, warning her about where this road will lead.

What does Mary do? Does she go back and go look I’ve taken care of it, get me some water and I’ll make sure it happens? No, she points to Jesus. “Whatever he tells you, do”. Though the people there knew her, asked her for her help, and waited for her response… she points to Jesus.

We find that knowing Mary immediately makes us know God better. Just another way to look at it with a modern day parable of sorts:

When someone is writing a book about someone famous, do they only get to know the person involved? Or do they spend a great deal of time with all those people who know or knew the person? If you spend three years talking to my mother and all she ever talks about is me, did getting to know my mother make you know me less? or more? If while getting to know Mary she continually teaches you not about Mary, but about God and the proper attitude towards God, then getting to know her doesn’t draw you further from God… but closer.

Does it seem we would get to heaven (Lord Willing) and Jesus would be like “Hey, you barely ever talked to me!”?

 

[TheInquisitor]

I just wanted to give a side note, Mary has been the hardest doctrine for me to accept during my studies of Catholicism. All my life I’ve been taught to avoid talking about Mary because people placed her above God. I was even told “She’s just a woman. If she had said no, God would have just asked somebody else.” People referred to her like she was just a womb, with no personality or body.

The one book that helped me the most was “Hail Holy Queen” by Scott Hahn. It was when I realized that Mary spent more time with Jesus than anyone else in scripture. Not only did she spend 9 months in the most intimate bond possible, but she raised him. She knew him in the way only a mother could. Then she followed him. She was there when he was crucified, and she was there at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended in tongues of fire. She was there when he was buried, and there when he was risen.

How can we reduce that relationship to just a womb? She is so much more. She’s not God, and we Catholics know that. But she is special.

So far for me, it’s been the Eucharist. I have been trying really hard to not think it’s just bread, or that I’m accidentally worshiping bread haha. It’s a work in progress .

However, Mary as of yesterday is making a close second! lol

 

[bmullins]

So far for me, it’s been the Eucharist. I have been trying really hard to not think it’s just bread, or that I’m accidentally worshiping bread haha. It’s a work in progress .

However, Mary as of yesterday is making a close second! lol

The Eucharist was difficult too. I spent two weeks in Adoration over that. They had 60 hours of Adoration for the Pope at some point last year. I decided I was going to settle my differences with God over the Eucharist. So I took my bible and I sat in the presence of the Eucharist every day for 2 weeks. After that I’ve never questioned it… there was something about it… God spoke to me (not a literal voice) but he pulled my heart strings.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic.

 

[TheInquisitor]

The Eucharist was difficult too. I spent two weeks in Adoration over that. They had 60 hours of Adoration for the Pope at some point last year. I decided I was going to settle my differences with God over the Eucharist. So I took my bible and I sat in the presence of the Eucharist every day for 2 weeks. After that I’ve never questioned it… there was something about it… God spoke to me (not a literal voice) but he pulled my heart strings.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic.

Haha, that’s fine. I went to my first adoration two days ago. Just an hour for me. I wish I could have more time however in adoration. But, on topic. Did you see my question two posts up?