Please Help!

[Catholic4aReasn]

I’m currently posting on an anti-Catholic message board. Recently one of the former-Catholics on the board claimed that as a child she was taught to worship Mary. Of course, all the other anti-Catholics eat this stuff up. What on EARTH do I say to refute this?? Thanks!!

In Christ,
Nancy

 

[hawkeye]

Catholic4aReasn:

I’m currently posting on an anti-Catholic message board. Recently one of the former-Catholics on the board claimed that as a child she was taught to worship Mary. Of course, all the other anti-Catholics eat this stuff up. What on EARTH do I say to refute this?? Thanks!!

In Christ,
Nancy

Hello there, ok in at the deep end, Catholics don’t worship MARY, some give her more honor than others, but you see when we look at a great work of art, do we give honor to the artist or the painter ?
When we look at a painting, most of us don’t even give credit to the one that painted it, likewise when we look at Mary we unfortunately forget about GOD.

 

[Catholic2003]

Who knows what some ex-Catholic was taught as a child? You need to focus on what the true teaching of the Church is. And the most official teaching on the Blessed Virgin can be found in paragraphs 52 to 69 of the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church.

 

[Scott_Waddell]

Catholic4aReasn:

I’m currently posting on an anti-Catholic message board. Recently one of the former-Catholics on the board claimed that as a child she was taught to worship Mary. Of course, all the other anti-Catholics eat this stuff up. What on EARTH do I say to refute this?? Thanks!!

In Christ,
Nancy

Catholic2003 beat me to it. Yes, it is possible that a child could have received some kooky katechism–that has little bearing on whether it is accurate church teaching. This is true of any faith.

Scott

 

[Pax]

Take this individual to task, and ask her to give you the documents or Catholic catechism that was used to teach her this. My guess is that she won’t give you an answer. If she makes a claim about a Catechism then reseach the particular Catechism to demonstrate that it isn’t contained there in. If she dares to claim that it’s the Baltimore Catechism you can instantly deny it because it definitely does not contain such an error.

I have not personally heard of a single Catholic Catechism that has this teaching. If she was taught this as a child then it was strictly off the top of the head of someone who had no business teaching CCD. But I would even doubt this claim. The most ardent devotees of the Blessed Mother that I have ever known all know the difference between praise and honor given to Mary and the worship we give to God alone.

If she is still insistent, then offer her your own honest condolences that she was taught by someone that was so incredibly misinformed. Although I doubt that it happened, it is still possible because there is no limit to the error and weakness of mankind.

 

[Exporter]

I pay little attention to “ex-Catholics”!

I don’t think an “ex-Catholic” knows anything worth listening to.

Most “ex-Catholics” WERE NOT Catholics to begin with!

 

[trogiah]

Catholic4aReasn:

I’m currently posting on an anti-Catholic message board. Recently one of the former-Catholics on the board claimed that as a child she was taught to worship Mary. Of course, all the other anti-Catholics eat this stuff up. What on EARTH do I say to refute this?? Thanks!!

In Christ,
Nancy

Perhaps it would be ok to admit that individuals have distorted the truth of our faith. Perhaps we all should remember that, except for Jesus, all of us, Saints and popes included, have fallen short of perfect vision and undistorted faith in God.

In Jesus’s time, many of the religious leaders effectively made a false god out of the Law of Moses. (In spite of that, Jesus still told his disciples to observe what the scribes and Pharisees decreed.)

There sometimes seems to be an underlying assumption held be Catholics and non-Catholics alike, that if a religious teacher of the Church - from the Pope to a local volunteer CCD instructor - made a mistake then we have to leave the Church. Devout Catholics deal with this assumption by going to great lengths to prove that a real error was never made. Non-Catholics present their “conclusive proof” that some major error was made and therefore the Catholic Church should be abandoned.

The basic assumption if false. God did not require leaders of the Church to have perfect judgement or without flaw. Immediately after promising to give Peter the “keys to the kingdom”, Peter questions Jesus’s decision to go to Jerusalem to face death and is rebuked quite severely by Jesus, but the promise of the keys was not taken back, Jesus spent the rest of his life trying to teach Peter the truth about God’s kingdom.

I think the best approach to those who claim there have been false teachings given be teachers representing the Church is to say “yes they have happened. We should all work together to clarify the teachings and spread the real truth of God’s kingdom.”

The fact that many will brush aside such an approach does not mean it is not the right approach.

-Jim

 

[LindaS]

In many Protestant traditions, “worship” usually consists of prayers, hymns, and sermons. That’s not worship in the Catholic Church, but it may be why many seem to believe that we “worship” Mary, because our honor of her is so similar to their worship. “Latria” is honor given only to God (worship). “Dulia” is honor given to others, like saints. “Hyperdulia” is the honor given to Mary, not worship, like God, but a greater level of honor than the other saints.

Peace,
Linda

 

[Scott_Waddell]

I suppose it is possible that she was taught by someone who retained the meaning of worship as used in England. Stick to the Latin like LindaS pointed out.

Latria–Worship due the Creator and the acknowledgement that we owe everything in existence to Him. Basically, “You are God, I am not, help me get over it.”

dulia–Praising God’s creation. The work of his hands (including his greatest creation–humanity). Nothing is taken away from God by praising his work any more than anything is taken away from an artist when you praise his painting.

hyperdulia–If humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation, then Mary is the pinnacle of that pinnacle as it were. As Christ is our King and brother, so Mary as Christ’s mother, is our Queen and mother. Like the Davidic kingdom in the OT, the Mary as queen does not posses authority or mediate justice which only belongs to the king, but she is a powerful advocate, mediates graces and the king listens to her because he honors his mother. Therefore, we honor her.

Scott

 

[LindaS]

Thanks, Scott, for expanding on the information about types of honor.

Peace,
Linda

 

[mayra_hart]

catholics do not adore mary;we venerate and honor her. why? the angel calls her “full of grace”, and one who has"found favor with god" 9lk:28,30); elizabeth,filled with the holy spirit calls her “blessed are among women”(verse42);and mary declares that"all generations will call me blessed". (verse 48). madre querida acogeme en tu regazo,cubreme con tu manto protector y con tu carino. amen

 

[RobedWithLight]

A lot of former Catholics tend to make a lot of curious exaggerations concerning the very Catholicism they left behind. So this case is quite typical. If this person claims that she was taught to “worship” Mary as a child, then even if that were true, what she was taught was wrong and this is why good catechesis is extremely vital to the proper formation of a Catholic.

I would no longer elaborate further on this issue of our alleged “worship” of Mary, since others here have already done so. In your case, the first approach would be to ask this person how she actually defines the term “worship”, since Catholics and Protestants tend to have differing perceptions of this term, which accounts for the differences. Recognizing first the essential differences in definition is a key to any successful or fruitful discussion. However, ex-Catholics, especially the more fanatical types, have this strange attitude of avoiding categorical questions, so don’t be surprised if he/she evades it.

Gerry

 

[edwinG]

Catholic4aReasn:

I’m currently posting on an anti-Catholic message board. Recently one of the former-Catholics on the board claimed that as a child she was taught to worship Mary. Of course, all the other anti-Catholics eat this stuff up. What on EARTH do I say to refute this?? Thanks!!

In Christ,
Nancy

Hi ,
I am not a catholic and I dont believe in the adoration you place with Mary, but to your call for help the answer is simple.
If she claims that: then it was true for her, but that doesnt mean she understood what was taught. So your answer can be limited to how you view this subject. You can’t denounce this person. No one will believe you and you will only inflame the matter. Just deny you worship Mary and you dont see the teaching as worship. You can then say as much or as little as you like on the subject.
Christ be with you
walk in lovehttp://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon7.gif
edwinG

 

[mercygate]

edwinG:

Hi ,
I am not a catholic and I dont believe in the adoration you place with Mary, but to your call for help the answer is simple.
If she claims that: then it was true for her, but that doesnt mean she understood what was taught. So your answer can be limited to how you view this subject. You can’t denounce this person. No one will believe you and you will only inflame the matter. Just deny you worship Mary and you dont see the teaching as worship. You can then say as much or as little as you like on the subject.
Christ be with you
walk in lovehttp://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon7.gif
edwinG

Yo, Edwin.

This gal doesn’t need a lecture. She needs to hear someone quietly say, “Goodness! Somebody certainly gave you the wrong impression! The Church doesn’t teach anything of the kind! You know, a lot of people mistakenly believe the Church teaches all kinds of crazy things that have never been Church teaching.”

 

[1ke]

Catholic4aReasn:

I’m currently posting on an anti-Catholic message board. Recently one of the former-Catholics on the board claimed that as a child she was taught to worship Mary. Of course, all the other anti-Catholics eat this stuff up. What on EARTH do I say to refute this?? Thanks!!

In Christ,
Nancy

Personally, I don’t think that you can actually “disprove” what someone “says” they were taught as a child. So, instead I’d come back with something like…

"Many parents also teach their children that Santa come down the chimney to deliver presents, a bunny delivers Easter candy, and a tooth fairy will leave you money in exchange for baby teeth. As you grow older you learn these things were not true, but rather were childhood fun meant to give treats to children.

In the same manner, what might have seemed to your young eyes to be “worship” of Mary was in fact something quite different. That is why Catholics must continue to learn and grow-- how we teach children about God is much different than how we teach adults about God because the level of understanding is different.

It is too bad that you abandoned your faith before you had a real understanding of what it was about and instead carried childhood misconceptions into adulthood. Perhaps you should study what the Church actually teaches about Mary before spreading Easter-bunny like fairy tales about what the Church teaches."

 

[Catholic4aReasn]

Pax:

Take this individual to task, and ask her to give you the documents or Catholic catechism that was used to teach her this. My guess is that she won’t give you an answer. If she makes a claim about a Catechism then reseach the particular Catechism to demonstrate that it isn’t contained there in. If she dares to claim that it’s the Baltimore Catechism you can instantly deny it because it definitely does not contain such an error.

I have not personally heard of a single Catholic Catechism that has this teaching. If she was taught this as a child then it was strictly off the top of the head of someone who had no business teaching CCD. But I would even doubt this claim. The most ardent devotees of the Blessed Mother that I have ever known all know the difference between praise and honor given to Mary and the worship we give to God alone.

If she is still insistent, then offer her your own honest condolences that she was taught by someone that was so incredibly misinformed. Although I doubt that it happened, it is still possible because there is no limit to the error and weakness of mankind.

I very much doubt that it happened too.

Nancy

 

[Catholic4aReasn]

trogiah:

I think the best approach to those who claim there have been false teachings given be teachers representing the Church is to say “yes they have happened. We should all work together to clarify the teachings and spread the real truth of God’s kingdom.”

The fact that many will brush aside such an approach does not mean it is not the right approach.

-Jim

Your right that it will get brushed aside. I’ve been told that my head is buried in the sand and that when I refute their misconceptions I am simply wrong. My prayers go out to these people. Surely a seed of truth will be planted.

Nancy