What does the average secular person think of the Blessed Virgin Mary?

[YehoiakhinEx232]

Hello, I’m developing a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, primarily because I’ve had a bad relationship with my mother and am looking to her to heal it, but also because she is the most beloved and greatest of all God’s creations, which is the best reason to have a devotion to her. I’m wondering what the average secular person in popular culture thinks of Catholic devotion to Mary because what’s weird is that, unlike other religions which make quite frankly blasphemous accusations against us for trying to imitate our Lord’s love for Mary, few people in popular culture seem know or comment on it, why is that? Does any secular person wish to comment on this? I’ll have know that if you have a wish to “restore your faith in humanity” or have a “love for humanity” you should quite frankly become Catholic and have a devotion to Mary because Mary is the greatest human being to live (well actually she’s still alive and in Heaven for all eternity) she’s humanity at it’s height! Humanity the way God originally intended it! So feel free to check it out and check her out, here’s a good place to start, this video nicely sums up Catholic devotion to Mary: youtube.com/watch?v=iAdS1Ezvr1c

Glory to God!
and
Hail Mary!

 

[Techno2000]

Hello, I’m developing a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, primarily because I’ve had a bad relationship with my mother and am looking to her to heal it, but also because she is the most beloved and greatest of all God’s creations, which is the best reason to have a devotion to her. I’m wondering what the average secular person in popular culture thinks of Catholic devotion to Mary because what’s weird is that, unlike other religions which make quite frankly blasphemous accusations against us for trying to imitate our Lord’s love for Mary, few people in popular culture seem know or comment on it, why is that? Does any secular person wish to comment on this? I’ll have know that if you have a wish to “restore your faith in humanity” or have a “love for humanity” you should quite frankly become Catholic and have a devotion to Mary because Mary is the greatest human being to live (well actually she’s still alive and in Heaven for all eternity) she’s humanity at it’s height! Humanity the way God originally intended it! So feel free to check it out and check her out, here’s a good place to start, this video nicely sums up Catholic devotion to Mary: youtube.com/watch?v=iAdS1Ezvr1c

Glory to God!
and
Hail Mary!

She’s like a hidden Gem to most of Humanity.

 

[gus]

As a father and grandfather who daily. Prays the Rosary,during my meditation on the Fouth and fifth sorrowful mysteries I imagine if Jesus was my Child or Grandchild.
(Carry if the Cross and Crucification)
I think my suffering would be equal to if not greater than them.
We somehow detach Jesus and his mother from a human reality in semi gnostic manner .
The early Church recognized this and it clearly warned against it especially John his best friend.
The remarkable thing about the whole life of Jesus is,Although he was God he put himself in the care of and in fact his survival depended on the obedience of man kind in general but specifically in his Mothers care. After being witness to his Birth ,and ministry how great was her pain at his death. Piercing her heart with a sword doesn’t come
Close that’s far too humane.

 

[Kaninchen]

Why would a non-believer care?

 

[Marie5890]

Doubt she crosses their minds.

Secular people tend not to spend time or energy thinking about things religious.

 

[Marie5890]

Why would a non-believer care?

exactly.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

Why would a non-believer care?

A believing Christian might also be in this category. Think of all the discussions/arguments about the role of Mary in the RC branch of the Church. It’s in the top three list of things that cause division, don’t you think?

 

[Kaninchen]

A believing Christian might also be in this category. Think of all the discussions/arguments about the role of Mary in the RC branch of the Church. It’s in the top three list of things that cause division, don’t you think?

Going on what I’ve picked up over the years on discussion fora, it would seem so.

Being a Jew, I can’t say I’ve ever paid very much attention. Mary, like all nice Jewish girls (non-nice Jewish girls and everybody else for that matter) was born without original sin, of course.

 

[goout]

A believing Christian might also be in this category. Think of all the discussions/arguments about the role of Mary in the RC branch of the Church. It’s in the top three list of things that cause division, don’t you think?

What causes division is willful pride and rebellion, not the role of Mary in The Church.

Mary has more than a role in the Church, she is the mother of it. She literally gave birth to it, since the Church is the mystical Body of Christ. Christ is incarnate.

Without the docile faith of the Virgin, there is no Church.
A person can choose to “ponder all these things” after the example of Mary, or a person can live in rebellion at the ghastly thought of God made flesh.

 

[HerCrazierHalf]

Former Seventh Day Adventist now nonbeliever here.

Before I looked into the Catholic faith I found Catholic focus on Mary to be … let’s just say problematic. Without proper context it seems like it runs really close to breaking a commandment in that praying to her seemed awfully close to worship of her as a god (as with the saints in general). Until I met my wife this was one of many misconceptions. That said, I don’t care that much how anyone practices their faith. It just seemed interesting.

As a PR issue, not just Mary, but the saints place in Catholicism is greatly misunderstood by many non Catholics. This contributes to the “Catholics aren’t Christian” issue which I now understand better.

 

[MichaelP3]

What causes division is willful pride and rebellion, not the role of Mary in The Church.

Mary has more than a role in the Church, she is the mother of it. She literally gave birth to it, since the Church is the mystical Body of Christ. Christ is incarnate.

Without the docile faith of the Virgin, there is no Church.
A person can choose to “ponder all these things” after the example of Mary, or a person can live in rebellion at the ghastly thought of God made flesh.

Good day Goout.

So let me understand this? If Mary said “no” or didn’t have her faith, we will all be damned? So we need to thank Mary first for the “Church”? I don’t really think that is how it goes?

I have seen your posts and hope you don’t mean it this way, but if you do, it seems we are all praying for the wrong God/person?

 

[goout]

Good day Goout.

So let me understand this? If Mary said “no” or didn’t have her faith, we will all be damned?

I do not speculate on who is damned. Mary said yes, and that is what I am commenting on.

So we need to thank Mary first for the “Church”? I don’t really think that is how it goes?

didn’t say that. Mary points the way to Christ.

I have seen your posts and hope you don’t mean it this way, but if you do, it seems we are all praying for the wrong God/person?

didn’t say we should pray to the wrong person either.

How did God himself choose to establish the Church?
What I am observing is that Mary is the mother of the Church by God’s choice.
She gave birth to Christ. The Church is the Body of Christ.

 

[MichaelP3]

I do not speculate on who is damned. Mary said yes, and that is what I am commenting on.

didn’t say that. Mary points the way to Christ.

didn’t say we should pray to the wrong person either.

How did God himself choose to establish the Church?
What I am observing is that Mary is the mother of the Church by God’s choice.
She gave birth to Christ. The Church is the Body of Christ.

Hi Goout.

I first want to say, I am not attacking you, merely asking a question in light of your response.

So first, Mary said “yes” and we are all happy about that. But what if she said “no”?

Second, if Mary said “no” and that is all corresponding with catholic viewpoints of “freewill”, what then? My question is still not answered. What if she said “no” or had less faith? Why praise/venerate Mary then?

Regards

 

[goout]

Hi Goout.

I first want to say, I am not attacking you, merely asking a question in light of your response.

So first, Mary said “yes” and we are all happy about that. But what if she said “no”?

Second, if Mary said “no” and that is all corresponding with catholic viewpoints of “freewill”, what then? My question is still not answered. What if she said “no” or had less faith? Why praise/venerate Mary then?

Regards

I really don’t know how to answer a speculative question like that and I’m not sure what the speculation would prove.

We praise her because she is full of the Holy Spirit, so full that she is fertile with it.

 

[pablope]

Hi Goout.

I first want to say, I am not attacking you, merely asking a question in light of your response.

So first, Mary said “yes” and we are all happy about that. But what if she said “no”?

Second, if Mary said “no” and that is all corresponding with catholic viewpoints of “freewill”, what then? My question is still not answered. What if she said “no” or had less faith? Why praise/venerate Mary then?

Regards

What if Mary said no? I will let Tim Staples respond:

catholic.com/video/what-if-mary-had-said-no-to-god

or here…patheos.com/blogs/yimcatholic/2011/03/because-mary-said-may-it-be-done-to-me.html

Faced with the enormity of her choice, how was Mary able to decide? If she said No, unredeemed generations would toil on under the burden of sin. If she said Yes, she herself would suffer, and so would her Son; but both would be glorified. Millions of people not yet born would have Heaven open to them; but millions of others would suffer oppression and death in her son’s name. The stakes were almost infinite.
You might say that Mary didn’t worry about all this, just obeyed God; but I don’t believe it. What God wanted was not Mary’s unthinking obedience but her full and informed consent as the representative of the entire human race. The two greatest miracles of the Annunciation are these: that God gave Mary the wisdom to know the consequences of her decision, and that he gave her the grace not to be overwhelmed by that knowledge.
When we come to an important decision in our lives, we can easily find our minds clouded by the possible consequences, or, even more, by partial knowledge of them. How can we ever move, when there is so much good and evil whichever way we go? The Annunciation gives us the answer. God’s grace will give us the strength to move, even if the fate of the whole world is hanging in the balance. After all, God does not demand that our decisions should be the correct ones (assuming that there even is such a thing), only that they should be rightly made.

 

[YehoiakhinEx232]

A believing Christian might also be in this category. Think of all the discussions/arguments about the role of Mary in the RC branch of the Church. It’s in the top three list of things that cause division, don’t you think?

Mary is important for Christians especially, who know in full or in part the truth.
What better way to please God than to honour and love the one whom He loves the most!?!
What better way to offend God than to reject or treat with contempt the one whom He loves the most!?!

Glory to God!
and
Hail Mary!

 

[Marie5890]

Mary is important for Christians especially, who know in full or in part the truth.
What better way to please God than to honour and love the one whom He loves the most!?!
What better way to offend God than to reject or treat with contempt the one whom He loves the most!?!

Glory to God!
and
Hail Mary!

Many believing Christians see the devotion to Mary as taking that too far.

Whether you agree with it or not, that is just reality.

 

[drac16]

They probably deny the virgin birth. Secularism seems to be naturalistic, so there’s no room for miracles in that worldview.

 

[YehoiakhinEx232]

So first, Mary said “yes” and we are all happy about that. But what if she said “no”?

Second, if Mary said “no” and that is all corresponding with catholic viewpoints of “freewill”, what then? My question is still not answered. What if she said “no” or had less faith? Why praise/venerate Mary then?

Regards

I honestly think if Mary said “no” God would have destroyed the world right then and there, maybe would of let us continue to suffer in sin to show His utter rage at us but either way He would be furious with us! Mary is the greatest and most beloved of all God’s creatures so if Mary said “no” it would have been a betrayal of truly indescribable proportions!

In regards to faith, faith is an infused virtue from God that is given as a gift after the sacrament of baptism. Both the sacrament of baptism (and all the other sacraments for that matter) and the three theological virtues are complete gifts from God we do nothing to earn them. God made Mary with the infused virtue of faith and totally free from sin, thus while having freewill she was predisposed to saying “yes.” Quite frankly, asking “What if Mary said ‘no’” is really no different than asking “What if Jesus had sinned.” Also judging by your comment, it appears your ecclesial community denies freewill. When I examine your views regarding Mary, their implications point to a rotten fruit of Protestantism when it denies Mary’s place of honour with God. I won’t go into it unless you press me because this was not the original topic of this thread. But I’m more than happy to get into this topic for the sake having people return to the Mystical Body of The Lord and to develop a good relationship with our Queen and Mother which brings great joy to Our Lord.

P. S. Protestants who believe in freewill are also guilty of the above rotten fruit.

Glory to God!
and
Hail Mary!

 

[Techno2000]

Good day Goout.

So let me understand this? If Mary said “no” or didn’t have her faith, we will all be damned? So we need to thank Mary first for the “Church”? I don’t really think that is how it goes?

I have seen your posts and hope you don’t mean it this way, but if you do, it seems we are all praying for the wrong God/person?

Jesus had freewill also so he could’ve said “no” too.