Ah, my friend…therein lies the rub. It would be better if they made sure that the messages were in line with Scripture, then they would realize that the Mary of Scripture would never say some of the things the apparitions say. Nor would the Mary of Scripture ever draw attention to herself by apparitions and asking for shrines to be built in dedication to her or her name (such as the apparition of Guadalupe).
The shrines to Mary are there to lead people to her son Jesus.
You make so many presumptuous assertions of what Mary “would never” say or do, that it’s difficult to know where to begin. Scripture!! Scripture!! Scripture!!
The Scriptures are Holy and Divine and Inerrant.
With that in mind, you might want to spend more time
MEDITATING on the scriptures instead of just quoting them.
It’s one thing to know them, another thing altogether to PONDER THEM. And PONDERING them is what the early Christians and the Catholic church have been doing for 2000 years now.
That is why the Catholic Church UNDERSTANDS the SIGNIFICANCE of Mary, while the Bible-only folks
think she was just a nice lady.
Elizabeth, herself a recipient of a great miracle from God,
greeted Mary (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit) with
“BLESSED art THOU amongst women!!” and, even though much older, felt unworthy of Mary’s visit and expressed it by saying (still under the impulse of the Holy Spirit):
“and who am I that the Mother of my Lord should
come to ME??”
Read the 1st 2 chapters of Luke. Then read them again.
And again. And again. What does Mary do about everything connected to Christ?
“And Mary his mother treasured all these things,
continually meditating upon them in her heart.”
And Mary knew that her Son was the Lord from Heaven.
And pondered and meditated on that.
Have you ever read Mary’s Magnificat in Luke after Elizabeth praises her under the prompting of the Holy Spirit?
Read the Magnificat over and over again.
This wasn’t just a nice lady. She, barely 16 years old at the time, if that old, was full of the Spirit of God. Read the Magnificat.
Ponder it. Get some good Catholic literature on Mary.
CATHOLIC ANSWERS publishes a wonderful little book
called MEETING MARY, by Kenneth J. Howell.
It is deep reflection on the scriptural types fulfilled in Mary as well as a study of her deep spirituality. It’s well worth the $8.95 !!
God bless,
Jaypeeto4
+JMJ+