I understand implicitly, why the mention of The Blessed Virgin Mary strikes fear and horror and even disgust into the minds of Fundamentalists, Evangelicals and Protestants in general. They do not have the same understanding of the Communion of Saints. That understanding is absolutely foundational to understanding anything else associated with the way Catholics approach Mary and the Saints.
If you do not believe, that upon the death of the earthly body, a believer goes on to continue in an active spiritual state in Christ’s Body, the one that is being built by Him continually, but believe that you end up in a state of what can only be imagined as spiritual bliss, with no further responsibilities or cares, then you don’t comprehend why Catholics believe they can correspond, so to speak, with the departed Saints, with the Blessed Virgin, through prayer, asking for intercession on our behalf, from where they are in His presence.
We have two completely different mindsets concerning the departed believer. No reconciliation can be obtained if this foundational belief is not shared.
Another HUGE difference in the understanding between the two is the idea of what a Kingdom is. We live in an age where Democracy is all we know. We have a blatant disgust for anything smacking of royalty, pomp and ritual. We have this idea that when we pass from this world, we will be entering into a familiar democratic society, everyone being equal in position, not an actual kingdom as Christ declared.
Christ knew very well what the understanding of a Kingdom was, both to himself and to all he addressed. A little bit of research into history, you will become familiar with how kingdoms work. It would be especially good to study the kingdoms of the Middle East and especially the Kingdoms of Israel, so you will have an understanding of what everyone’s perception was when Christ taught about his coming Kingdom.
It’s a stretch for our Democratic thinking minds, it actually is a little painful, humbling. What do we think Christ is saying when he talks about our reward? Do we think the crowns will not mean anything, or will they have any kind of position attached to them? And if that is the case, which we can only surmise given what Christ himself taught, what does that mean for those who have gone before us, especially those who earned their crowns with their own blood? Those who gave everything for Christ, like his own mother?
Until as a Protestant, you can start to think in the way that Christians have always thought, down through the last two millenia, (sp?) you will never be able to come to an understanding of what it means for a Catholic to pay the uttmost honor and respect to Mary, Mother of Christ, the King of Kings for all ages.
Luke 1:46-49
"And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.”
Now what do we think Mary is realizing when she exclaims that the Lord has done great things for her, that he has had regard for the humble bondslave and that all generations would call her blessed? Mary was a Jew, she knew what it meant to be the mother of a reigning king of Israel, and her imagination was overwhelmed at the thought of what it would mean to be the mother of the Messiah King of Israel, the One whose reign will have no end, the One whom all Israelites had been looking for since Abraham. When she said that the Mighty One had done great things for her, what do we in complete honestly think she knew?
Why did Elizabeth ask “How has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Luke 1:43 She being a Jew also, knew the position that Mary held, even before Christ had been born into the world. She considered it an honor unworthy of her to even have Mary come to visit her.
To insist that Mary has no position above any other believer, which is what the Fundamentalist, Evangelical mind insists that we think, is really very naive. And it shows a total lack of understanding of the text and any teachings of Christ concerning his Kingdom.
This is not written with any kind of animosity, none whatsoever. I know the struggle with this. It takes grace. But that grace will only come if you are willing to receive it. I asked for that grace through real tears, because I knew the cost of crossing the Tiber.
God Bless,
Jeanette
I think it’s safe to say that we will have to agree to disagree on this one of many, I dare say, points of doctrine, discipline and practice.
As for how we avoid God’s wrath, we avoid it through what Jesus did for us on Calvary, on the blessed wood of the Cross. So we can agree on that.