Confusion About Mary

 

Let's clear some confusion about Mary and specifically about the Catholics.

 

Praying TO Mary, or any other Saints, is wrong. Many Catholics get this wrong and need to be put right.

 

We should not pray to a Saint but ask a Saint to pray for us. That's what it means to pray to Mary, or any other Saint.

 

But ... Christ said "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one goes to the Father except by me."

And ... Paul's letter to Timothy says, "there is one God, and there is one mediator who brings God and mankind together, Christ Jesus."

Both these statements are right and true. So let's look at this another way.

 

When someone is ill we often pray for them and ask God to come to their aid. This shows our charitable loving intentions on our part; it shows our generosity of spirit and caring. Prayers are the greatest gifts we can give to or receive from someone. God loves to hear our prayers on behalf of someone else.

When we pray for others we are mediating for them. 

 

So ... are we wrong when praying for others? Are we contradicting what Paul said to Timothy? Should we tell our sick friend to pray to God himself?

 

Remember the paralysed man who was carried in his bed by his friends and taken to Jesus for healing. Should his friends have left him to go to Jesus by himself?

 

We all need every help we can get. We all need someone to put in a good word for us. We all need someone to pray for us and to mediate for us.

 

That's what we should do when we pray to Mary and the Saints. We ask them to put in a good word for us with Jesus and God.

 

I repeat, as a Catholic, I know many Catholics get this bit wrong. They pray TO the Saints, place flowers and light candles by their statues, promise to recite the Rosary or whatever other promise. THIS IS WRONG.

 

Mary or the Saints cannot be bought with flowers and candles, any more than Jesus or God can be bought by our offerings. There is nothing we can do to repay what Jesus did for us. God loves us for what we are, for who we are; His creations. He does not need our gifts and trinkets as repayment.

 

It's a pity the Catholic Church does not explain this better to its own people as well as everyone else.

 

Oh ... and another thing ...

 

God chose Mary to be the Mother of His only Son. He obviously had, and still has, high regard for her. Do you think that when I get to meet God face to face He will punish me for daring to love Mary and thank her for saying "Yes" to God? 

 

Would YOU have said "Yes" if the Angel Gabriel had appeared to you with such a proposition? Or would you have feared for your life. What people, family and friends would say; to have an unmarried woman carrying a child and then claiming He is the Son of God.

 

She took a great risk. She deserves our thanks. I see nothing wrong in asking her to put in a good word for me with Jesus her Son. This in no way devalues Jesus and the love I have for Him; nor does it devalue God's mighty power and glory.

 

But then ... some would say I am wrong.