Mary is nothing without Jesus. She has no power of her own. Still, when we read the Bible, we find that she has a key role in bringing Christ and His salvation to the world. The angel asks her permission to allow the Word to become flesh.
Especially in the Gospel of Luke, we see a significant place of Mary in the story of Jesus. She is a good and faithful follower of Jesus. She is with him under the cross and in the Gospel of John Jesus tells John she is his mother.
Catholics believe that when a person in the state of grace, full of the Holy Spirit, dies, they continue to live through the power of that life of the Holy Spirit. The souls of the just in heaven intercede with Jesus for loved ones. Mary is alive and caring for us as a mother. We believe that she is a gift of God that enhances our love for Jesus and in no way takes away from the honor he deserves. God has asked us to come to Him as a family. And so we are praising and communicating with God in union with those on earth as well as the faithful in heaven.
Jesus is a God of the living, not of the dead.
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4 comments:
Dear Father Mike,
It has been my experience that when I matured in my faith to the point of appreciating the touch of God and hearing His voice, when I sought Him with all my heart, then I was allowed the privilege of hearing from heaven and communicating in the spirit. At each step of faith and trust in Him to lead me, I grew in spiritual wisdom and discernment. I had to step out in faith to please God and He led me to pray to Mary and to embrace the whole church. I too have had glimpses of the presence of Mary in my life, but it was not by sight. I heard her voice. I smelled roses and lavender indicating she was near by. I know she appears to the faithful to encourage them. I saw in Italy that the poor deeply religious Catholics know her as mother. The Christian world outside the Catholic faith cannot appreciate the supernatural in the lives of the saints, because they have been given other gifts. Eventually we will be able to share our experiences in the Spirit with each other as the community of God comes together in unity. We will have the Millenium to recount the wonders of the presence of God on earth, in the lives of the saints and the power of everlasting life through the Lord Jesus Christ. Just think what that will be like, to share our love with one another in perfect harmony and peace.
Blessings and peace.
mike (i refuse to call you father...for the FATHER GOD is my FATHER....),
JESUS CHRIST sits on the right side of GOD interceding for us, romans 8:34. the HOLY SPIRIT also intercedes with moans that words cannot express when we do not know what to pray for, romans 8:26. why would we need a human interceding for us when we have divine intercession by GOD HIMSELF? it is all about salvation that has been freely given to us through CHRIST'S FINISHED work on the cross. please stop trying to take the glory away from the FATHER and putting it on something man or woman can do!!! right now i intercede in prayer for all catholics to have their eyes opened to see the blasphemy which occurs in your tradition. it is not about mary, so stop glorifying her and give the glory to the FATHER and the SON and the HOLYSPIRT..... our ELOHIM!!!!
grace to you and peace, dawn (former catholic)
I converted to the Catholic faith as an adult. I had no intention of becoming Catholic but went to classes to convince my then fiance to consider converting to my religion. Anyway, this was my main area of contention. I had found every other teaching almost intuitive once I really understood what the church teaching was rather than what other protestants had told me it was. I prayed very hard about understanding Mary's role and aked for God guicance or forgivness as I hestitantly prayed the Rosary. After praying the Rosary, I immediately understood why I should admire and revere Mary .....becasue God did.
Hi I have a few questions if you could answer them it would be appreciated. 1)Can you explain to me where in the written Word of God (Bible) does it say that dead souls intercede for loved ones. 2)When Jesus himself said this is how you pray "Our Father who art in heaven......." then why are catholics instructed by leaders in the church to pray 7 hail Marys etc. God is no respecter of persons yes Mary was very instrumental in the divine birth of Christ but we were never told by Jesus to pray to Mary. 3) Isn't the Holy Spirit ment to be the one to guide us into all truth. The rosary is just a symbol that has no power so why use it in prayer.
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