2006-10-11 04:27:21 · 19 answers · asked by Jashena J 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The Blessed Virgin Mary is important to Catholics because the Bible says she is important to God.
+ Mary is the handmaid of the Lord (Luke 1:38), a servant of God just like us.
+ Mary is the first Christian. All other Christians follow her on the road of faith. She is the model for all of us because she actively cooperated with the Will of God by saying "Yes" to God in the plan of salvation.
+ Mary is the model of faith. Mary's faith never wavered throughout Jesus' life, even while watching him die on the cross when most of the Apostles ran away.
+ Mary is full of grace. The angel Gabriel called her, "Full of grace" and said, "The Lord is with you." She is full of grace at that moment; the Lord is with her at that moment, before she says "yes" to the angel's question. Catholics believe the state of grace was with her since her Immaculate Conception. God prepared her for her later role as the mother of Jesus.
+ Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, of God the Son.
+ Mary is a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, a tabernacle. The angel Gabriel says to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow." (Like 1:35)
+ God praised Mary through His messenger, the angel Gabriel, "Rejoice, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you." If God and his angels praise Mary, shouldn't we?
+ Jesus honored Mary. Jesus kept the Commandments and did not sin. Jesus fulfilled the Commandment to honor both his father and his mother. WWJD? What would Jesus do? Jesus would and did honor Mary, his mother.
+ The Holy Spirit inspired praises of Mary. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit,
cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women," and "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled." (Luke 1:41-45)
+ The Scriptures tell of Mary's place with Jesus. Mary gives birth to Jesus, presents him to the shepherds, to the wise men, to God in the Temple. She lived with him for many years in Nazareth, intercedes with Jesus in Cana, suffers with him at the foot of the Cross, and prays to him with the apostles in the Upper Room.
+ Mary was a prophet. "Behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me." (Luke 48-49) As Christians who believe the Bible, we must call Mary "blessed."
+ Mary is our Mother too. While he was on the Cross, Jesus said to his beloved disciple (who represents all Christians), "this is your mother." (John 19:27)
The Blessed Virgin Mary is not a goddess but the blessed daughter of God the Father, mother of God the Son, and dwelling place of God the Holy Spirit.
The Hail Mary prayer simply recites Bible passages (the Word of God) and asks Mary to pray for us:
Hail Mary Full of grace, the Lord is with you. (These are the words the angel Gabriel said to Mary, a Bible quote.)
Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. (This is Mary's cousin Elizabeth's greeting, another bible quote.)
Holy Mary, (The angel Gabriel said she was full of grace and Elizabeth said she was blessed.)
Mother of God, (the Bible says Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ, God the Son)
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. (A simple request to pray for us.)
Amen.
With love in Christ.
2006-10-11 17:36:13 · answer #1 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
the angel told her she was most blessed woman in hsistory
that doens't mean she should become a gospel substitute
however alot of Mary issues, the assumption of Mary and being Co redemptirix and co founder are sad mistakes and there is no biblical reason to believe Mary was either sinless or perpectually a virgin and every reaosone to believe the opposite. Priest no 1 of the cahtolic church .. Thomas Aquinas DID NOT believe Mary was sinless so as an unbiased sourse he would weigh in against the current views being drawn from the scriptures, excepting he would defer to papal decrees
I suspect many people look for somone more merciful than God to soften God, and unintentionally insult God's grace
making her into co redeptrix co founder of the church they unintentionally buy into a Jesus substitute and in many many ways take the focus off of Jesus onto someone who should be rightly a monument to grace not a diversion from grace
the Bible leaves Mary on her knees in the upper room in acts, are that is where we should remmmeber her as a great woman of faith, loved by God, who loved God and try to be more like her
God looks on the heart when we pray, Mary is not everywhere to even hear your prayers, and Mary cannot see your heart, go to God through Jesus... His prayers calm the sotrm, heal the sick and raise the dead....dont look for another way.
2006-10-11 04:34:48 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
maximum Protestants think of they do. yet they don't. They pray to Mary & ask her for intercession. They view her very exceedingly. and picture approximately her to be born without sin. And the Queen of Heaven. i've got even heard words including Co-Redemtrix. yet they don't positioned her on a similar point as Jesus of Nazareth. human beings who think of they do don't comprehend Catholicism. there is extremely no reason for Protestants to get all bent out of shape over the Mary stuff. they do exactly for some reason reason they don't comprehend it. They act like something is being taken remote from Jesus. however the way they instruct it it is not neither is something taken remote from God the father or God the Holy Spirit. they only understand the function that Mary performed in accepting what God's plans supposedly became for her. Her confident or Obedience to the will of God the father supposedly undid Eve's No or Disobedience. additionally they evaluate Mary to have stayed a Virgin among adult men her entire existence. And the Jesus's siblings interior the Bible have been thought to have been Cousins or a million/2-Brothers from a prior Marriage.
2016-11-27 21:34:40 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because it was her voluntary cooperation in God's plan that allowed us to have a Savior. For that tremendous gift we honor her and thank her. Of course we do not worship her. She is a creature like us, not a deity. The Catholic Church specifically forbids all forms of idolatry, which it defines as "giving to any creature the unique honor and glory which belongs to God alone".
It's curious that Protestants, who claim to base their beliefs on the Bible, have a problem with the saints interceding on our behalf, when the Bible plainly states that those before the throne of God offer to Him the prayers of the saints - us!
2006-10-11 04:52:40 · answer #4 · answered by PaulCyp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Virgin Mary was the Arch of the New Covenant!
2006-10-11 05:59:07 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When the Romans absorbed Christianity they changed it around to mirror the roman ideas The Romans deeply respected the God Vesta.
She was the goddess of the hearth and home. She was very important to Romans. In her temple a flame was always kept burning as in the 'hearth of Rome' the flame should never go out.
Mary was elevated to take the place of Vesta. She has been held in high esteem in the roman catholic tradition ever since.
Love and blessings
don
2006-10-11 04:40:08 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a protestant, i too have never understood this. Catholics say that they ask Mary to pray for them. ummmm - didnt Mary die like a couple thousand years ago? Was she a diety when she died - No. what if i prayed to my dead grandmother? she was pretty holy, Wouldnt this do the same thing? No, because she is dead. her spirit may be in heaven, but i highly doubt that those that are in heaven are sitting around taking prayer requests from those of us here on earth.
in fact, my Bible says: John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I AM the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by ME.
2006-10-11 04:37:22 · answer #7 · answered by Shamus 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She is the perfect example of humble obedience to God.
"Hey, Mary. God's wondering if you'll endure a lifetime of pain raising his son, and at the end, you're going to have to suffer the pain of a mother watching her son be cruicified. He will many times sound as though he is dismissing you or disowning you. But he is to be the savior of God. We can always ask someone else, it's your choice."
"Be it done to me according to God's will."
How great this world would be if more Christians followed her example.
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added: since someone mentioned the coredemptrix movement -- JPII declared this a heresy (and he had many very personal and special devotions to Mary, so for him to declare it heretical is a HUGE deal). The coredemptrix movement is in direct opposition to the Christian doctrine that Jesus and Jesus alone was the final sacrifice.
2006-10-11 04:50:17 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer is obvious. We are members of the Body of Christ. Jesus loves his Mother and honors her just like the Commandments say. He did not come to abolish the law but, to fulfill the law. Perhaps those who do not honor her are not of the Body of Christ?
2006-10-11 05:02:59 · answer #9 · answered by Midge 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Isn't it interesting that god chose Mary, but protestants reject her? Perhaps they would like to go back in time and give god an alternate plan.
Mary has replaced the fertility goddesses of earlier days.
2006-10-11 04:56:31 · answer #10 · answered by Buffy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anyone smart enough to convince 1/3 of the world's population that she was a virgin deserves some degree of honor.
2006-10-11 04:31:43 · answer #11 · answered by Kathryn™ 6 · 2⤊ 3⤋