What makes catholics think mary is so important?

Question

Becauset is impossible for Catholics to worship Mary.

"Worship" has been defined as applying only to God.

Mary’s “Assumption” or being “taken to heaven with body and soul? is not found in the Holy Scriptures.

We are commanded to "TEST ALL DOCTRINES" to see whether they are of God or not.

The Bible says, Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Why pray to Mary at all? Does the Holy Scriptures sanction such prayers to Mary?

God says to ask Jesus not Mary. Only Jesus can answer ones prayer.

It is sinful for us to ask Mary to pray for us when the Bible CLEARLY teaches that Jesus Christ is the ONLY Mediator between God and man.

Answer 1

Catholics do not worship Mary but we do highly respect her.

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." (Luke 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.

Answer 2

You're right -- we don't worship Mary. Worship is reserved for God Alone. But Mary is the Mother of Jesus and one of the most beautiful role models of Christian life in the history of the Church.

She was humble: when Elizabeth praised her, Mary immediately began to praise God. She was kind and caring: when the newlyweds at Cana were faced with social disgrace for running out of wine, she asked Jesus to help them.

She was a contemplative: she pondered everything about her Son's life and future in her heart. She was loyal and brave: she stayed by the Cross when the other disciples had run away in fear. She was loving: her heart felt as if a sword had been thrust through it, but she stayed with Jesus until the end.

She was prayerful: she was praying with the believers when the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. And last but not least, she was obedient: all throughout her life, she did what God wanted, no matter what the cost to herself.

That is why we think she is such an important role model, worth of our love and admiration.

Answer 3

No, Catholics do not worship Mary, if by worshiping is meant adoring. She is not God for us, has never been and will never be. Addressing prayer to Mary is like asking a dear and close friend for help.
Mary is the Mother of Jesus and without her we would not have Jesus so she is special

God Bless You

Answer 4

Mary was the vessel that God chose to carry and deliver His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Roman Catholics do not worship Mary.

Answer 5

First and foremost- CATHOLICS DO NOT WORSHIP MARY!

Worship is reserved for God alone.

Prayer to Mary ( and all other saints) is absolutely no different than if I were to ask you to pray for me. If I asked you to pray for me, would you say," Don't ask me to pray for you. Go directly to God yourself!" If you claim to be a Christian, I HOPE you wouldn't say that!

Our prayers to saints are nothing more than asking them to add their prayers to our for a particular need.

We believe saints are, by definition, in the presence of God. Who better to ask for favors for us?

Why is Mary important? Because she - an mere human- was singularly chosen by God to bring His only Begotten Son into the world...and she said YES to God! We can never hope to be as perfect as Christ- but Mary was as human as we are...we can aspire to her faithfulness and obedience to God.

Non-Catholics THINK they know what Catholics believe about Mary and the Saints, but unless you are getting the information from a faithful Catholic, you are being misled by people who have an agenda against the Church.

Answer 6

You are absolutely correct. We don't worship Mary.

We venerate her for her role in salvation history as the Mother of Jesus who is God.

Answer 7

Without Mary there would be no Jesus and without Jesus there would be no Catholic Church. Besides Catholics are decent people who revere mothers (their own and Jesus's)

Answer 8

well mary was the mother of jesus and since jesus was the king they feel that mary automatically gets the title of queen to the king

Answer 9

Mary is the mummy Of God, because Jesus her Son Is God. besides the undeniable fact that Mary grow to be no longer there in the starting up, she is God's mom because God Entered into our universe through the Womb Of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And certain, this identify is Biblical, it is in the Gospel in accordance to St. Luke, financial ruin a million, the position St. Elisabeth greets her; "Blessed paintings thou between women folk & Blessed is the Fruit of thy Womb. yet, why has it come unto me that the mummy Of my **LORD** ought to visit me?" the region as mom Of God is the mind-blowing Blessing He ought to Ever Bestow upon any of His creatures. considering God Himself Made the Commandment "Honour thy father & thy mom," God Himself ought to Abide through His personal Commandment & Honour His loved mom. Thereby he gained't Refuse the requests made through Mary, at the same time as she prays to Him on behalf of all souls.

Answer 10

The Dangers of Devotion to Mary

Acknowledging the dangers of devotion to Mary, The Catholic Encyclopedia states: “That popular devotion to the Blessed Virgin was often attended with extravagance and abuses, it is impossible to deny.” As far back as the end of the fourth century, Catholic “saint” Epiphanius condemned the offering of cakes to Mary, stating: “Let no one adore Mary.” The same encyclopedia tells us: “As early as 540 we find a mosaic in which she [Mary] sits enthroned as Queen of Heaven in the centre of the apex of the cathedral of Parenzo.”

Was it not exactly this kind of pagan worship that provoked God to anger back in the time of Israel? The Bible relates: “The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.”—Jer. 7:18; 44:15-30.

This danger still exists. Daniel L. Migliore, associate professor of theology at Princeton Seminary, recently wrote: “Our violations of Mary are legion. . . . We have made her the Queen of Heaven.” Catholic Archbishop Carter of Toronto gave the following explanation of the reason why Vatican II tried to tone down adoration for Mary: “The Council had in mind the kind of abuses seen, for example, in some Latin-American countries where Mary sometimes took precedence over everything else.” The “abuses” to which adoration for Mary can lead become very visible at such places of Marian pilgrimage as Lourdes, in France, and Fatima, in Portugal.

In addition to the danger for Catholics, Mariolatry is undoubtedly a divisive factor within Christendom, since most Protestants reject devotion to Mary as idolatry. And the information given above shows that Catholics are divided among themselves over the Scripturalness of Marian dogmas.

It is therefore clear that by reviving the adoration of Mary, Pope John Paul II is doing nothing to unite Catholics among themselves or to draw them nearer to the other religions of Christendom. Worse still, he is doing nothing to revive true Christianity as it was practiced by the apostles and early disciples of Christ.

A Balanced View of Mary

The purpose of this article is certainly not to offend sincere Catholics, especially Catholic womenfolk who have come to consider Mary a loving and tender intercessor, someone who understands the sufferings of womanhood. The Bible allows us to respect and even love Mary as a faithful disciple of Jesus. (Acts 1:14) The Scriptures clearly show that Mary, as an anointed Christian, would be “raised a spiritual body,” to “inherit the kingdom of God,” together with the 12 apostles and other faithful first-century Christians.—1 Cor. 15:42-54; 1 Thess. 4:13-16.

However, nowhere does the Bible authorize us to adore Mary or to pray to her for intercession. Prayers should be addressed to God, through Christ. (John 14:6, 13; Acts 4:12) Catholic women, and men, too, should not feel that they will find less sympathy and understanding when they pray to God in the name of Christ than when they prayed to Mary.

Of God we read: “As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” (Ps. 103:13, 14) And of Christ it is written: “For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning.”—Heb. 4:15; see also Philippians 4:6, 7.

So we invite sincere Catholics who pour out their heart to Mary to learn from the Bible how to pray just as intimately to God through Christ. Start off by reading the above scriptures, all taken from the Catholic edition of the Revised Standard Version.