A question for catholics...?

Question

I am just curious and hope I do not offend anyone.

In the bible God says to worship no one but Him, so is it not wrong to worship Mary and other Saints?

Also, when you go to confessional, does it not bother you to confess and be forgiven by a priest who is a man and of course not sinless? Would it not be better to pray and get forgiveness right from the source..God?

Again I hope no one is offended I am truly interested in the answers to this. Thank you

Answer 1

Catholics believe in the communion of the saints as stated in the Apostle's Creed. This means that all people are joined. Those who are on Earth now and those who have gone on.

We ask people who are on Earth to pray for us as do the Protestants. Catholics also ask those who have achieved a special spiritual awakening on Earth to pray for them in Heaven as well.

Some misunderstand about our prayers through, not to, Mary because we believe that she has a universal or complete understanding in her spiritual awakening. Some of us ask her to pray for us for just about everything.

We believe that priests have a further change or awakening than those of us that have only baptism through a sacrament called Holy Orders. Because of this, God gave them the responsibility and authority to forgive our sins. We experience a direct communion with God through the priest when we go to confession or as we call it, reconciliation.

Hope this helps, G.

Answer 2

Catholics do NOT worship Mary or the Saints.

The Bible tells us to confess our sins.

Jas.5

1. [16] Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.

John.20

1. [23] If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Cheers :-)

Answer 3

I am a former Catholic. They will tell you they do not worship Mary or the saints but the truth is they see Mary as an intercessor- still viewing Mary and / or the saints as intercessors is in direct defiance to what the Bible teaches - there one intercessor between God and man and that is Jesus. Secondly, exalting Mary to the position of "Mother of God" sinless and eternal virgin is exalting her to a position of godlikeness and essentially worship as the Bible claims none of these things to be true. When Catholic bumper stickers claim "can't find Jesus, look for his mother" that is exalting Mary above Jesus, Jesus is not lost and His mother is dead- we are warned not to speak to the dead. If one does a little reseach they will find that the worship f Mary and the saints comes directly from worship of pagan gods and goddesses- they have just been renamed for the sake of Christianity.

As for confession. There really is no problem with confessing sins to a priest- the problem comes when it is believed that you can only gain forgiveness or be assolved if you go this route. They believe that God forgives the sins but you must go through the priest in order for God to hear your confession. Jesus is our high priest and we can confess, repent and be forgiven in the privacy of our own home or wherever we are. There is no scripture that says that we must confess to one ordained as a priest. There is value in being open, having someone to be accountable to and confessing our sins publicly (not to anyone and everyone but to a close friend, small group of friends, etc) in order to have accountability and someone to help you walk through times of temptation- but it is not necessary for forgiveness.

These teachings are not Biblical and are for no other purpose than to exert man's power and control over the people.

Answer 4

I used to be of the Orthodox faith until the Lord opened my eyes to His truth. I never felt better after confession bc the priest used to say to me I have to fast for 1 month, 2 months, or even a year depending on my sin. Oh Lord! There is so much spiritual blindness that the enemy has such a stronghold on these religions. When I confess now to Jesus my Lord in private, ALL the heavy burdens are lifted up. All we can do is pray the Lord delivers them from their spiritual blindness & have Amazing Grace & Mercy like He has on all of us that have accepted Him. I'm sorry but kissing & bowing down to an icon is idolatry. I have never felt so free until I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior!

Rev 9:20
20And the rest of humanity who were not killed by these plagues even then did not repent of [the worship of] the works of their [own] hands, so as to cease paying homage to the demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor move.

Answer 5

God can be approached either from a male angle or from a female one.
you can worship the divine as the DIVINE MOTHER
in many ancient cultures this was done.
it helps us experience the divine power in nature and in our lives
Mother Mary is a symbol of the Mother DIvine.
The catholics show special veneration to Mary.
they may not be professing Her as GODESS.
but, unconsciously, they are relating to the Divine Mother.

this is only answer to your first question.

Answer 6

Catholics believe that the Bible is not sufficient by itself to supply a complete system of worship. But this should not come as a shock since no religion is completely faithful to its holy book. And why should they be? They were created by imperfect humans. All take a free hand at varying levels with respect to interpretation, tradition and doctrine. As a principle, the church leadership believes that edicts handed down from the pope outweigh anything the Bible says. For example, they make use of the concepts of purgatory, sanction wars, and use titles such as "Father" for leaders when this is clearly against the scriptures.

Answer 7

We do not worship Mary. What we do is ask her to pray for us.Same with the saints.

Confession is and always has been something that I just don't believe in in my faith.I believe that yes, you can have your sins forgiven by God alone.

Answer 8

+ Saints +

Yes, it would be wrong to worship Mary and the other saints. But we do not worship them.

Catholics share the belief in the Communion of Saints with many other Christians, including the Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal, and Methodist Churches.

The Communion of Saints is the belief where all saints are intimately related in the Body of Christ, a family. When you die and go to heaven, you do not leave this family.

Everyone in heaven or on their way to heaven are saints, you, me, my deceased grandmother, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II.

As part of this family, you may ask your family and friends living here on earth to pray for you. Or, you may also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Andrew, or your deceased grandmother living in heaven to pray for you.

Prayer to saints in heaven is simple communication, not worship.

And prayer to the saints is optional not required.

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p5.htm#946

+ Reconciliation (Confession) +

The Catholic Church believes that "Only God forgives sin."

When a penitent person asks God for forgiveness, his (or her) sins are immediately forgiven.

Catholics also believe that when someone sins they not only hurt their relationship with God, they also injure the entire church, the body of Christ.

Jesus said, "I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,"Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." (Luke 20:22-23)

Oral confessing sins is recommended over and over in both the Old and New Testaments:
+ James 5:16
+ Acts 19:18
+ Matthew 3:5-6
+ Mark 1:5
+ 1 Timothy 6:12
+ 1 John 1:9
+ Numbers 5:6-7
+ Nehemiah 9:2
+ Sirach 4:26

The Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation with a priest ordained in the name of Jesus Christ not only reconciles the sinner to God but with the entire church, including you and me.

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2chpt2.htm

+ With love in Christ.