I am a born catholic and for years i have prayed to Mary Sincerely, but as i get closer or study the bible more i have a lot of questions to ask

1) Why do we catholics emphasize a lot on mary when we take up the rosary. Why arent there 10 our fathers and and one hail mary in each mystery?

2) Why should there be a conflict about mary among the christians when all of us know that Jesus is the lord and the one and only one mediater between man and god?

3) Why do we interceed too much (As i feel we could pray more directly)?

4) If there is so much of division among christians due to Intercession then why do not we all just pray directly to jesus and be unified with love?

-- Savio Thomas (thomass@msoe.edu), April 02, 2002

Answers

Savio,

The fact that you are born a Catholic does not make you a Catholic today. I pray that you reaffirm your Catholic Christian belief by continuing to study the reasons behind the Church's teachings. This is what I did, and I love Jesus more because I actively searched for Him.

Answers:

1) What would praying 10 "Our Fathers" change for you? You might not know this, but the Rosary centers on Jesus Christ's life, not on Mary's life. The Rosary is a wonderful tool for recalling Jesus' joys and pains on the Earth and seeing how our lives reflect them. For example, when Jesus spends time in the Garden ("Not my will, but thine be done"), I can recall times in my life where the consequences of choosing God may have scared me, and made me feel alone.

2) All Christians are called to pray for each other. I'd have a hard time finding a Christian who thought that it was improper to pray for someone else. If I were sick, would I sin by asking my friends or pastor to pray for me? Of course, all Christians rely on the community for prayer, just as the earliest Christians did--look at the Acts of the Apostles. So we Catholics further know that those who have gone before us in friendship with God are alive in God, and not dead. We are no less believers in Jesus after we die than before we die. Is there a question in your mind that Mary was not the first to believe that Jesus was the Messiah?

We also know, because of the Gospel accounts, that Jesus listens to Mary. Jesus loves his mother. We can't turn her into a godess; but we must love her because Jesus himself loved her.

3) We can certainly pray directly to God. Saints provide role models because they, unlike God, struggled with sin. We can pray to understand the way that they worked to conquor sin in their own life, and pray to understand how they followed Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles, along with the rest of the Bible, is quite clear that we are not just individuals, but a community of believers. The community can pray for eachother, and this is totally Biblical.

4) We Catholic Christians do all pray to Jesus. We do not hold a doctrine that we cannot ask for others to pray for us. This doctrine is man-made and un-Biblical. We should always pray to God for unity in the Christian Community.

If you would like more information about the history or purpose of the rosary, feel free to ask more questions to the forum.

In Christ,

Mateo

-- (MattElFeo@netscape.net), April 02, 2002.

>1) Why do we catholics emphasize a lot on mary when we take up the >rosary. Why arent there 10 our fathers and and one hail mary in each >mystery?

The Rosary was not made up by men, but given to us directly from the hands of the Blessed Mother. It is she herdelf who wants us to come to her.

>2) Why should there be a conflict about mary among the christians >when all of us know that Jesus is the lord and the one and only one >mediater between man and god?

If you think you can save your soul without the help of Our Lady, the Angels, and the Saints, you're doing much better than anyone I know!

>3) Why do we interceed too much (As i feel we could pray more >directly)?

Nobody is saying you can't pray to God directly. Jesus taught us to do just that. However, what is so foreign about asking others close to God to pray for you?

>4) If there is so much of division among christians due to >Intercession then why do not we all just pray directly to jesus and >be unified with love?

See answer to #2. -- jake

-- jake (jake__@msn.com), April 02, 2002.

Hi Savio, I'm not really a regular on this board, but let me try to answer some of the things you ask. It sounds like you have heard some attacks on the teaching of the Church about Mary. The first place to go is the Catholic Catechism, which gives our true beliefs about Mary. Remember, the bible is only one source of God's revelation, but it must be understood properly, this is why we have a Church. Mary is not God, and of course Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, and you should put Jesus first in your life and in your prayer. But Mary is our mother, the instrument that God choose to bring Christ into the world. Mary always points the way to her son, "To Jesus through Mary". Read some of the Pope's writings on Mary, or get a copy of St Louis De Mountfort's "True Devotion to Mary". I don't see how honoring the Mother of God is unbiblical--remember "All generations shall call me blessed" Luke 1:46.

-- JohnR (me@withheld.com), April 02, 2002.

Our Dear Spiritual Mother is my own safety as I do not have the audacity to ask direclty from Christ. I do ask the Father through Christ though as a child.

Perhaps for the person who brought forth the thread as suggested Ste. Montforte's book along with reading historical development of those who began turning to Mary for help might be usefull.

-- Jean Bouchard (jeanb@cwk.imag.net), April 04, 2002.

Date: 2002-10-29 John Paul II Calls for More Profound Study of Mary

150th Anniversary of Immaculate Conception Proclamation Approaches

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 29, 2002 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II called for more profound theological studies and further research on the Virgin Mary.

The Pope made his request when he met today with participants in the seventh public session of the pontifical academies.

The objective of these academies, whose work is coordinated by the Pontifical Council for Culture, is profound study of fundamental issues of human learning -- theological, philosophical and scientific -- in order to advise the Pope.

The latest session was dedicated to the work of the International Marian Pontifical Academy and the Pontifical Academy of the Immaculata on the topic "Mary, 'Luminous Dawn and Sure Guide' of the New Evangelization."

The Holy Father said he was particularly interested in the subject, because "it takes up the expressions with which I conclude the apostolic letter 'Novo Millennio Ineunte,' entrusting to Mary, Mother of God and of all believers, the future of the new millennium and the way of the Church."

In order to learn to contemplate and to love the face of Christ, "we must go to Mary, who fully accepting the plan of God, formed her Son in a singular way, supporting his growth," he stressed.

Because of this, the Pontiff encouraged "interdisciplinary research that develops Mariological reflection, seeking new sources, in addition to the traditional, to obtain other suggestions for theological research."

Recalling that 2004 will mark the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception, the Pope said that the two Marian pontifical academies are called to offer their contribution so that it will be "an occasion of renewed theological, cultural and spiritual effort to communicate to the men and women of our time the most authentic meaning and message of this truth of faith."

In order to encourage theological research on Mary, the Pope decided to award the pontifical academies' traditional prize this year to Rosa Cali, alumna of the Marianum School of Theology of Rome, for her doctoral thesis entitled "Anti-Mariological Texts in the Exegesis of the Fathers from Nicaea to Chalcedon."

-- Choas (Choas@ivillage.com), October 30, 2002.

Hi there, these passages are why I believe that Mary, as special as she is for being the vessel God used to bring Jesus into the world, is no more special in God's Kingdom than me or the apostle Paul. Each one of us has a special role in cooperating with God's plans for bringing people to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

Matthew 13 54Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. 55"Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?"

Luke 11 27As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you." 28He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Hope this helps! In Christ Alone,

Jackie

-- Jackie Parnell (jackie@8bit-micro.com), May 23, 2003.

Jackie:
A fascinating episode in the gospels is in John 2 :1 through :12.

We would not even know about this if the apostle John hadn't seen the great significance of Mary's importance in the world. Christ emphatically stated on answering Mary's request here, that His ''hour was not yet come.''

How much clearer could John make it? Jesus literally saying; ''I have other plans, which do not concern this wedding feast. What has this to do with us?''

Yet, Mary proceeded to tell the wine stewards ''Do as He will tell you.'' And Jesus changed His ''hour'' simply to please His holy mother.

No other person on earth could have obtained this, Jackie. ONLY Mary.

Jesus was well-known in all four gospels to set others straight; whether Simon-Peter, or the mother of the apostles James & John (Matt: 21, 20 to 28) or his opponents among the scribes & Pharisees. Jesus knew how to dominate. He even spoke down to Pontius Pilate.

But Mary was his holy mother. For her alone, there was no delay or refusal. THAT is precisely WHY John wrote the account of the wedding feast in Cana. To prove to us, Mary is more important to Jesus Christ than anybody!

-- eugene c. chavez (loschavez@pacbell.net), May 23, 2003.