"As Mother of the Church, Our Lady always wants to comfort her children at the time of their greatest difficulty and suffering", said the Pope today ... .Mary is not our mother. Scripture describes the heavenly Jerusalem as our mother:
Galatians 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
We Christians have one Lord, Jesus Christ. His bride is the Church, not his mother according to the flesh. He is our Lord, and we collectively are his Lady. We do not have a pair of sovereigns, one Lord and one Lady, we are the Lord's Lady. He is our groom, we are his bride. Mary, as a believer, is part of the Church, but the head of the Church is her husband, Christ.
Scripture never refers to Mary by the title, "Lady," and certainly not, "Our Lady."
As for the pope reading Mary's mind, where does he get this idea that she wants the comfort of "her children"? She hasn't led any of the popes to declare Purgatory empty - she hasn't protected the martyrs from martyrdom. What is the basis for his presumption to declare what is on Mary's mind?
Benedict XVI continued:
"Through Mary, we invoke moral consolation from God, so that this community and the whole of Italy may resist the temptation to become discouraged and, strengthened by their great humanist tradition, may set out again on the road to spiritual and moral renewal which is the only thing that can bring authentic improvement in social and civil life".Notice that Benedict XVI is not shy to acknowledge that this is not a prayer through Jesus, but through Mary. Thus, Benedict XVI makes Mary a mediatrix. He's not seeking to invoke consolation from Mary ipsa but through Mary as mediatrix. This is not an example of pray to Mary or prayer for Mary but the equally problematic case of prayer through Mary.
VIS further reports:
After praying the Regina Coeli, Benedict XVI made a private visit to the cathedral of San Donato where he paused before the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Comfort to adore the Blessed Sacrament and venerate the image of the Virgin.Regina Coeli is Latin for "Queen of Heaven," which is a title found in Scripture but always associated with a false goddess. It's the name of prayer in which the person prays to Mary and asks her to pray for them, followed by a prayer to God through Christ that makes a request that the joys of eternal life be received through Mary.
Notice as well that VIS is not ashamed to report that Benedict XVI both worships the elements and Mary as well, though the two kinds of worship are distinguished by words ("adore" vs. "venerate"). The Roman worship of the sacrament is as absurd as a Jew worshiping the paschal sacrament - and the worship of Mary far exceeds that foolishness, since it is acknowledged that Mary is not God.
-TurretinFan
It is absolutely amazing how traditionalist Roman Catholicism has built up an entire fiction about Mary based upon things that have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with scripture, and worse than that, even things that clearly contradict scripture such as the perpetual virginity [Matthew 1:25, John 7:1-5, etc.]. However, the main idolatry of traditionalist Roman Catholicism goes back to the fact that it places the words of the Church into the mouth of God. It is, therefore, an idolatry of the church, and that foundational idolatry leads to more and more and more idolatries. The value of the Marian dogmas of traditionalist Roman Catholicism is that they demonstrate that "the church" really does not care about the intent of the authors of scripture, as these dogmas either have nothing to do with scripture, or are directly contradicted by the text itself. In my mind, the Marian dogmas are one of the main things, along with denials of Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide, that keep me from ever seriously considering becoming a traditionalist Roman Catholic.
ReplyDeleteTF very good post as it clearly exposes the idol worship ( under the term hyperdulia ) that takes place within Roman Catholicism with regard to Mary. It amazes me at how far removed from Biblical Christianity the RCC has become. They must twist each and every passage that deals with idol worship as being sin.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mary and her sons, Jesus' half brothers came to where He was ministering seeking Him, they said to Him that His mother and brothers were looking for Him. He gave a response that seems to not be in any of the RCC Bibles or, if it is, it isn't that important to their doctrine? Here's what He said to that information given to Him about them seeking Him: Mar 3:31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him.
ReplyDeleteMar 3:32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you."
Mar 3:33 And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"
Mar 3:34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!
Mar 3:35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."
I like the straightforward way Luke records that event:
Luk 8:19 Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd.
Luk 8:20 And he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you."
Luk 8:21 But he answered them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it."
Apparently doing the Will of God is not nearly as important to the RCC as deceiving the nations! What a contrast, huh?
Jesus, with all authority gave this expression to His Lady, the Church, something quite different that deceiving the nations:
Mat 28:17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.
Mat 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Mat 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
I understand that Mary as the Mediatrix is not yet official dogma. But as someone told me, people believe these things for many years before they are officially received by the RCC. I don't quite understand the whole thing. Are they testing the ground to see if people go for it? Or do people go off into false belief and then it becomes so widespread the RCC has to legitimize it by making it official?
ReplyDelete