NOTE: Once again I mean no offence to anyone, you don't have to read this post even but if you do, just remember, my site, my right.
From Catholic Memes facebook page.
So devotion vs. worship.
People outside of the Catholic Faith seem to have a strange idea that we worship Mary, that we think that she is just as high up in the line of importance as Jesus.
This of course is not true.
Do you remember when the Angel, Gabriel came to Mary?
And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?
And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren:
Because no word shall be impossible with God.
And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
A thing that we Catholics do claim is that Mary is our Mother. It is true we believe this and please examine the passage below: John: 19: 25-27
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen.
When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.
People say that Mary is not a Virgin, that she had other children. Well she didn't. People invariably point to the passage in the gospel: Mark 3:31
And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him.
I have a Douay Rheims bible and that passage above is from an English Standard version Bible, whereas this is what my Bible says for the exact same passage:
And his mother and his bretheren came; and standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
The important word there is bretheren
Here is actually an interesting article on the topic which we are discussing now:
Did Jesus have Brothers and Sisters?
and also this article:
http://www.catholic.com/tracts/brethren-of-the-lord
So what the Hebrews meant when they said 'brothers,' or 'sisters' was people who were somehow related to Jesus, not necessarily by blood, but sometimes by marriage even if you didn't actually have any blood that you shared with that person. The other thing that is always brought up is that Jesus was the 'Firstborn' which would imply that Jesus had siblings. This is not so as in Jewish Law the firstborn, was called so because the baby opened up their Mother's womb.
Even if that was the only child a husband and wife had, and the baby was a boy, there was the law that God had said that the firstborn of every creature should be redeemed, human or not: Exodus: 34: 19-20:
All of the male kind that openeth the womb, shall be mine. Of all beasts; both of oxen and of sheep, it shall be mine.
The firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a sheep: but if thou wilt not give a price for it, it shall be slain. The firstborn of thy sons thou shalt redeem: neither shalt thou appear before me empty.
Exodus:13:1-2:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:Sanctify unto me every firstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel, as well of men as of beasts: for they are all mine.
So that clears up why Jesus was called Firstborn though he did not have any other siblings and we could also point out that whenever someone said to another person 'is this not Jesus, the son of Mary' they did not say 'is this not Jesus, A son of Mary' so we can safely assume that Mary had no other Children.
Something I found which might be helpful.
INTRODUCTION OF SAINT LOUIS MARIE If you just read the introduction to this you will see a much better, praiseworthy view than I would ever be able to produce. One of the things I liked most about it was this:8. Every day, from one end of the earth to the other, in the highest heaven and in the lowest abyss, all things preach, all things proclaim the wondrous Virgin Mary. The nine choirs of angels, men and women of every age, rank and religion, both good and evil, even the very devils themselves are compelled by the force of truth, willingly or unwillingly, to call her blessed.According to St. Bonaventure, all the angels in heaven unceasingly call out to her: "Holy, holy, holy Mary, Virgin Mother of God." They greet her countless times each day with the angelic greeting, "Hail, Mary", while prostrating themselves before her, begging her as a favour to honour them with one of her requests. According to St. Augustine, even St. Michael, though prince of all the heavenly court, is the most eager of all the angels to honour her and lead others to honour her. At all times he awaits the privilege of going at her word to the aid of one of her servants.There! Even Saint Michael knows how much she deserves to be honoured.Taken from a Philadelphia Catholic in King James Court-Discussion/Study Guide:9. How do we Catholics explain our belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary? (p.303)The Blessed Mother conceived by the Holy Spirit - He is her true spouse. St. Joseph was her earthly husband and protector of the Holy Family. But, we know from the Annunciation that Mary had made a vow of virginity because she asked the angel how she was to conceive a child. If she had been planning on having martial relations with Joseph, the question would not make sense. (See Luke 1:34) Also, Christ is referred to as "The son of Mary," not "A son of Mary," (Mark 6:3)Protestants are averse to the idea that celibacy can be a virtue in serving Christ, so that they try to disprove Mary's perpetual virginity by pointing out the references in the Bible to Jesus "brothers." But, the word "brother" in the Bible is a term with a wide meaning, and is often used to describe a cousin or other relative. A thing that Catholics are accused of also is that we invented the Immaculate Conception (Mary being born without the stain of original sin)in the year 1854, This of course is not true. But a misunderstandingTaken from a Philadelphia Catholic in King James Court-Discussion/Study Guide:The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary being born without the stain of original sin. (It does not refer to the Virgin Birth of Christ which is a commons misunderstanding) The Immaculate Conception was not invented in 1854; however, that was the year the doctrine was formally defined. This is an important point. The Church often defines a belief formally only when a dispute or question arises. In the case if the Immaculate Conception, the Church was merely confirming what had been the Church's position through the centuries.
Do Catholics Worship Statues?
Mary was there at all the important times during Jesus' ministry, passion, death and resurrection, and pentecost, we never said that she had lots of spotlight or anything like that, she doesn't need that sort of thing because we just believe that she is who she is and that's enough.
If you would draw close to Jesus, draw close to Mary; if you would draw close to Mary, draw close to Jesus. That maxim captures a rightly ordered faith and rightly ordered devotion. Anything that pits Jesus against Mary or that depicts them as rivals for devotion is disordered. The entirety of Mary's role is encapsulated in her injunction at the wedding of Cana, “Do whatever he tells you.” These are the final words of Mary in the New Testament and, in substance, the final words of Mary forever.
We Catholics believe Mary is our Mother and we know it, she is always there to help, always there when we need help in any way. She is our greatest intercessor because she is the Mother of Jesus and the Queen of Heaven and Earth.
We are her children and throughout the centuries she has always looked after us, she wants all of us to find comfort and to be gathered under her starry mantle where she can care for us.
Look at Juan Deigo for instance, she called him 'son' if I remember correctly and was gentle with him even when he was not doing what he should have been doing in the right order.
She is the most understanding Mother ever, and if we have ever had a really bad day if we just talk to her in our minds, in our hearts, she knows and loves us for it and makes us feel better, too.
Hail Mary, Our Mother and Queen! Pray for us Sinners now and at the hour of our death.
God Bless
