OK, I said I'd never come here again when I stormed out a few months ago, but I have a question no one I know seems to be able to answer.
What constitutes proper Marian devotion? I know we need to have some kind of devotion, and that she is our mother, but beyond that, it's kind of vague.
I tried looking in the other recent Marian threads, but I found no answers there, just lots of arguing. All the arguing is the reason I post so rarely anymore. Everyone on those threads ignored the question.
There are those who say we can never love our Blessed Mother too much. But that is not true. If we love her more than Jesus, then that is idolatry. Most Catholics I meet, I'm sorry to say, do worship Mary, just like the Protestants say. (This does not make Catholicism untrue, of course, since worshipping Mary is not Catholic teaching.) My own priest said Mary is higher than Jesus because in Biblical times, the Queen Mother was higher than the king! Stuff like that gives Satan fuel to tempt me to go Baptist, as does much of the stuff about Mary I read in these threads. It's getting so bad, I'm also tempted to forget about Mary altogether; after all (follow me closely here), I already have a mother, and I'm very close to her.
How is Mary different from any other holy person in the Bible? She was sinless, but so were Adam and Eve until they fell. She raised Jesus, but Joseph had a hand too. She heralded Jesus's coming, but so did John the Baptist. I accept the Church's teaching on her being the Queen of Heaven and all that (I accept all Church teachings), but how does all that relate to my spiritual life? She accepted God's will, but so did every other saint.
And all that stuff about her intercession? A saint, by definition, is a person whose will is completely submitted to God's. If I ask Mary, or any other saint, to intercede for me, God still has the final say, so they're not going to be able to pray for something God doesn't want. For this reason, I don't ask anyone to pray for me, saint or not. What kind of God would allow a creature to change His plan?
I'm not speaking theoretically here. To make a long story short, I have gone overboard with Marian devotion, and God has given me clear signs telling me to stop going so far with it. (The details are not bad in themselves, but they would distract from the topic.) I have found that while Mary led me to Jesus after I converted, Marian devotion can very easily lead me away from Jesus. It's supposed to lead me to Jesus, but it doesn't seem to be doing that (except for the Rosary). "To Jesus though Mary?" What about to Jesus directly? We only have so much time each day, and time spent on Marian devotion is time taken from Jesus. I don't think Jesus or Mary would want that.
Then there are the Protestants, who think any good feelings toward Mary are idolatry. I love Mary and the other saints. God arranged for me to have a relic of St. Anne (for those who say it should belong to the local church, they didn't want it), and I'm so thankful for that. I know their extreme is not good either.
But there must be something in between. If there is not, then I may have to give up Marian devotion to save my soul. I know many will accuse me of pushing doubt, but such accusations will only prove to me that most Catholics really do worship Mary and don't want to admit it. I'm sorry to speak so frankly, but I am running out of options.
Any rude comments will be reported. Don't think I'm bluffing.
What constitutes proper Marian devotion? I know we need to have some kind of devotion, and that she is our mother, but beyond that, it's kind of vague.
I tried looking in the other recent Marian threads, but I found no answers there, just lots of arguing. All the arguing is the reason I post so rarely anymore. Everyone on those threads ignored the question.
There are those who say we can never love our Blessed Mother too much. But that is not true. If we love her more than Jesus, then that is idolatry. Most Catholics I meet, I'm sorry to say, do worship Mary, just like the Protestants say. (This does not make Catholicism untrue, of course, since worshipping Mary is not Catholic teaching.) My own priest said Mary is higher than Jesus because in Biblical times, the Queen Mother was higher than the king! Stuff like that gives Satan fuel to tempt me to go Baptist, as does much of the stuff about Mary I read in these threads. It's getting so bad, I'm also tempted to forget about Mary altogether; after all (follow me closely here), I already have a mother, and I'm very close to her.
How is Mary different from any other holy person in the Bible? She was sinless, but so were Adam and Eve until they fell. She raised Jesus, but Joseph had a hand too. She heralded Jesus's coming, but so did John the Baptist. I accept the Church's teaching on her being the Queen of Heaven and all that (I accept all Church teachings), but how does all that relate to my spiritual life? She accepted God's will, but so did every other saint.
And all that stuff about her intercession? A saint, by definition, is a person whose will is completely submitted to God's. If I ask Mary, or any other saint, to intercede for me, God still has the final say, so they're not going to be able to pray for something God doesn't want. For this reason, I don't ask anyone to pray for me, saint or not. What kind of God would allow a creature to change His plan?
I'm not speaking theoretically here. To make a long story short, I have gone overboard with Marian devotion, and God has given me clear signs telling me to stop going so far with it. (The details are not bad in themselves, but they would distract from the topic.) I have found that while Mary led me to Jesus after I converted, Marian devotion can very easily lead me away from Jesus. It's supposed to lead me to Jesus, but it doesn't seem to be doing that (except for the Rosary). "To Jesus though Mary?" What about to Jesus directly? We only have so much time each day, and time spent on Marian devotion is time taken from Jesus. I don't think Jesus or Mary would want that.
Then there are the Protestants, who think any good feelings toward Mary are idolatry. I love Mary and the other saints. God arranged for me to have a relic of St. Anne (for those who say it should belong to the local church, they didn't want it), and I'm so thankful for that. I know their extreme is not good either.
But there must be something in between. If there is not, then I may have to give up Marian devotion to save my soul. I know many will accuse me of pushing doubt, but such accusations will only prove to me that most Catholics really do worship Mary and don't want to admit it. I'm sorry to speak so frankly, but I am running out of options.
Any rude comments will be reported. Don't think I'm bluffing.