http://www.fifthmariandogma.com/

I believe it will happen in due time. When it does, we can watch end-times realities to pick up speed. The RCC wants to unite all religions through Mary, especially Islam.

If anyone wants to shudder and have a peek into the future, listen to some of these radio shows. Please witness the truth of the Gospel to Catholics.

http://www.motherofallpeoples.com/Mother_of_All_Peoples_Radio/MOAP_Radio_Archives/

When religious organizations stray from the truth of God’s word, the end result will be apostasy. This is exactly why the Lord Jesus warned His disciples in Matthew 24:4, “”See to it that no one misleads you.” I strongly encourage all who follow a religion rather than Christ alone to compare what they have been taught with God’s word…if you cannot find their teachings in God’s word, then you have been misled.

Jim: So your devotion is to an organization, mary, and may things

“I love my Faith, and will not leave it. ”

Jim: That is because you do not love Jesus

“by loving my Heavenly Mother, ”

The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
Is it I whom they provoke? declares the LORD. Is it not themselves, to their own shame? Jeremiah 7:18-19

“Our beliefs will not be changed. I pray God will bless all who’ve participated in this discussion, and bring to our hearts His Sacred Truth.”

Do not give up hope yet. God can change the most wicked, vile religious heart by His grace, including yours.

——————————–

“It is hard for a man to let go a hope of heaven on which he hath once allowed himself to lay hold, and which he hath retained for a considerable time. True conversion is a rare thing. But that men should be brought off from a false hope of conversion – after they are once settled and established in it and have continued in it for some time – is much more rare.” -Jonathon Edwards

Yours is a fools hope that you would do well cast into the wind. The God of the Bible has vowed that you will perish in hell except you repent. May the fear of God drive you far from your idolatry that you might find rest in a true, saving knowledge of Christ before that day.

Lyn

“These Roman Catholic watchdogs that have recently come out to defend their heretical doctrine of Mary worship have, in fact, proven it.”

We are currently cresting the second wave of a Romanist flash mob on this blog. We have had more Roman Catholics swarm onto this blog in the last month promoting their religion than I’ve experienced in the past four years combined. If it wasn’t for the moderation filter, the comment threads would have been completely hijacked.

There is an obvious campaign targeted toward this blog. I was able to locate one comment thread on a Romanist blog asking people to come comment here, but I don’t believe that’s the one that has garnered most of the Romanist visitors.

BRIANNA:
As you continue your attack on the Word of God (you claim the Bible says nothing about abortion? Really? Have you not read “Thous shalt not murder” from Exodus 20:13 and that God “hates” the “abomination” of “hands that shed innocent blood” from Proverbs 6:16-17?) your arguments are beginning to border on absurd in your desperate attempts to defend the indefensible.

Your Mickey Mouse avatar argument is a straw man because this debate is not about the idolization of Mickey Mouse. No one is debating the bowing down to nor the praying to Mickey Mouse to somehow bring them closer to Christ. Nor is anyone claiming Mickey Mouse is a co-redeemer, co-mediator, was immaculately conceived, never sinned, was assumed into heaven, intercedes for sinners, and is now called the “Rodent of Heaven.”

Caroline’s position, however (as well as yours), is that Mary is indeed ALL of these things and much, much more (except the “Rodent of Heaven,” Mary’s supposedly the “Queen of Heaven”).

Quite frankly I do not have the time to argue this matter with someone who subtly rejects the very Word of God (unless quoting it is to your advantage). If you fully or partially reject that God’s Word is true and the standard measure of truth by which we live our lives and the church is governed, then continuing to banter with you on this is a waste of your time and mine. (I trust that you’re busy in your life too.)

Furthermore, it is apparent that no matter what truth is presented to you, you will reject it in favor of the traditions of men, and, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ time who rejected the truth of God for their traditions, only a supernatural act of God opening your heart (like Lydia in Acts 16:14) to receive teaching, and your mind (like the disciples in Luke 24:45) to understand the scriptures, and to give you understanding that you may know Him (1 John 5:20), will make any difference. Until then, wheels will simply spin in the mud.

CAROLINE:
The size of one’s religious organization is a very, very bad barometer of whether or not one is in the true faith. Jesus told us that narrow is the road that leads to life and FEW find it, whereas the broad path to destruction is very well traveled by the multitudes (Matthew 7:13-14). And if you know your biblical history, it’s always been the minority that followed God and it has always been the minority that God has used.

During the flood, how many people got on the ark in contrast to how many people were drowned? How many of all the Israelites that were brought out of Egypt actually entered the promised land? How many men did God use to fight with Gideon? How many prophets did God use to confront Ahab and Jezebel and challenge their false pagan priests? How many disciples did Jesus choose out of all of the land of Israel? What happened every time Jesus’ followers grew too large (He typically gave them a hard teaching that drove the masses away). How many men did God use to begin the Church?

You get the idea. If numbers were an indicator of truth, Islam would be truth, Mormonism would be truth, Hinduism would be truth, etc. Again, you get the idea.

Please understand, I do not dislike you or Brianna or any other Roman Catholic for that matter. (I have Romanist family members.) If I did dislike Roman Catholics, then I would not be wasting my time here. I have so many other things I should and need to be doing rather than typing words on a screen to people who are (it appears) not listening. But it is the fact that I am compelled to share the truth with you (e.g. the imminent danger of your idolatry and the amazing grace of the Lord Jesus Christ) which is why I have taken the time to correspond.

My heart breaks for the path I see you on, and nothing Lyn said about that path was incorrect (although you may be offended by the Word of God she was presenting to you). Do not look at us as your enemies for telling you the hard truth (Galatians 4:16). Do not take it as an offense.

We would be just as bold in telling you to get out of a burning house. If we didn’t care, we would remain silent. And that, my dear Caroline, is the ultimate hate for an enemy: not warning them of their impending doom, but keeping them sleeping in a burning house, or blissfully skipping along the path where the bridge ahead is out, or drinking from the glass that contains poison, or continuing in their idolization of Mary which makes them an enemy of the very God they think they’re serving.

Please take our pleas from God’s Word as a warning from God Himself (which is what the Bible is . . . His words to mankind). He is a God who wants Caroline’s complete love and devotion; not a love and devotion shared between you and one (or more) of the millions of mere human beings that He has used throughout the history of mankind. The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, strength, soul, and mind. You cannot do that if your devotion is divided between Him and a deceased human being whether it be Mary, Moses, Abraham, David, Peter, or Paul.

Give Him a pure and single minded love and devotion. Anything less is idolatry, and as I showed you earlier, God has declared that idolaters will NOT find themselves in heaven, but will be cast into the lake of fire (1 Cor. 6:9-11 and Rev. 21:8).

I beg you, I beseech you, turn from your divided devotion and turn directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you do that, and in the end we were wrong, you will have lost nothing, and you can then venerate Mary throughout all eternity. However, (and that’s a big however), if we were right, your continued idolatry will have condemn you for all eternity. I sincerely do not want to see that.

In love,
- Pilgrim

” I am aware of protestant pastors who are just as wicked, but I do not claim to belong to an ‘ultimate’ denomination. I belong to Christ’s church, which has Christ as the head. This is why I make no allegiance to any denomination.”

Amen Lyn.

http://christianresearchnetwork.com/2012/02/11/vatican-besieged-by-reports-of-money-laundering-plot-to-kill-the-pope/

http://sueliz1.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/catholic-baby-trafficking-ring-in-spain-busted/

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2010/07/27/the-vatican-s-gay-priests.html

The Bible commands leaders of churches to deal with sin, not cover it up or make huge payouts. However, when the leaders themselves are corrupt, what happens then?

So dear sisters, we have a picture of Jesus as He is in ministry, fully man, and fully God. He was born sinless and he lived sinless, and He died sinless, and He rose sinless! This is why He is our living sacrefice!
Now, re-visit above and you will see that His mother and family came to get Him! Why? Because they believed the Son of God born to the blessed virgin Mary whom you believe was born sinless, and I do not argue that point here. But I do point out to you that the Mary you worship, actually sinned here in her unbelief of her Son functioning as God, for she believed He was out of His mind! Thus here you have proof positive, that she was not sinless as is her Son, our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. Thus she is due no worship at all for she too as all men have fallen short of the Glory of God. Though she is blessed above all (sinful) women by the fruit of her womb Jesus. Thus while she should be well thought of, she is but a bit player in the Passion of Christ Jesus. Now I would direct you to one last reading of the Word of God, which you will find here:
Preeminence of Christ Colossians 1:9-18
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood,[c] the forgiveness of sins.

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

You see I too was raised Catholic and learned the traditions of men. Till our Lord opened my eyes to His Truth!

The worship of Mary the mother of Jesus Christ can be traced back to each of the major periods of church history. The Catholic Church is notorious in its promoting and praising of Mary. Murder and scandal were mingled together to form a poisonous concoction of worshipping her over the early, medieval and modern church periods and continues to this day. Mary began as something simple and men who professed themselves to be wise began to twist the truth slowly.

Writings during the early Church period fueled Mary-worship with the claims of her sinlessness, power and perpetual virginity. In 431 A.D., the Council of Ephesus gave Mary the title, “mother of God.” This claim was not saying that she was just the earthly mother of Jesus Christ, who was the Son of God, while at the same time was God in the flesh, which in their eyes would make Mary the literal mother of God.

Fifth and sixth century worship of Mary can be linked directly to city of Ephesus. The Vatican calls Mary the “Mother of the Church” and credits her for making Jesus who he was. She is considered the “second Eve” in the same manner that Scripture calls Jesus the second Adam.

Another modern false view promoted is that since Mary shared her Son’s suffering on the cross, some Catholic theologians see her as fulfilling the Old Testament priestly role in offering sacrifice. This gives her more power and prestige in the eyes of the ones who want to see her in that praiseworthy light.

read the rest here – http://www.godondeathrow.com/subpage3.html

You keep insisting “I would like to emphasize again that Catholics do not, and will not ever worship Mary if they are being true to their faith, and we will not EVER raise her to a status equal to Christ.” Yet, your own church history and writings prove you either are a liar or are deceived.
This is from http://www.whateverycatholicshouldknow.com/wecsk/mary.htm

The Catholic Church constructs a parallel of Mary to Christ Jesus. It teaches that just as Christ was sinless, so was Mary. Just as grace comes from Christ, so Mary is the mother of grace. Just as the Lord saves His people from their sins, so Mary is the cause of salvation. The Bible clearly states that there is only one mediator for mankind; amazingly the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Mary is a mediator. Just as Jesus Christ was taken up into heaven and is King of Kings, they teach that Mary has been taken up to heaven body and soul and is Queen of heaven. The Catholic Church goes even as far as stating that Mary was immaculately conceived just as the Lord Jesus was. In this section you will see clearly how the Catechism devises this parallel strategy and how the Bible clearly refutes it and reserves the roles of Jesus Christ for Himself alone.
All that has been documented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding Mary is utterly contradictory to the Holy Scriptures and the exclusive Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Putting your trust in Mary for your salvation is a most dangerous and damning barrier to eternal salvation. Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith alone for the salvation that He alone gives by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and based on His death and resurrection. Believe on Him alone, “to the praise of the glory of his grace” (Ephesians 1:6).

I have also included a link with videos from former Catholics in hopes you ladies will view some of these men’s messages….http://whateverycatholicshouldknow.com/helpforcatholics/Watch/The_Difference.html

J.C. Ryle:

“My dearly beloved, flee from idolatry!” 1 Corinthians 10:14

Romanism is a gigantic system of sacrament-worship, Mary-worship, saint-worship, image-worship, relic-worship, and priest-worship! In one word, Romanism is a huge organized idolatry!

I know how painful these things sound to many ears. To me it is no pleasure to dwell on the shortcomings of any who profess and call themselves Christians. I can say truly that I have said what I have said with pain and sorrow.

I believe that many a poor Catholic at this day is worshiping with an idolatrous worship, simply because he knows no better. He has no Bible to instruct him. He has no faithful minister to teach him. I remember all this; and I say that the Catholic eminently deserves our sympathy and compassion.

But all this must not prevent my saying that the Church of Rome is an idolatrous Church. I would not be faithful if I said less.

My own conscience would rebuke me if I did not warn men plainly that the Church of Rome is an idolatrous Church, and that if they will join her, they are “joining themselves to idols!”

That heart can hardly be right with God, which can think of the millions who are sunk in heathenism, or honor the false prophet Mahomet, or daily offer up prayers to the Virgin Mary — and not cry, “O my God, what shall the end of these things be? How long, O Lord, how long?”

Christ rightly known, Christ truly believed, and Christ heartily loved — is the true preservative against ritualism, Romanism and every form of idolatry! (Online source:http://www.gracegems.org/2012/01/idolatry.html)

Because men love darkness and hate the light. Islam is also a very popular religion btw. Oh flee from the wrath of God and the empty way of life handed to you dear soul. You can know Christ, be freed from your dead religion, and pass from death to life. That is my sincerest prayer for you – that you would turn from a dead religion to the living Christ! Jesus does not approve of you trying to mix the two together. Can I ask you a question, what would it cost you to leave the rcc and go straight to Jesus? Family, friends, something else?

There are two women. One stands with the husband that she loves and is faithful to. The other stands with a john that she is turning a trick for. They both look at their men and say ‘I love you’. Can you see that although they both claim the same thing there is a big difference. When you talk about your love and devotion it is a defiled and sick sort of thing like the second example.

2Co 6:16-18 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

“With the whole Church I acknowledge that Mary, being a mere creature fashioned by the hands of God is, compared to His infinite majesty, less than an atom, or rather is simply nothing, since He alone can say, “I am he who is”. Consequently, this great Lord, who is ever independent and self-sufficient, never had and does not now have any absolute need of the Blessed Virgin for the accomplishment of His will and the manifestation of his glory. To do all things He has only to will them.

However, I declare that, considering things as they are, because God has decided to begin and accomplish His greatest works through the Blessed Virgin ever since He created her, we can safely believe that He will not change his plan in the time to come, for He is God and therefore does not change in His thoughts or His way of acting.” ~St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion

And Mary too was a human, born of human parents, raised as a normal child…. But how, you ask, can we say that she was conceived without sin if she was human. Well, Jesus was human, wasn’t he? (Answer: yes) He was conceived without sin. Why couldn’t God, who operates outside of time, protect the woman who would become the new Eve, the place where His Son – a part of Himself – would be knit together free from sin? Where in scripture does it say that, you ask? Well, where in scripture does it say he didn’t? (And don’t quote Romans at me, because if you claim that verse, then you must say that Adam and Eve and Jesus were all conceived with Sin as well, and we know Sin entered the world with the fall and Jesus was conceived without sin. So, that is null. That word “All” is not the same word that we use now.) Where in scripture does it say that you must only marry one man or woman (answer: it doesn’t. Granted, that is how it was set up, but that’s not how it was practiced or what scripture says. Yet I think we’d all agree that polygamy is a sin.)

We are to imitate Christ, yes? Yes. So, let’s imitate Christ. He came to this world and housed in the womb of a Jewish virgin named Mary. He lived there for nine months then entered our world. Then He spent the first thirty years of His life with Her and his Foster Father, Joseph. He gave them the love and respect due to them, and He even changed His initial plans to wait on his first public miracle because his Mother asked. Then he went off and started preaching and teaching for the next three years. Then he died on the cross with only one Apostle, His mother, and some of her friends with Him. While dying on the cross, He was thinking about her and who would care for her and how He could show that her relationship with Him was for all who were also the Children of God.

If we claim to be Children of the Father, Brothers of Christ (and we were taught to pray “Our Father), then we must accept that we have the same Mother as well. You can’t adopt a Father but not a mother. Similarly, if we claim that Jesus is the head of the church and that Mary is His mother, then is she not also the mother of the Church? Yes. And as mother, she is due honor. NOT worship. Honor. I honor my mother, I honor fallen soldiers, I honor the martyrs, I honor my grandfather, I honor my mother and my father, I honor my priest, I honor many things. I do not worship them. I look to many of them as role models. I look to them because they are tangible examples of how to approach different walks of life. Jesus wasn’t a woman. Mary was. As such, she is an example of womanhood whereas Jesus is an example of humanity. Jesus is still the ultimate example! However, Paul commands his followers to imitate him, yet we don’t call him an idol or putting himself up as God. We say that he’s being an example. That is all we claim about Mary as well. She is our mother, an example, a pointing finger, a northern star shining us toward the Harbor. She is not the harbor, that’s the Trinity.

And are we not called to go to our brothers and sisters for prayer? We are called to lift each other up, to bring prayers and supplications to our Father in Heaven. I could ask you to pray for me to learn to love God more, so why can’t I ask His Mother to pray for me? Don’t tell me you think that since she’s dead she can’t do anything! Jesus himself said that God is the God of the living. We have hope for the resurrection since Christ rose from the dead. We can’t say that those in heaven or dead or we negate the words of Jesus, Paul, and all the early church. If we say those in heaven are dead, then we spit on the sacrifice of Christ and have not understood what his resurrection meant for us!

Approaching Mary and asking her to intercede for me is the same, therefore, as going and asking you. Only, by going to her, I know she’s not going to forget. I also know that she is closer to God than I am and you are because she is already in heaven, no longer bound by this world, its temptations, its distractions. It is also a sign of humility. By going to her, I can say “I know I’m sinful. I have no right at all to go to your precious Son. He gave everything for me, and I can’t even give him an hour! Pray with me as I go to Him asking Him to hear my prayer.” I’m not putting her in front of Christ. I’m asking her to come with me, just as I ask my friends to join me in prayer when life gets hard. I am not saying I cannot go to Christ, I am saying that I wish to go with His Mother.

Now, I am with Caroline on this when I say that you are being very rude. You keep throwing out very harsh judgmental terminology. Remember “you win more flies with honey than vinegar.” You are not showing the face of Christ – or even that of a Christian – when you hurl out insults. You are only serving to make me want to ignore you and brand you as a hot-headed, irrational, bigot. So, unless that is what you wish to be seen as – as opposed to the Christian we are all called to be – I ask you to please curb your tongue (and fingers). I have had to deal with people more offensive than you in person, and you are not making any points other than that of frustrating me and making me think less of you.

I will address your off topic remarks in a moment.

My previous comment is “awaiting moderation” (likely due to it’s length) so if this posts before that one, don’t think that I ignored the first half of your spiel, Lyn – I did, though not as comprehensively as I would have liked.

“You are both deluded and following a dead religion.”
Thank you. I’ll take back your Bible, your concept of the Incarnation, the Trinity, the pro-life culture we guarded throughout time, the scientific advances we made, the idea of orphanages, hospitals, and everything else that my dead religion founded and still work to keep up. I’ll take all the prayers we passed down, the great philosophers and Doctors of the Faith. I’ll take GK Chesterton, Thomas Aquinas, St. Augustine, and all those other people you guys seem to like since they are very Catholic.

Also, seeing as my Church is still the largest Christian denomination, the largest charity on earth, and full of some of the most vibrantly Christian people you could ever ask for – Mother Theresa anyone? – I can’t say that it’s a “dead religion.” Just because many of it’s members are not active does not make it dead.

“You must be born again, and that is not humanly possible. God must do a supernatural work in you.”
Unlike some Christians, Lyn, I have read my Bible – cover to cover – and have spent a lot of time studying it and immersing myself in it. I am, blessedly, baptized in water and the Spirit, and thus, “born again” by your terminology. God does a supernatural work in me daily. He constantly showers me with his graces. I go to mass every single day and spend at least and hour a day in prayer so I can grow closer to God. I don’t say this to boast, but you seem to be under the impression that I eschew God for Mary, and this is just not right at all!

“if He had, you both would run from the dead cult you adhere to. As of this hour, you both are under wrath and will die and face eternal judgment.”
Oh, I’m sorry. Are you final Judge now? I thought that was reserved for God. And so you know? The only reason I am Catholic is because of the works done in me by God. I would not be Catholic in the Bible belt otherwise. Why? it’s too dang hard! It’s not fun being one of 5 Catholics at your college. It’s not fun being the one people pick on in class, give weird looks to, and ignore on anything spiritual simply because I chose to go to the church that has been around since year 1. Because I refuse to go to a church born from schism, I am ostracised. Yet I stay. Why? Because I have done my research, from the “horses mouth” and looked past one or two encyclicals and into the actual teachings of the Catholic Church, how it has changed through the years, how it hasn’t changed. I have read the early church fathers (though not as much as I would like to have). I have researched the teachings of the faith. I believe that they are the most true to Scripture and most true to the nature of God.

“Salvation is not in infant baptism, nor in the sacraments. Salvation is all of God’s grace, trusting in what Jesus has done completely, no one added to the equation.”
You are now contradicting yourself. First, you say I must be “born again” (baptized in water and the spirit – a sacrament), now you say that the sacraments are not essential to salvation.

I think we can both agree baptism is necessary. We do need to be born again. Confirmation is an extension of baptism, an outpouring of the spirit, so that goes with that. Jesus says “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:53-54). So, apparently the Eucharist is also necessary. No, marriage is not for everyone, so it’s not essential to salvation, but sex outside of marriage is a sin and punished by death (“the wages of sin is death”). I’m not going to go through the others since I don’t think you honestly care but were just throwing that out there.

Tell me, what am I missing here? The Scripture you profess to be the ultimate source tells us that we must do these things or we cannot enter the kingdom of God. But you say that they are not necessary. Tell me how this logic works? Pick and choose. One or the other. You can’t have both in this discussion.

And we do not worship Mary–we have said that so many times. My devotion (and here, I’ll show you where it comes from http://www.fisheaters.com/totalconsecrationmontfort.html#book –I encourage you to read his book, and we can discuss that too if you would like.) does not mean that I worship Mary. You keep on saying that word too, even when we have said again and again that it is not worship. I can love Mary without worshiping her. And another of your lines that you have said again and again that we have already disproved to you–we do NOT consider Mary equal to Christ. In any way, shape, or form and NEVER will. Mary was HUMAN. yes, we believe that she was perfect. Without sin, and she obtained this through grace. (Because Grace Himself was in her womb for 9 months). Mary could have chosen to deny God’s will, to deny Christ, at every turn, and even at the Annunciation. BUT God chose her for a reason–and thus, through Grace, she remained sinless her whole life.
So, since Mary is perfect, why not use her as an example–we can understand her in her humanity, and she shows us that it is possible to obtain true perfection through Grace. Through following Gods will to the best of our abilities.
I trust in Jesus Christ, and in the Trinity. But I also know that a great way to gain a better understanding of Christ, is through His mother. Not by raising her to a status equal to Christ, or by worshiping her–but by loving her, as Christ loves her. As Christ calls us to love all of our neighbors.

As for my devotion–if that’s what I should call it. It is more of an action of loving Mary and loving Christ (through Mary, because I am sure that Mary loved her Son very much.) It is a lifestyle of giving myself to Christ, through Mary–through the person who besides God the Father Himself, knew Christ intimately. He was her Son. What mother doesn’t know her son intimately?
My earthly mother can tell what my brother is feeling, if he is mad, sad, tired, happy, content, in a good mood, or in a bad mood. Just as my mother can tell that about me, and my older sister as well. And I go to my mother if i have a problem with my brother or sister as well. Because she knows the best way to approach them. Whereas I do not. Just as Mary knows the best way to approach Christ, in times that I do not.

I would like to emphasize again that Catholics do not, and will not ever worship Mary if they are being true to their faith, and we will not EVER raise her to a status equal to Christ.
Thank you.

And I hope that I say this with the utmost respect and sincerity. And that I say this with love. Because that is what I am called to do, to love my neighbor as I love myself. Which Lyn, to me, it does seem that you are doing. And it is through our words and our actions that this should be accomplished. Brianna nor myself have ever stated in any of our posts that which you have said to me, and now to both myself and Brianna.
That I will be condemned to an outer darkness, and that she and myself are, as of this hour, under wrath and will die and face eternal judgment.

Harsh words do not help a discussion. But rather fuel it into a rage. So far, Brianna and I both have managed to only show love and not condemn any of you. But have merely tried to explain what Catholicism truly believes and reveal the truth behind the mistakes that you have made in understanding our devotion to the Blessed Mother.
I would ask that from now on, you would do the same.
Pilgrim has managed this, and he has earned my respect. I respect your faithfulness and loyalty to what you believe. But it is not necessary to judge us so.
Thank you for your understanding.
Peace and Blessings in Him.

And as Brianna says– Christ is my everything as well. I love Him above all else. Just as Mary says in the Gospel of Luke.” My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For He has looked upon His handmaid’s lowliness.”
–This is all that I wish to do. Spread God’s everlasting love to all who I meet, and rejoice in the greatness of my God and Savior.

“Let us not imagine that we obscure the glory of the Son by the great praise we lavish on the Mother; for the more she is honored, the greater is the glory of her Son. There can be no doubt that whatever we say in praise of the Mother gives equal praise to the Son.” –Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

”Let those who think that the Church pays too much attention to Mary give heed to the fact that Our Blessed Lord Himself gave ten times as much of His life to her as He gave to His Apostles.” –Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

*laughs* You seriously think that we believe He still hangs on a cross? You need to come to mass with me at some point and actually listen to the prayers said. Yes, we emphasize his sacrifice, because that was the final sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins, but without his Resurrection, we have no hope for the future! We keep crucifixes around to remind us – forgetful, ungrateful wretches – of what he did for us! He gave His life for us, and all He asks us to do is to follow Him. To embrace our crosses. To teach as He taught. To live as He lived. Please don’t insult me by saying I don’t believe in the Risen Lord. The Lord I believe, trust, hope in, adore, worship, and glorify is the Lord that sits at the right hand of the Father. He reigns on high with him, and He will come again in glory to judge all of us (Read Revelation if any of this sounds unfamiliar).

And Jesus is enough for me. Jesus is my all-in-all. Jesus is my everything. Jesus deserves much better than any of us could ever be, yet he lovingly opens his arms to us. Jesus humbled himself so that we could go to Him. I don’t deny that, I preach it! Jesus is enough for me to live the life He called me to.

As for your lovely statement that “Many from Rome love the scriptures – but few understand them.” Well, that is true. It’s also true of Calvinists, Lutherans, Bible-Church Christians, and whatever else you want to call yourself. Few of us will ever understand even a glimmer of the magnitude of wealth contained in the scriptures. But that does not mean we ignore them. It does not mean we do not try to understand them.

One other thing I kinda didn’t mention but Caroline’s post made me notice. Who cares what the picture is? We have Mickey Mouse, we have other cartoon characters, we have pieces of nature…. yours isn’t Jesus, does that mean that you love what is in your avatar more than Jesus?

Many from Rome love the Scriptures – few understand them.

Anything man adds to the Bible regarding the essentials of the faith is, by definition, the product of man’s imagination. Many are led astray by those who wrongly claim the Bible is not enough, Jesus is not enough. This mystical religion is condemned in Scripture.

Repent and believe on the biblical Christ – not the pale imitation that hangs yet on a cross and cannot save anyone.

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p1s1c2a3.htm — There is the Catholic Teaching on the matter.
“103 For this reason, the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerates the Lord’s Body. She never ceases to present to the faithful the bread of life, taken from the one table of God’s Word and Christ’s Body.

104 In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, “but as what it really is, the word of God.” “In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them.”"

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

And now on this thread the subtle attack on God’s Word has begun:

“Just one request for those of you asking everyone to ‘prove from scripture’ the claims made: Where in scripture does it say ‘only scripture?’”

Hath God really said? If we can discard the Word of God, we can then get away with inventing purgatory, practicing idolatry, demanding indulgences, burning “heretics” at the stake, and we can indulge in all sorts of behavior, because, after all, there is no unchanging standard of truth by which to govern us, direct us, teach us, reprove us, correct us, and train us.

Then, after injecting doubt into the trustworthiness, credibility, and/or need of the Word of God, we then elevate parables and the dictionary as the standard by which to determine God’s truth. No wonder why we are carried along by every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14).

Speaking of which . . .
Regarding Mary, Caroline claims that Jesus comes first in her life and that Mary is like some sort of omniscient, cosmic, go-between; one who plays the role of a co-mediator (which denies the axiom that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between man and God . . . no Mary in there).

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 2:5

Yet, Caroline’s avatar picture is of Mary (not Jesus) and her caption under her avatar has this quote:

“Simply a writer at heart wanting to express her love for Mary and lead others to a devotion to her and through her Christ.”

“Lead others to a devotion of her?” The emphasis is clearly on Mary in that quote (and the picture of course), not the Savior Jesus Christ. And Jesus is not even referred to as her (Caroline’s) Christ, but as Mary’s Christ.

This is called idolatry. Jesus has taken a back seat and He plays second fiddle no matter how much lip service you may give Him here and there.

This reminds me of the guy who claims to love his wife, yet all he does is talk about another woman, is always talking to this other woman, has pictures of this other woman in his wallet and on his office desk, and wants all his friends and coworkers to meet this other woman. But as soon as someone questions his obvious out-of-balance devotion (adultery) to this other woman compared to his wife, he quickly assures them with hollow words that his wife is more important.

Sorry, his friends and coworkers won’t buy his physical infidelity to his wife anymore than God is buying your spiritual infidelity to Him and His Son.You have placed an idol between you and the Lord and you need to repent of it and turn to Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

If God wanted to share His glory with Mary, and wanted us to idolize her like we see today, the Holy Spirit would have inspired the authors of the New Testament to provide teaching, direction, and/or examples of this devotion. Instead, after the gospels we get one passing mention of her in Acts and she’s never spoken of again throughout the history of the early church recorded in Acts, nor the numerous epistles to the various churches (except the reference of an unnamed woman in Revelation, that is actually Israel, but is still used as a proof-text by Rome to squeeze one more reference about Mary into the vacuum from Acts to Revelation).

No, God never intended for people to do to/with Mary what Rome is doing. In fact, Jesus said John the Baptist is greater than Mary and that “the least in the kingdom of heaven” is even greater than him (so that leaves Mary way down on the ladder of greatness . . . no wonder why Roman Catholics eschew the Bible, it conflicts so sharply with their man-made traditions):

“Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Matthew 11:11

“I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” Luke 7:28

Christians do not hate Mary as some Catholics erroneously assume because we refuse to pray to her and bow down to her statue in homage like Nebuchadnezzar. We respect her and appreciation her just as any biblical character that was blessed by God, from Abraham to Moses to Paul. But the edification of Mary can be described as nothing less than an affront to a jealous and holy God and is complete and utter idolatry no matter how much reasoning, unbiblical spin, and scriptural gymnastics one performs to justify their idolatry.

In fact, when the first attempt to elevate Mary (to a position greater than was ever intended by God) was recorded, Jesus Christ corrected that error and pointed the one in error back to . . . scripture!:

“While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.’ But He said, ‘On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.’” Luke 11:27-28

Please, dear ones, turn from your idolatry, repent, and put your faith in Christ alone, for Jesus Christ and He alone is the provided mediator between man and God (1 Timothy 2:5), and He—not Mary—is the one who intercedes for us (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25).

There is so much at stake. Idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9 and Revelation 21:8) and this is such a serious matter that God considers idolatry hatred of Him:

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,” Exodus 20:4-5

Sincerely, respectfully, and prayerfully,
- Pilgrim

Case closed – STILL!

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p4s1c2a2.htm