Hi Lilian,
I am a born again Christian. After reading your answer to Jacknaim I felt encouraged to drop you this mail. I am not here to criticise you but as a fellow believer I want to give you my understanding of Mary. I believed she was a wonderful women who God has chosen to bear and carry His son Jesus for the world. Apart from that I have not come across anywhere in the bible that say she must intercede for us in prayer. She is dead and we (believers of Jesus Christ) are not allowed to pray or intercede through dead people. This is similar to attending the medium, tarrot cards reading and many other sources of idolatry. Read the gospel of John and I’ll pray for your discernment, understanding and wisdom. As mentioned earlier I am not criticising you but feels proud and humble to read your answer to Jacknaim. Continue your good work. God bless. (rosie)
Rosie
Thank you for your comment. I am Roman Catholic. And I am sorry that what you said above is not what I believe in. Your comments regarding the association of our Roman Catholics devotion to Mother Mary as a form of idolatry is very far off from our practice. I understand where you come from and hope you understand our Roman Catholics’ faith as well.
I will not elaborate more because at the end of the day, it doesn’t bring any fruitful results.
Thank you.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Hi Lilian, I like your answers. Yes, WE AGREE TO DISAGREE with our non Catholic Christians. God bless us all.
May 19th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
The problem starts when everyone start to dissect and explain each word – and missing the whole point.
To Muslim readers, how hard it is to understand that Catholics revere Mary as you revered Prophet Muhammad (to the point of violence when He is deemed insulted – which sounds like “idolatry” too if you think about it).
To fellow Christians, in this time and age, I think its better that we just look at the bigger picture – the overall message from God – love, peace and brotherhood.
To Lilian, I enjoyed reading your viewpoints and thank you for sharing.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
To Carol,
Good point. And I’d like to add my opinion i.e. if all our belief/religious practices don’t lead us to God – love, peace and brotherhood (borrowing your words) they serve no good purpose.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
To Carol,
Good point. And I’d like to add my opinion i.e. if all our belief/religious practices don’t lead us to God – love, peace and brotherhood (borrowing your words) then it’s useless.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:03 am
Jane & Carol – This is yet another case where I find it hard to fit into Christianity, with the greatest stumbling block from Christians themselves.
Thanks for both your views.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Lilian,
And you know what, I don’t know whether it’s happening where you are but where I live, some Catholic families are disunited because other Christians “evangelise” them and family members are torn. There’s one case where Father is an active Catholic serving at a church and the wife goes to a non Catholic church. Guess what? Daughter is with the dad and the boys with the mom. The sad thing, to put it mildly, is the daughter tried to cut her wrist believed to be caused by the problem in the family.
So, I would like to appeal to non Catholic Christians and, that is, could we concentrate on what we have in common?
AREAS OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN
PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS
There is only one God. This one God consists of three distinct persons:
1. The Father
2. Jesus (the Word)
3. The Holy Spirit
Each person of the Godhead is fully God, yet there is only one God. All men have sinned against God, thereby pushing themselves away from God. Jesus became a man, with a flesh and blood body. Jesus voluntarily sacrificed Himself, dying on the Cross to pay for the sins of all mankind.
After being dead three days, Jesus was resurrected from the dead in a living, physical body.
As a result of Jesus’ sacrifice, salvation is available to all mankind. There is nothing man can do on his own to obtain salvation — no amount of good works, kindness, charity, etc., is sufficient. To obtain salvation, a person must do all of the following:
1. Admit he is a sinner
2. Sincerely repent of his sins
3. Sincerely intend to try to lead a new life without sin
Belief in a Supreme Being is not enough; God will only save those who accept Him. “Believing in Jesus” means believing that Jesus is God, not just a messenger from God such as a prophet or apostle. We are in the midst of a spiritual war but the outcome of that war is already determined. Jesus conquered death and sin for all eternity by His sacrifice on the Cross. He proved it by coming back from the dead.
Amen.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:35 am
By the way, the above are not my own words. Anyone who is interested where I got the source from, I would gladly give.
Have a beautiful day.
May 20th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Rosie probably didn’t mean harm but she does not realise that this kind of comments destroy rather than build relationships amongst believers. A reading of Ephesians 4 would be timely.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:42 am
The thing about intercession with Mary is not a simple matter of communicating with “dead people”. As Christians, we believe that we can all attain eternal life through Jesus Christ. I believe we can all agree with that. Therefore, the matter concerning of asking Our Lady or any Saint to pray for us is similar to asking any family member, friend, or parishoner to pray for us in times of need or trouble. Asking for the prayers of (aka intercession) of the Virgin Mary and Saints is not akin to talking to the dead via the Occult (which the Bible says is blasphemous) since the Virgin Mary and Saints are not dead, but living in Eternal Life in heaven. Granted, they are not in the same manner of life as those of us still living and breathing here on Earth as the Church Militant, but that doesn’t mean they’re dead. They instead are living a fuller realization of life as the Church Triumphant in Heaven. Living as they are, they are more than capable to pray for us to the Lord our God in the capacity that we ask friends and loved ones to do for us here on Earth. Peace be with you.