There is still so much false information about Catholicism. There was a post online about the 100 years of Fatima, and it was followed by such pure hatred for Catholics by so called "Christians", that even atheists were going, "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa,".
Here are a few misconceptions I thought I would touch on again.
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1. Catholics Worship Mary - That is covered HERE
but I wanted to give some more details because of things brought up in that post I saw.
but I wanted to give some more details because of things brought up in that post I saw.
This is ridiculous and heretical for many reasons.
A. Do you really think the Father would let his only begotten Son be born of a sinner? Does that make sense to anyone? Someone so holy being born of someone sinful?
The angel Gabriel comes to Mary and says "Hail Full of Grace! The Lord is with You." then says "Do not be afraid, you have found Favor with God." Mary was troubled by the greeting when the angel said this. To be "Full of Grace" denotes exceptional grace and holiness. Those greetings are not given lightly, so it was surprising to hear it, most of all being said by an angel of God!
This was a plan of God's, she was to be the Mother of God the Son, Jesus Christ, and he could not enter the world in the womb of a sinner. So she was special, she was holy, and this was more than likely due to God blessing her upon her conception by freeing her of original sin before her birth so that she would be ready to bare our Lord.
Christ loved Mary. She wasn't merely his vessel... she was his protector, she was his caretaker. Christ came into this world as a baby. She carried him in her womb, she labored to give birth to him, she protected him, she loved him... and he loved her. She was his mother by blood, by birth, by love.
During the wedding of Cana, Jesus told Mary when she said they had no more wine, "What concern of it is mine, my time has not yet come." In the end, however, he acquiesced to his mother and performed the first miracle by turning water into wine. Christ started to say, "no... I can't do that. I can't show who I am yet." but he could not deny his mother and performed the miracle.
B. Mary was Christ's mother, and he loved her. When he was on the cross, he looked down and saw the mother whom he loved. He not only asked one of his beloved disciples to take her into his home... he basically told that disciple to look at her as his own mother. "Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother." When Christ asked his beloved disciple to take his mother as his own mother, We Catholics believe this was a message that Mary is the spiritual mother of all who follow Christ, like that disciple.
So his thoughts of her, even while in agony, were of love. To see her disrespected by calling her a sinner and making it seem as if she were nothing more than a baby incubator, it must hurt his heart to see that commandment of "honor thy mother" being openly broken by those who call themselves his followers.
C. The term "Brother" was used very loosely (as was sister). it was often a term used among close friends, and usually close family (aside from actual siblings, it was also used as a term for 1st cousins). That is why they often say "Jesus, brother of James and Judas and Simon"... they never say, Mary, the Mother of Jesus and Judas and Simon. They always say "Jesus, Brother of" or "Judas Brother of Jesus" etc.
St. Jude the Apostle was oft called "Judas Brother of Jesus" (St Jude is not to be confused with Judas the betrayer) most theologians believe he was the cousin of Jesus, son of Mary's sister (Christ's aunt). Jude's sibling was James. That would make James the cousin of Jesus as well. So when they say "Jesus, brother of James and Judas" they are speaking in a brethren sort of way and not an actual sibling way. They are first cousins.
To wrap up #1... Mary was not a vessel. She was for all intents and purposes, Christ's MOTHER, and Christ loved her. The bible demands that we HONOR our parents, so to say she was only a container to hold Jesus for 9 months... it greatly insults our Savior who loves her, and our Father who favored her and hand picked her to bare Christ. It is faulty thinking to believe God would allow Jesus to be born of a sinner, and no... Just the term "brothers" does not mean Mary did not remain a virgin, as the term "brother/sister" was often used to describe his followers and other family relations such as cousins.
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2. Catholics Worship Saints - That is Covered HERE
There truly isn't more to say about that other than what was already covered, except for... if you think asking saints to intercede for us, and pray for us is heretical (many stating there is no intercessor. We must go straight to God) then you are all heretics. It is more often the very protestants who cast judgement about a Catholic's relationships with our saints, that are posting "prayer circles" and asking for prayers for themselves, family, friends, loved ones. You are basically asking your friends on Facebook or twitter or at church... to INTERCEDE ON YOUR BEHALF and PRAY FOR YOU. It's the same thing Catholics do with saints. We ask them to pray for us. So you're heretics as well by your own definition.
The same goes for Angels. We do not worship angels. We love them because they love us and protect us and carry our prayers to God. But we do not worship them, nor do they desire worship.
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3. Catholics Worship Statues - That is covered HERE
This is another one where I pretty much said all there is to say on the subject except to add a few things. People are often confused by icons and veneration of relics of saints (usually bones) or Christ himself. (Relics of the True Cross exist)
A. God was not talking about Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, God was not talking about the relics of the True Cross, God was not talking about the Crucifix or artistic renderings of Him or His Son or the Saints. He was not talking about Relics of those who were martyred in his name, or died saints in Christ.
God was talking about worshiping false gods. (The golden calf, pagan gods, mythological creatures, worshiping things of this world with no focus on the Holy Trinity) this was about holding something above God other than God. Catholics do not do this.
Tell me, if we have a statue depicting Christ... how is it worshiping a false god? It is a depiction of CHRIST - God the Son! And we do not worship the statues. As we look at the statue, it is God that is in our hearts. It's just a visual aid more or less.
B. I am taking this from another website for an Orthodox faith, who explains this better than I can when it comes to venerating relics of saints, Christian icons.
For here, you see, is where we come across the crucial reason for having icons in the first place. In the image we see the Prototype. An icon of Christ reveals to us Christ. And through Him, He taught us, we also glimpse the Father. Icons become for us, windows to heaven, revealing the glory of God. The fact is, icons help to protect us from idolatry! Thus, we bow before the icon of Christ, seeing through it, Him and His Father.
This veneration, by the way, is accompanied by rich scriptural precedent. Saint John of Damascus reminds us that: Joshua, the son of Nun, and Daniel bowed in veneration before an angel of God, but they did not adore him” They showed respect and honor where respect and honor was due... that is not the same as worship or adoration meant only for God.
Throughout the ages of the Church, sensible believers have seen that following godly men and women who have gone before, is a help in personal growth toward the image and likeness of God. When Orthodox Christians (And Catholics) honor an icon of one of the saints by bowing before it, kissing it, and saying a prayer before it, they are intent upon the godly example of that saint and upon following that example. It is not about worship, it is about respect, and following the example that leads us closer to God.
So if you feel what the Catholics do is idolatry... then you better remove any cross, any photo of Christ, stop wearing necklaces with angels or the cross on it, because those are also icons by your own definition.
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Christ founded his church. The church went on as a whole for many centuries. In the earliest times of Christianity, As early as the late 1st into the 2nd century... the term "Catholic" was actually used by Christians to mean "Christians as a whole" (As that is the definition of the word Catholic... "as a whole") and it continued on to when Constantine the Great ended the Roman persecution of the Christian faith and called the First Counsel of Nicaea.
From there, the East-West schism occurred. We believe the Catholic faith maintained it's path while the Eastern Orthodox broke away. So we feel we're still older than the Orthodox because we didn't leave the path originally set by the earliest Christians.
That said, the Orthodox church is like the Catholic faith in many ways... and they receive the same judgmental treatment by sanctimonious protestants that Catholics face.
protestants are newer religions. The great schism that created Eastern Orthodox and the officially titled Roman Catholic happened in 1058. They were the first to divide Christians into separate religions. The rest were founded centuries later, breaking away from the Roman Catholic faith.
Lutherans - 1483
Puritans - 1560
Puritans - 1560
Baptists - 1638
Mormons - 1820s
Protestant religions are more modern than the Catholic church. They were not founded off the branches of the faith started by Christ and his apostles, they were founded by those abandoning the Catholic faith, Many were made for political reasons, and for making religion more convenient to man and their ideologies.
Despite protestants being more modern, they have been beaten over the head and indoctrinated over the centuries to have a deep seeded hatred for Catholicism (Even more-so than their dislike of the Eastern Orthodox religion) by being perpetually lied to about what Catholicism is all about.
We can scream till we're blue in the faces that we do not worship Mary, we do not worship Saints, we do not idolize statues, we do not hold anyone above the Holy Trinity... but they have been so brainwashed by hate - that they refuse to see it. They don't even see their judgmental superiority as hate, or judgement. (yet they are the first to say "Thou shalt not judge")
They even go so far as to accuse Catholics of not being Christians. When again, the term Catholic comes from the earliest Christians, a word that means "as a whole" meaning, Christians universally as a whole in it's earliest definition of the word.
They are so prideful in their own beliefs that they are superior to all others, they forget the term Christian is founded on the word CHRIST. It is the description of those who follow Christ and believe he is the Savior, the Truth and the Light, the only Way to the Father in Heaven. That he is God the Son, That he is united as one God in the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
That is EXACTLY what Catholics believe. WE ARE CHRISTIANS. And we have been following the teachings of Christ since before Martin Luther was in diapers.
All churches have scandals. All churches can be harmed by apostasy and politics. But the word of God is unchangeable, and we shall overcome even the apostasy of Vatican II, because Jesus promised that, though forces may try to break the church... evil will never overcome.
We know that one day, ALL Christians will be Catholic again as defined by the earliest use of the word... (Christians "AS A WHOLE")
Despite protestants being more modern, they have been beaten over the head and indoctrinated over the centuries to have a deep seeded hatred for Catholicism (Even more-so than their dislike of the Eastern Orthodox religion) by being perpetually lied to about what Catholicism is all about.
We can scream till we're blue in the faces that we do not worship Mary, we do not worship Saints, we do not idolize statues, we do not hold anyone above the Holy Trinity... but they have been so brainwashed by hate - that they refuse to see it. They don't even see their judgmental superiority as hate, or judgement. (yet they are the first to say "Thou shalt not judge")
They even go so far as to accuse Catholics of not being Christians. When again, the term Catholic comes from the earliest Christians, a word that means "as a whole" meaning, Christians universally as a whole in it's earliest definition of the word.
They are so prideful in their own beliefs that they are superior to all others, they forget the term Christian is founded on the word CHRIST. It is the description of those who follow Christ and believe he is the Savior, the Truth and the Light, the only Way to the Father in Heaven. That he is God the Son, That he is united as one God in the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).
That is EXACTLY what Catholics believe. WE ARE CHRISTIANS. And we have been following the teachings of Christ since before Martin Luther was in diapers.
All churches have scandals. All churches can be harmed by apostasy and politics. But the word of God is unchangeable, and we shall overcome even the apostasy of Vatican II, because Jesus promised that, though forces may try to break the church... evil will never overcome.
We know that one day, ALL Christians will be Catholic again as defined by the earliest use of the word... (Christians "AS A WHOLE")
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