What are the roles of Jesus and His mom in catolicism?
I have a question concerning the bolded part of the following prayer that comes from a Spanish booklet distributed by the local catholic church during la misa:
Yo confieso ante Dios todopoderoso ya ante ustedes, hermanos, que he pecado mucho de pensamiento, palabra, obra y omisión.
Por mi culpa, por mi culpa, por mi gran culpa.
Por eso ruego ante Santa María, siempre Virgen, a los ángeles, a los santos y a ustedes hermanos, que intercedan por mí ante Dios, nuestro Señor.
If I understand this correctly then the praying people ask Maria, the angels and saints to negotiate with God as that He will forgive the praying people's sins. Having been raised in an evangelic environment, I've always learned that Jesus is the sole mediator between man and God; that he has come to earth to restore the broken relationship, consistent with John 14:6:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me"
If this is true, then why are catolics also asking Maria to restore the bond? And if Maria IS capable of restoring the bond, then why was it necessary for Christ to come to earth?
PS I realise that this is a tricky topic. Of everybody engaging in the discussion I ask to remain respectful of other people's beliefs. Disagreement is ok, name calling and belittling are not.
4 Answers
In the prayer, each person is asking the brothers and sisters standing in the Church, Mary and all the angels and saints to pray for them.
Protestants that I know regularly ask fellow Church members to pray for them at times. This is identical except that we Catholics also believe that the departed are sentient and are also able to pray for us.
Oh wow.... I am glad you realize this is touchy. I don't claim to have enough theological studies to be able to answer your question adequately, but I have had enough exposure to different religions to know that when it comes to Faith, people have deeply rooted beliefs, and it is just about impossible to modify such beliefs through casual discussion. Whole wars have been fought because of such convictions!
It is not my place to comment whether the way to God (Father, Creator, Wakan Tanka, Yaweh, Krshna...) is only through Jesus, or through Mary and / or the Saints, through disciplined meditation, through direct prayer, through the martyrdom of the flesh, or whatever it is that each person believes.
What I do know is that some kind of spiritual belief seems to be important for most people. It brings people solace and a sense of stability, particularly in times of hardship. So rather than engaging in debates about whether my way is better than yours, or what I believe is the truth and what you believe is rubbish, I think that it is important to respect what each one believes and brings them comfort, and live life according to one's own beliefs and principles.
Mary is super important in Catholicism and Greek Orthodox, if you go to a church in Greece you will scarcely see a Jesus for all the Marys. In Ireland I see far more pictures of her than Jesus and she's the one we prayed to most as children.
Bridget is also hugely important in Ireland, I think it's because in the pagan religion of Ireland the mother gods were most important, Bridget is even named after a pagan goodness and a lot of the legends about her are older than Christianity, details were just changed and they were appropriated. She did exist, it's just that now she's too people wrapped into one legend. This is where Irish Catholic traditions like the St. Bridget's Cross and leaving a cloth outside for her to touch on St. Bridget's day come form. All the new-age people get really excited when they see St. Bridget's crosses because they recognise it as a modern pagan symbol.. wupps I've gone off on a tangent
Mary's the immaculate conception, which means she was conceived without sin. (It's separate to the conception of Jesus, which I guess was also without sin, but they were never really clear on that in school.) She's the advocate, she's the one we were told to ask to speak to god for us when we needed help.
Usually when you went to confession you'd get more far more Hail Mary's to say than Our Father's. And learned loads of prayers to Mary.
Here's one such prayer:
I confess before almighty God,
and to you my brothers and sisters,
that I have sinned through my own fault,
in my thoughts and in my words,
in what I have done and what I have failed to do.
I ask blessed Mary ever Virgin, all the angels and saints,
and you my brothers and sisters,
to pray for me to the Lord our God.
Amen.
As you can see Mary and the saint's pray for me to God.
The immaculate conception was a BIG thing for Catholics as well as the fact that she was a virgin. Sex, even within marriage, is a sin.
I'm sure some Catholics here will have been taught differently to me, and hopefully schools in other countries don't teach children that their mothers are sinners for not being chaste like Mary... This was just the way it was for me!
I'm not Christian any more, but I can still hold a place in my heart for Mary and other Saints, it makes more sense to me to worship someone who has no power. They are victims of this awful cruel world the same as the rest of us.
First of all, I'd like to thank you for your respect. As a Catholic, let me try to answer your question. Being Christians, we Catholics do believe that Jesus Christ IS the savior of the world and that he DID come to 'restore the broken bond' between us and God as you have put it. And again it is true that he is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through him, as you have cited. As for Mary, she is referred to as an intercessor, as she intercedes for us to God (the whole trinity). An example of this is when Jesus turned water into wine during the wedding at Cana. She was the one who pleaded to Jesus for the sake of the people, and he obeyed, that shows how great her intercession is. Furthermore, as Jesus accepted to help, she told the servants "Do as he says", showing that apart from interceding for us, she helps us and guides us to Christ, and helps us to follow in his path. So she does not act as the savior, but she leads us to him. So, yes, Jesus did have to come and be the savior of the world, and he came through Mary. Hope I've helped. Peace be with you.
