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I am certain God does not mind as long as they are believers.
Mary is not God, she is the mother of God. Many people have devotion for Mary.
Furthermore, this is religion and all religions have differences. It seems you are implying your religion is better. There is no such thing as "my religion is better".
And there is nothing wrong by having a figure of the virgin carrying baby Jesus. This is part of our rich cultural heritage. And many of the prayers to the Virgin are quite beautiful and I am certain that God is quite pleased. To assume God is not pleased would be very narrow minded.
BTW, have you been to mass?
Some people pray to the figure of the virgin in solitude at church and when they do this they communicate with God. I am surprised you don't get this. Who cares what method they use? This is our tradition, this brings people closer to God.
I am sure members of the Roman organization hope God will be ok with them praying to dead people rather than to Him as Jesus instructed those who follow Him to do. Why not follow Jesus and His teaching and pray only to God the Father?
OK, but Catholics are Christians. Have you been to mass? It is all about Jesus Christ.
Just because someone uses the name of Jesus does not mean they are Christian. I think Jesus saw this coming when He said:
Mat. 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
My local Catholic church celebrates mass in a double wide trailer. Which has been in place for years. Fold up chairs. (Which means people kneel on the floor.) Plants and flowers brought by the parishioners. Prayer requests are written in a three ring binder on a table near the door. Nice stereotype you're repeating but totally untrue. I've been in many very plain Catholic churches. (Poor people = no fancy decor)
The mass IS about Jesus. Claiming otherwise is ridiculous.
So. When non-Catholics have communion do you call it "crackers and juice"? Or do you treat it with more respect?
Last edited by DewDropInn; 07-11-2013 at 12:29 PM..
Just because someone uses the name of Jesus does not mean they are Christian. I think Jesus saw this coming when He said:
Mat. 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
I notice an obvious lack of anything about what to BELIEVE ABOUT Jesus . . . just what we should DO (or did NOT DO) . . . as revealed in the rest of the passage that contains that verse.
This superficial focus on interpreting the external trappings of religious practice as if you actually know what is going on should embarrass you. You know that only God knows what is in the hearts and minds of those worshiping Him. Why do you pretend to know? This does not seem like a very sincere and Christian understanding . . . especially the crackers and juice remark.
Quote:
Originally Posted by balunman
I am sure members of the Roman organization hope God will be ok with them praying to dead people rather than to Him as Jesus instructed those who follow Him to do. Why not follow Jesus and His teaching and pray only to God the Father?
They DO pray to the Father and Jesus. The other practices are NOT prayers, per se. They are asking FOR prayers from those who are respected . . . like the Mother of God and others. You believe they are dead . . . they believe they are reborn as Spirit. You have no way of knowing who is right . . . so why do you persist in criticizing them. Your posts do not seem very sincere or Christian in your phrasing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DewDropInn
My local Catholic church celebrates mass in a double wide trailer. Which has been in place for years. Fold up chairs. (Which means people kneel on the floor.) Plants and flowers brought by the parishioners. Prayer requests are written in a three ring binder on a table near the door. Nice stereotype you're repeating but totally untrue. I've been in many very plain Catholic churches. (Poor people = no fancy decor)
The mass IS about Jesus. Claiming otherwise is ridiculous.
So. When non-Catholics have communion do you call it "crackers and juice"? Or do you treat it with more respect?
They seem only to respect those who believe as they do, DewDropInn. Everyone else seems to be treated with disrespect and disdain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TroutDude
The ignorance on display in this forum is breathtaking.
It is more a willingness to criticize on the basis of superficial appearances without any real understanding or knowledge about what they criticize, Trout.
But Mary was a sinner like everyone else. Why do Catholics pray to a sinner? I'll tell you why because Catholicism idolizes chosen people in the bible. Mary suffered death like every other sinner in the world. Yes she is in Heaven but for the same reason everyone else is and will be for believing in Jesus alone for their salvation.
Why is it hard for you to understand that Catholicism is different and that it has very old traditions?
Why do you think God gets upset if a Catholic says a prayer to the Virgin? Do really believe God is that petty?
Why does it bother you if we use incense? Really? Who cares?
Yes, breathtaking, but not surprising. After all, these are the types who sit home drooling & nodding, watching an endless parade of TV evangelist charlatans begging for money.
You know, those that believe that man & dinosaurs co-existed, about 5,000 years ago!
I don't watch any of the such you mentioned. In fact at the end of every month I've probably watched about 2 hours of TV if that. As for dinosaurs and man living together, I think God is very well capable of making that happen, don't you?
My local Catholic church celebrates mass in a double wide trailer. Which has been in place for years. Fold up chairs. (Which means people kneel on the floor.) Plants and flowers brought by the parishioners. Prayer requests are written in a three ring binder on a table near the door. Nice stereotype you're repeating but totally untrue. I've been in many very plain Catholic churches. (Poor people = no fancy decor)
The mass IS about Jesus. Claiming otherwise is ridiculous.
So. When non-Catholics have communion do you call it "crackers and juice"? Or do you treat it with more respect?
You take communion in remembrance of Jesus. According to this website there are strict guidelines and even though you're a believer you have to be in a certain state of mind to do it. What an insult to Jesus' grace...
They say you have to partake the bread and wine "worthily." This is not some practice or state of mind. The word "worthily" in the bible is referring to discerning the bread and wine as Jesus' body and blood. Catholicism does a great work in disqualifying people from the grace of God when grace puts everyone on equal ground.
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), the fancy décor, the crackers and juice and praying to sinners. Jesus Christ is NOT at the center of the catholic church.
