ptl@fluke.UUCP (01/13/87)
Hi, 1/5/87 In a recent article Tom Albrecht writes: > ... Mariology ... Mariolatry ... The Catholic church uses three terms when > discussing this concept of Mary worship: latria, dulia and hyperdulia. > ... but in practice most Catholics' attempts to get to God stop at Mary. ... I take Mariology to mean "study of Mary, the mother of God" - sounds fine to me; she is special to Him, and a great example in obedience. I take Mariolatry to mean "worship of Mary" - not so good. Only God is to be worshipped. To say or imply this is either taught by the Roman Catholic church or practiced by a majority of Roman Catholics is simply spreading falsehoods and confusion. Falsehoods and confusion do not come from God. A lot of people, like yourself, turn away from religion, or certain beliefs and denominations, because they have been hurt by one thing or another. If you think you're the only one ever hurt, you're wrong ... very wrong. I was thinking seriously of becoming a priest, but changed my mind. I almost left the Roman Catholic church 14 years ago - to become a Baptist [how's that for a change of pace, folks :-) ]. I admire the Baptists for their study of the Scriptures; and I wanted that. But my love of the Mass kept me in the RC church. What hurt the most I guess, was the belief somehow that if I was kind and nice to everyone else, they'd be kind and nice to me. The shock of leaving a Roman Catholic environment to go to college; learning life wasn't as kind and peaceful as I'd been brought to believe [or rather chose to hope it would be] really hurt. And, with the Second Vatican Council, learning from the heirarchy that they weren't perfect, that the RC church must change, as well as some of what we believed over the centuries - tore away a foundation I had. To learn what was a sin yesterday, now had to be looked at on a personal basis instead, and may not be a sin today, really made me stop and think that the RC church was wrong from the start. It took years for me to come to the realization that the RC church was growing, and growth requires change. And that God has His Hand on the RC church; as the revisions, though some painful, are intended to make the RC church more responsive to the needs of the people who make up this denomination, and lead us to a deeper personal love for God, others and ourselves. It all sounds nice, but it is taking years, and a lot of hard work - and it is paying off. Many Roman Catholics are now involved in their denomination: lectoring (reading scriptures at Mass), assisting the priest at the Eucharist during Mass (both men and women distributing the hosts and wine), working in the parish council dealing with financial and school matters, working in child, young adult and adult education programs, ... . You get the idea. I mean, good grief --- there are even Roman Catholics involved in Bible studies and prayer groups!!! :-) God Bless, Mike Andrews
hedrick@topaz.UUCP (Charles Hedrick) (01/20/87)
I have received another article describing childhood experiences with teachers who inculcated something very near to worship of Mary. I got protests when the first of these articles was posted, on the grounds that this looked very much like the sort of attack that I had said was inappropriate on this group. I think further postings of the same nature are probably a bad idea. We all know that there are characteristic abuses that flourish in every group. The adoration of the Blessed Virgin can go too far, and no doubt has done so in a number of cases. But Protestants have their own characteristic abuses. (For evidence of that, see any issue of the Wittenburg Door, assuming that delightful magazine is still being issued.) I think we should be pleased to hear from our Catholic correspondents that things are being done about many of the Catholic weak spots. I don't think we want to ignore the very real differences among Christian groups. But I am reluctant to see the traditional stereotypical attacks in this group. I'd be happy to see things like "gee, this thing you guys do seems really wierd to me. It seems to contradict I Armaments 2:23. Can you explain the significance it has to you?"