![\"annunciation\"](\"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/annunciation.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhen doing apologetics, I personally find it best to vary the\u00a0approach I take. Every person is wired differently and a well-crafted explanation which would convince one person may completely fail with someone else.<\/p>\n
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Often when Catholics and Protestants talk about Mary, they jump straight into the “big” topics: the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, Intercession, the title “Mother of God”<\/em> etc. However, I have often\u00a0found it helpful to rewind the conversation when I see things moving in this direction. Instead of speaking about specific doctrines, I like to talk about Marian devotion at its most a basic level.<\/p>\n So, in today’s post I would like to present a dialogue between a Protestant (“Pete”<\/strong>) and a Catholic (“Catherine”<\/strong>), modeled on\u00a0some conversations I’ve had where I have used\u00a0this approach…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> You know, probably the biggest thing that shocks me about Catholicism is the way Catholics worship Mary.<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong> We don’t worship her.<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> Sure you do.\u00a0I’ve seen Catholic churches. You guys have statues of Mary, surrounded by flowers and candles, you pray to her, you think she’s like the fourth member of the Trinity…<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong> Well, that’s not really true, is it? Mary isn’t divine. She’s a creature; the Catechism says that explicitly.<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> Well, it may\u00a0say<\/span> that, but that’s not what it looks like<\/span>. It looks like worship to me…<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong> I can understand why it might seem that way, but before we talk about what constitutes “worship”, do you mind if I ask you a more basic question?<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> Sure, fire away.<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong> Do you think we should show honour to Mary?<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> Honour her?<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong> Yeah, show Jesus’ mother honour.<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> Well,\u00a0I guess…<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong> Great! I’ve met some non-Catholics who would even deny her that, so I’m glad we agree on this point. After all, she was the one chosen by God to bring His Son into the world, wasn’t she? She carried Him in her womb\u00a0for nine months, gave birth to Him, fed Him with\u00a0her own body<\/em>, kissed His face…. That’s a pretty big honour right there, isn’t it?<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> Yeah, I suppose it is! Mary deserves respect and honor…but not to be exalted to a godly position, by giving her all the titles and attributes that belong to Jesus. It is God alone\u00a0who is worthy of exaltation, veneration, glorification, and devotion…<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, I wouldn’t say that we give her any title that belongs to Jesus, but let’s leave that aside for the moment. So far we’re on the same page in that we both think that Mary should be honoured, but now I’m really interested to know what this means to\u00a0you. So…how do you honour her?<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong>\u00a0Well, I honour her for her obedience to God, for weeping for Him after His death…<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong> That’s not really addressing my question though, is it? You’re just describing the things you like<\/em> about Mary…<\/p>\n In the Ten Commandments I’m told to “honour” my father and my mother. Following the pattern of\u00a0your answer, I imagine you’d say “I honour my mother for carrying me for nine months and I honour my father for\u00a0paying for my college”<\/em>. However, that’s not explaining\u00a0how<\/b>\u00a0you honour your\u00a0parents, that’s just listing the things\u00a0they’ve done to benefit you! Likewise, I imagine you might say of your girlfriend “I honour her for her beauty and gentleness”<\/em>. Again, that’s not explaining\u00a0how<\/b>\u00a0you\u00a0honour<\/b>\u00a0your girlfriend, but just saying what you\u00a0like<\/b>\u00a0about her!<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> Okay, so if that’s not<\/em> the kind of thing you what…<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong>\u00a0…what kind of answer am I expecting? Well, I would say that I honour my parents by speaking respectfully to them, being a thoughtful son, keeping pictures of them, praising them to my friends, helping out around the house, looking after them in old age etc. That’s\u00a0how<\/b>\u00a0I give them\u00a0honour<\/b>\u00a0for who they are and what they’ve done for me. Likewise, I would honour a\u00a0girlfriend by treating her with dignity and respect, by opening doors for her and offering thoughtful gifts such as flowers.<\/p>\n So, given that, how do you honour Mary?<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong>\u00a0Huh…well, I honour Mary\u00a0as mother of the Messiah …<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong> Hmmm…that’s still not really answering what I’m asking. You just describing the\u00a0role<\/em> she has in Salvation History. I’m asking\u00a0how<\/em> you honour her.\u00a0What does that concretely look like?<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> I’m not sure what you mean.<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine: <\/strong>Mary prophesied that “All generations shall call me blessed”<\/span><\/em> (Luke 1:48<\/a>). \u00a0How is this fulfilled in your faith life? For that matter, how is it realized in the faith life of your congregation?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n For me it’s easy to see how this prophesy is fulfilled in the Catholic, Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. We name parishes and even name cities after her. Over the centuries we have commissioned great artists to paint her, making her the most frequently painted lady in history! We sing songs about her<\/a> and keep pictures of her in our homes. In this way, Mary’s prophesy has\u00a0been fulfilled in every “generation”<\/em><\/span>, as well as through our\u00a0commemoration of her in the Eucharistic liturgy. That’s how we honour her.<\/p>\n So, given that, how is this honour manifested\u00a0in your congregation? In what way do you honour her?<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> Huh, I don’t really know…<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong>\u00a0That’s okay, thanks for being honest. Does what I’ve said help you understand\u00a0a bit more why Catholics do what they do and say what they say? We do and say these things\u00a0to show honour to Mary in concrete terms.<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> I suppose so. Still, it seems like you Catholics go overboard on this stuff.<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong> Maybe, but\u00a0perhaps Protestants usually don’t even get into the boat!<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> What do you mean?<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong> Well, we’ve agreed that Mary deserves to be honoured, but you haven’t been able to give an example of how<\/em> you or your congregation does this. Do you mind if\u00a0I make a suggestion?<\/p>\n Pete:<\/strong> I’m not praying the rosary!<\/span><\/p>\n Catherine:<\/strong>\u00a0Hahah…no, I wasn’t going to suggest that. How about you ask your pastor to preach a sermon on the life\u00a0of the Lord’s mother? Mary said and did a lot of beautiful things. She said\u00a0“…be it done unto me according to your word”<\/em><\/span> (Luke 1:38<\/a>)…\u00a0“Do whatever He tells you”<\/em> <\/span>(John 2:5<\/a>)…there’s lots of great material there, all right out of the Bible…<\/p>\n