I received an e-mail the other day that, quite frankly shocked me. I of course know that Roman Catholics 'venerate' Mary but had no idea the lengths to which it apparently goes in some cases. Here is the text of the e-mail this gentleman sent with personally identifying information replaced with parentheses:
"I am not superstitious so I did not send this e-mail to you for that reason.Below this was the picture of the Virgin Mary that you see in this post. Below the picture was this:
I sent it because I truly believe that more time needs to be spent in prayer with the Blessed Mother, Mary the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. She is the most direct link that we have with God.
I have not seen a picture of the Blessed Mother that has not touched my heart in awe. And over the past 3 years, (my wife) and I have traveled to 4 countries under the guidance of (our priest) and have been able to cast our eyes upon some Magnificent portrayals of Mary.
Hail Mary full of Grace,"
(signed)
Not much commentary is needed here. Suffice it to say that the errors of the Church of Rome prevalent in Martin Luther's day are with us still despite what those within Protestantism displaying a more ecumenical stance towards Rome would have us believe. However, scripture is also as clear today as it was then. We have but one mediator, Jesus Christ, and our worship is to be directed to Him and Him alone. My prayer is that the eyes of this man and others in bondage to this kind of superstitious mumbo-jumbo will be opened to the Truth and that they will cast themselves upon Christ who alone can save them.The President of Argentina received this and called it "junk mail", 8 days later his son died.
A man received this letter and immediately sent out copies...his surprise was winning the lottery.
Alberto Martinez received this letter, gave it to his secretary to make copies but they forgot to distribute: she lost her job and he lost his family.
This letter is miraculous and sacred, don't forget to forward this within 13 days to at least 20 people.
Do Not Forget to forward and you will receive a huge surprise!!
16 comments:
I am very glad that someone else is addressing this issue with some understanding of the truth. Jesus Christ is the only one outside of the father that should be prayed too. Which is kind of a twisted statement in its self simply because father, son, and the holy spirit are one in themselves. But the fact remains that Jesus is the mediator between God and man. Without him no one would ever be in the presence of God. EVER. Not the saints. Not the blessed mother. Not the pope. Not you. And not me. Ever. Maybe people should spend the time that they spend praying to those with no divine power at all. Praying to the only one who deserves all the praise and worship you and I can give him. JESUS CHRIST. For it was his sacrifice that has givin us a chance to live beyond what we know on this plain, and in the presence of the all powerfull GOD.
Lord Jesus forgive me for my wrongs today. And forgive those with a false understanding of your love.
Well, if it makes anyone feel better, there is a (perhaps) Protestant version of the email. The words are identical only the picture is of the adult Jesus, Him on the cross, and the words "Jesus." Of course, that means that two different pictures must have been sent to the president of Argentina, and thus two of his sons must have died. Also, two men hit the lottery. Also, Alberto Martinez must have lost two families (maybe the polygamist rat had it coming), and his secretary lost two jobs. Hey, could there be a credibility problem with this email? Maybe I'll have to write the president of Argentina. . .
"The President of Argentina received this picture and called it 'junk
mail.' Eight days later, his son died. " is attached to chain letters with other images as well. I received it with a couple of Hindu idols. So calling it "Catholic Idolatry" is absurd.
I would say two things. First of all, the issue is not just with this letter but with the reaction to it by the Roman Catholic who forwarded it to me at work. Clearly he and his wife are praying to Mary using these images of her to facilitate that. I'm not sure what to call that other than idolatry.
Secondly, your assertion that Hindus do this too is more damning than it is an argument in your favor. People who call themselves Christians are doing the same things pagans do? If that's not idolatry I don't know what is.
It's not about idolatry, it's about being superstitious and the fact that people are so afraid that they are inclined to send it to you "just in case".
I received this email with the image of Jesus a few days ago, my reply was "Please do not send me things like these, I do not forward these emails and I refuse to believe that I will be punished by God for not sending an email... I think He is more concerned about how I live my life on a daily basis than whether or not I will send an email... the person (who had been my "friend" for 7 years), removed me from her email addresses and from Facebook and doesn't consider me her friend anymore because I refused to believe and participate in sending out this email. I don't think it has anything to do with what religion people practice... it has to do with people being afraid of being punished and not knowing that God is here to forgive and to love us.
I would agree that superstition plays a large part in this but I would contend that superstition IS idolatry and because of its emphasis on relics and charms and saints, etc. the Roman Catholic Church tends to foster this kind of superstition among its members more so than some other groups.
I was shocked to receive this picture and the accompanying threatening text from a friend who I thought was intelligent enough to know better. I don't want to scare my friends with it. I don't want to give in to the superstition it is supposed to engender, even though I am five months pregnant and constantly worried about my unborn child. If God makes decisions basd on such stuff, then he is not a God I kmow as a Roman Catholic. So, If I am away from my computer living a real life reflecting his teachings then I will be punished for not sending an email within the allotted time? I think not.
Anybody who receives this should simply ignore it and say to the sender, what they have done and why and put a stop to such scaremongering.
For the record, Catholicism condemns superstition. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a1.htm. Also, Catholics don't worship saints but ask for their intercession, as they would ask a friend on Earth to pray for them. Saints are like friends in Heaven, the Communion of Saints.
I don't want to get into a theological debate, but just wanted to clarify a couple things and point out that a chain letter email is not really a credible source on anything. Regarding the message of the person who sent it--there are certainly many uninformed Catholics, as there are uninformed Protestants, who may forward these things on, but it does not mean it's official teaching of either church. And also be mindful that Catholics and Protestants use very different language--what may sound perfectly normal (and theologically correct) to one might *sound* like heresy to another, so it's a good idea to read up on official teachings and concepts from the source itself before making a judgment. For instance, while many Protestants allege that Catholics worship Mary, the Church actually and officially forbids worship of anyone other than the triune God. The Catholic notion of "veneration" of a saint is far different from the worship due to God alone.
Catholics "worshiping" Mary and saints is such an ignorant and tired lie that some so-called Christians love to propagate even when they know it to be false. I’m sure these are the same types of people that believe African-Americans just sit around eating watermelons and collecting welfare checks all day and other such misinformed and bigoted views.
Are there superstitious Catholics? Yes. Are there superstitious Protestants? Yes. Does this make them bad people? No, of course not – it is human nature to be scared easily, but it should also be in our human nature to remind people to have faith instead of to hate and spread lies about anyone that is different.
I don’t understand how people that refuse to love their neighbor can honestly believe themselves to be followers of Christ’s teachings. It is just so troubling to see that people will use some silly event like an email as an excuse to bash another human’s beliefs without bothering to understand the truth. It reminds me how evil leaders are allowed to get into power.
“How fortunate for leaders that men do not think”.
I don't care how you slice it, the so-called 'veneration' given to Mary and other dead human beings by Roman Catholics is nothing more than veiled worship. Roman Catholics pray to Mary and other dead people and prayer is a form of worship. This despite the fact that scripture commands us to pray to no one but God and not to try to contact the dead.
This 'veneration' of the 'saints' and Mary has even led to a movement within the Roman Catholic church to consider Mary a co-redemptrix with Christ - out and out blasphemy.
This e-mail is not just the ramblings of some rare, superstitous church members but a reflection of widely held Roman Catholic beliefs. You'll notice in the e-mail that these people were encouraged in this nonesense by their priest.
Pity that Larry didn't listen to tutors other than the cleric who filled his head full of hate. He may have learned to spell properly, instead of writing all this "nonesense".
Yes, I misspelled a word. It happens to all of us. Pity you had no cogent argument to employ and had to resort to criticizing my spelling.
"For the record, Catholicism condemns superstition. http://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a1.htm. Also, Catholics don't worship saints but ask for their intercession, as they would ask a friend on Earth to pray for them. Saints are like friends in Heaven, the Communion of Saints."
These words are well said, and are the truth. I also received this email, and I returned it to the sender letting her know that I found it to be threatening, etc. Catholics do not worship Our Lord's Mother, and our friends, the saints. We ask them for their prayers - to intercede for us, as we would ask any friend in heaven or on earth. There is no sin in that, but I understand that it is your opinion. You will be in my prayers, if that is alright with you. Maybe I will even ask Mary and the other saints to intercede on your behalf. We shall see how this all comes out in the end.
AMDG
Everyone's missing the point here: this email is junk, regardless of its 'message' or the uninformed perception of it. It's sad that some would choose to use it to point at others' crazy beliefs in order to defend their own.
Did my protestant brother create such an email and circulate it, to clandestinely stress his style of belief and tarnish the image of the Catholics. I hope not.
Dear brother, if you get to heaven (I believe in resurrection), I'll ask you to pray for me. I'll ask you to intercede for me even now when you are alive. But I'll never make you my idol.
God bless (this is my prayer for you)
Love
Your catholic brother.
After i received smiler letter i am thinking what may the purpose behind chain letters? to my best guess what i think is explained below a chain letter is an easiest way to collect email address for the spammers and scammers to promote get rich, porn or poonzie scheme letters. these letters are created purposefully or mischievously to make other fool or precisely "to make a chain of fools"
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