Recalling My Faith Crisis in "Mama Mary"

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October is the Rosary Month, Halloween Month and Reformation Month. I still think about the time I used to pray the Rosary in hopes of attaining peace only to find myself in a mess. Some Roman Catholics may say that when they pray to Mary they're asking her to pray for them. But is the Rosary totally biblical and a weapon against vice and sin?

Here's something I got from Aleteia.org which is a Roman Catholic website with how Roman Catholics justify the Rosary:
When Catholics pray the “Hail, Mary” prayer they are not praying to Mary but are asking for her prayers of intercession for us, in the same manner that you may ask friends, family, or your clergy to pray for you. Only her intercessory prayers are more powerful because she is the Mother of our Lord and sits at His side in Heaven. The Hail Mary prayer is taken straight out of the Bible, off the lips of the Archangel Gabriel, the messenger of the Lord (Luke 1:28 NAB), and from Elizabeth’s words of praise when the child in her womb recognized Jesus as the Messiah (Luke 1:42 NAB) .

While I do appreciate how the writer of the article took time to be polite to answer to criticism towards her faith but I can't afford to leave her in error. I could talk about the problem behind the argument. They say that when they pray to Mary they are simply asking her to pray for them. However, the claim that only Mary's prayers would work better because she is the mother of Jesus in His humanity is unfounded. Nowhere did the New Testament letters say we need to pass through Mary. None of Jesus' sermons uplifted His earthly mother above everyone. Gabriel's greetings to Mary were not prayers for Mary. I wonder where do Roman Catholics get that idea?

I could think about the Rosary and why I even lost faith in it. The Rosary supposedly held several promises. One of them was deliverance from sin. I could remember how I would fervently pray the Rosary to help my chaotic and religious Roman Catholic through. But in the end I ended up throwing a small rock at the image of the Roman Catholic Mary in my altar. I always talked to the piece of stone and I was told to always respect it. I was told that we weren't worshiping the image but the one portrayed by it. But I ended up putting my trust in a ceramic doll who can't save. I received no special grace, no deliverance from sin and people I see who religiously keep it are always living in sin. I saw no purpose in praying the Rosary. I just felt so angry at my "mother" who is no spiritual mother of the Church at all by throwing a piece of stone at another piece of stone. The glasshouse of the idol broke and so did my faith in the Rosary. 

What I felt was nothing more than the sad reality of the Rosary. It was an empty prayer. It becomes nothing more than a tape recorder. It was nothing more than struggling to get grace when grace is something you don't gain through a struggle. Grace is something that you don't work for (Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 2:11-14). You ask for God's grace to persevere not get His grace by persevering. It's just like saying that you only get a gift from Santa Claus only if you were good. A gift is given to someone even when it's not deserved. If Santa Claus gave you something because you were good the whole year then it's a reward and not a gift. The same goes for the Rosary. The promise of special grace for persevering in the Rosary is unbiblical. Grace is necessary to persevere not perseverance is necessary to obtain grace. 

As for the whole "Mother of God" logic I don't see any reason why Mary should be called as such. She's the mother of Jesus in His humanity but not in His divinity. If they say we must pass through Mary because of her biological relations with Jesus then this is the problem. Roman Catholics don't teach Mary is God by doctrine but end up doing so by their actions. The Rosary is more focused on Mary than Jesus. If we're supposed to pray to Mary because of her status as mother then why aren't Roman Catholics giving such a special place to David? Speaking of David, Psalm 110:1 has David acknowledging Jesus' Lordship. Biologically, David is Jesus' ancestor through Mary (who came from David's other son with Bathsheba named Nathan) but he acknowledged that Jesus is also Lord.

There's one thing I could think why the Rosary doesn't make sense and it all revolves around the Hail Marys. I could still remember what Mary said in John 2:5 to do whatever Jesus tells us. Jesus never invited people to His mother but to Himself. Mary wanted people to understand that she couldn't mediate between them and Jesus. Yet, it frustrates me to think that many Roman Catholics still insist that John 2:1-11 was Mary's first act of mediation when it's clearly not. It pains me and angers me to think how people purposely misread and misinterpret the Bible to justify their heresies. It's like how often Matthew 16:16-18 is often misread to justify the unbiblical papacy or how 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 is often used to justify priestly celibacy when it doesn't. Just reading from a Catholic Bible alone drove me crazy with everything I was taught which made me desire to be saved from sin the biblical way. I had no peace and I once thought that maybe becoming an atheist made more sense. Later, I soon started taking baby steps, I used to get mad when fellow Christians corrected me because I was too used to "mind your own business" norm before I got saved. But I'm thankful God uses others to bring me to the right path so I can't enjoy doing any wrong I would do.

If the Biblical Mary knew about it how sad would she be to know people aren't going to where they should go for salvation. If David said the LORD said unto my Lord then Mary would have done the same. I could admire how my sister-in-Christ the blessed Mary stood still at the foot of the cross. She offered a sin offering reminding all of us we are but sinners. She pointed people to Jesus and told them to do what He wanted them to do. She wouldn't want people bowing down to her. She won't crush the head of Satan because she needed someone to do it. Genesis 3:15 says it's the Seed of the woman and not the woman. Mary would take no part in anything unbiblical. I'm glad to have known the Mary of the Bible and the Mama Mary of the Roman Catholic institution are in no way the same. One is a devoted Christian the other is a blasphemous impostor.

After I got saved, nothing surprised me anymore. I read through Jeremiah 7 and 44 and realized that the Queen of Heaven is a title used for any pagan deity carrying that title. Roman Catholics may say that they're not praying to Ishtar then again any pagan country can say that. There are many pagan goddesses with the title "Queen of Heaven". I saw no difference in praying to the Buddhist goddess of mercy Kuan Yin or as she's also called Avalokitesvara, to any Hindu mother goddess and praying to the Roman Catholic Mary. All of them are satanic deceptions that extol the goddess worship which came from Babylon. Even if they are not Semiramis or named Semiramis but these are all but hollow idols that are made to deceive. The Roman Catholic Mary is no different as this is just another version of the same deception known as the Queen of Heaven.

Then I learned to love the real Mary the biblical way like I would every member of the family of Christ. I look up to her now as an example of a sinner saved by grace. I don't even ask for her help knowing she can't hear me. Yet I think of the example that Mary set before me to follow as an older sister in Christ. I look up to Mary as those who came before me as an example. When she trembled before Gabriel I can only see I need to be humble. When she offered a sin offering for her sins I can only see that my changed life is not my own. When she told people to do what Jesus tells them to do I'm reminded that I have a mission to preach the Gospel. When she stood at the foot of the cross she didn't break down but stood there. She stood obedient to the very end. God's grace made Mary obedient and salvation possible. Mary couldn't be obedient to God without His grace. She gives no grace. Instead, she shows that God's grace is at work in her life.

Soli Deo Gloria!

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