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The Presence Of Mary? |
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A
foundational belief promoted by the Catholic
Church is the idea that a priest has the power to
turn a piece of bread into the actual physical
body, blood soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ. You
may be surprised to know that Pope John Paul
recently declared that Mary is also present during
the celebration of the Eucharist.
As
every one knows there is no higher authority in
the Catholic Church than the pope. When the pope
makes a statement, the majority of Catholics
listen. In order to keep track of new
announcements the pope makes, I receive daily
updates by e-mail from Zenit, a Catholic news
agency that reports from
On
Carefully
note the following statement made by the pope:
"The relationship between the Virgin Mary and
the Eucharist is explained by referring to the
"Eucharistic faith" that Mary already
practiced even before the institution of the
Eucharist, by the very fact she offered her
virginal womb for the incarnation of God's
Word." [2] If
you are having difficulty understanding what the
pope actually said, this next statement will add
clarity. He wrote: "The body given up for us
and made present under sacramental signs was the
same body which she (Mary) conceived in her
womb.” [3]
Further, to make his point even clearer, he added,
"Mary is present, with the Church and as the
Mother of the Church at each of our celebrations
of the Eucharist." [4] Now
stop for a moment and think about what the head of
the Catholic Church endorsed. It is an invitation
for the whole church to acknowledge the
"presence of Mary" on the altar during
mass. This is a declaration of paramount
importance. Of
course such a view is foreign to the scriptures.
But according to Catholic tradition, dogma is just
as important as the Bible when it comes to faith.
However, my Bible says faith comes by hearing the
word - that is God's Word, not the pope's. And the
word of God is clear – Mary is not omnipresent. It
is interesting to speculate what may now happen as
a result of the pope's proclamation that
"Mary" is present during every mass. I
have a hunch that appearances or apparitions of
Mary will be on the upswing with accompanying
"messages" from this so-called mother of
Jesus that will become more and more unbiblical. And
don't expect the pope to warn people of the
potential deception when scripture is ignored. I
would suggest to you that a Christianity that can
conjure up a spirit being and call her "the
mother of Jesus" is not found in the Bible.
Do you agree?
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