Frequently Asked Questions About our Catholic Faith and Practices

The answer to this question lies in the the fact that we don't "worship" Mary. It is NOT a teaching of the Church that we worship Mary nor even is she as Holy as Jesus or God. In fact the word "worship" is a word we use in relation ONLY to God (the Trinity), The Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

 

We, as Catholics honor Mary, we do not worship her. It is a general concept/practice of the Church to show Mary the rightful honor that she deserves as the Mother of God.

Many protestant people assume that when we refer to the Immaculate Conception, that we are talking about Jesus. In reality, it was Mary who was conceived without sin before she gave birth, without sin, to Jesus (Scripture backs up this teaching in many places, and is thus a strong teaching of the Church). In fact, it does make logical sense that Jesus would not be born of a women who had ANY sin about her.

 

And it is because of Mary's nature (fully human, yet without sin) that the Catholic Church regards our Blessed Mother as worthy of our faith and praise. This is why some Catholics have a strong devotion to Mary as a model for all humans, especially for women and mothers.

 

It may seem, however, like Catholics place Mary above Jesus and even God sometimes to the outside observer. In actuality, a great many Catholics have a deep devotion to Mary and recognize the divinity given to her by God. In essence, what we Catholics are doing when we pray "to" Mary is that we are not actually praying "to" her as if she were God, but praying "to" her in the sense that she has a special grace with God for us humans to use in delivering our prayer to God.

 

So, a proper outlook of Mary in the Church would be to say that Catholics pray "through" Mary to God and not say that Catholics pray "to" Mary.

 

In defense of some Catholics who seem to focus solely on Mary, the following comment may be of some help; "The Catholic Church is the only church that gives the proper respect to our Blessed Mother, Mary" – Rev. Billy Graham, a protestant minister.

The short answer is we don't pray TO the statue/object, but rather we pray USING the statue/object.

 

A good analogy for why the Catholic church has and puts emphasis on so many statues, pictures, relics, and sacramental type items is that they are a way of deepening our faith experience in prayer.

 

You might relate to this concept with the following example. Let's say you have a picture of your wife and children. You take this picture with you on a long journey where you are away from them for many months. During this time, you take out the picture and look at it for long periods of time or maybe even kiss it in honor / remembrance of your family and the love you have for them.

 

Is it the picture you love or what it represents?

 

Good, practicing, informed Catholics will tell you that it is NOT the picture or the statue that we love and honor, but what they represent that we love. We are not placing our faith into objects but into Gods love for his people. We do this in honoring and remembering the love we have for others, the Church and for God.

The Catholic Church teaches that through God's gift of the Church and it's Priests, that we are to participate in Holy Communion as it becomes the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer.

 

We, as Catholics, believe that during the Sacrifice of the Mass, the "substance" of the bread (wafer) and wine actually changes to that of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

 

We call this process, TRANSUBSTANTIATION also known as REAL PRESENCE.

 

Transubstantiation is predicated upon the distinction between two sorts of change: accidental and substantial. Accidental change occurs when non-essential outward properties are transformed in some fashion. Thus, water can take on the properties of solidity (ice) and gas (steam), all the while remaining chemically the same. A substantial change, on the other hand, produces something else altogether. An example of this is the metabolism of food, which becomes part of our bodies as a result of chemical and biological processes initiated by digestion. In our everyday experience, a change of substance is always accompanied by a corresponding transition of accidents, or properties.

 

In the Eucharist a substantial change occurs without accidental alteration. Thus, the properties of bread and wine continue after consecration, but their essence and substance cease to exist, replaced by the substance of the true and actual Body and Blood of Christ.

 

It is this disjunction from the natural laws of physics which causes many to stumble and one of the sharpest dividing points amongst Catholic and Protestant denominations. In fact, many of Jesus' followers left when He brought forth this concept to them, as they viewed it as cannibalism.

 

The basic objection to the Catholic doctrine of the real presence is NOT that it is against Scripture, but that it is against physical reason. The words of Jesus seem plain enough. “This is my body.” This is my blood.” “Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life in you.” “My flesh is real food, my blood is real drink.”

 

Those who do not believe that he meant the Eucharist He said these things, do have much trouble with this belief/concept. The non-belief, however, pre-supposes that God could or would bring about this supernatural change - even if it was asked for by His people in His Church.