A few days ago I spotted this posted by our friend the Catholic Champion:
The most infallible and indubitable sign to distinguish a heretic, a man of bad doctrine, a reprobate, from the predestined is that the heretic and the reprobate regard with indifference the Blessed Virgin Mary, and try by word and example to diminish her cult and the love of her, openly or tacitly , and sometimes with good pretexts. Alas. God the Father has not told Mary to make her dwelling with them because they are Esaus." (St. Louis de Montfort, True Devotion, n. 30.) [source]
If St. Louis de Montfort had Protestants in mind, this is helpful Mariolatry because it draws a theological line in the theological sand. The Catholic Champion seems to think the quote applies to Protestants: "There is an excellent article by De Konink that referenced this quote and I thought it really points to a crucial error in Protestant theology. In denying the divine motherhood of Mary, and everything that goes along with it, they ultimately reject Our Lord's plan of salvation, knowingly or not."
But the Catholic Champion is just one interpreter among many. Will the real Romanism please stand up?
Catholic Answers:
Vatican II taught Catholics that they must express their concern for the “separated brethren” by praying for them and by “keeping them informed about the Church.” Moreover, Catholics are called to take initiative in reaching out to those separated from the unity of Christ’s one and only Church. The Catholic’s ecumenical responsibility is greater than that of the non-Catholic simply because the Catholic stands within the unity into which the separated brother or sister is being invited. (Luke 12:48: “Every one to whom much is given, of him will much be required”) [source].
The Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods under Christ the Head in the unity of his Spirit." Yes, the Council hoped for the corporate reunion of all Christians, which means the return of our separated brothers and sisters to the one Church established by Christ. But the Council fathers phrased themselves carefully [source].
It was around this time that the Lord began to providentially arrange for answers to the questions that were plaguing me. First, my mother-in-law became Catholic, which surprised me. I discovered that the Catholic Church didn’t view me or my other Christian friends as lost souls but as separated brothers and sisters in Christ. I knew my conversion experience had been real, so hearing that the Catholic Church didn’t deny the reality of that experience kept my mind and heart open to hearing more [source].
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10 comments:
We can read in the little treatise sourced here that Mary is the "spouse" of God. I always thought it was the church who is the bride of Christ.
In denying the divine motherhood of Mary
That's disturbing.
"Helpful Mariolatry"
That's an interesting choice for a blog post title!
"Spouse of God." Catholic theology meets Mormon theology.
Or Roman mythology (Juno, wife of Jupiter).
I just get angry on poor, dear, blessed Mary's behalf. That would be her worst nightmare to have a devision in Christianity over the honoring of herself.
Like, I think the ol' Catholic Champion is really showing admirable restraint these days. Remember the days when he'd fly over here shooting at anything that moved?
I guess once we started deleting most of his comments, it finally sunk in.
I just get angry on poor, dear, blessed Mary's behalf. That would be her worst nightmare to have a devision in Christianity over the honoring of herself.
Well said.
Bummer, I still want him to answer that question about whether Pope Benny16 or Robert Sungenis was correct.
Using quotes doesn't make the Catholic Champion blink. I once quoted JP2 and an official church document to show him that his wasn't the only "official" Catholic interpretation. He dismissed my entire argument, telling me that I need to read his blog more carefully.
Granted, I really didn't read to the end of the post I critiqued. So maybe he had a point. Still, the quotes I gave him did contradict the position he held, and he admitted to knowing of the documents that I quoted. But how he still maintained his was the official Catholic position I'll never know, and he never told me.
Recently, I wrote a post pointing out that his analysis of a recent news item was misleading, and counted 3 (!) logical fallacies that he and a fellow commenter committed in arguing with a Protestant.
His reply? He seized on one error I made in my post (which had NOTHING to do with the substance of the post), wrote a lengthy blog post on the topic, and challenged me to debate him on it. I admitted my mistake and asked him if he got anything else out of the post, like perhaps the SUBJECT OF THE POST, HIS ERRORS IN LOGIC?
No reply yet. I'm not holding my breath.
Using quotes doesn't make the Catholic Champion blink
Behold the power of the Catholic Champion!
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