Catholic teaching on Mary is 100% something that leads us deeper into our relationship with Christ. That’s the point. Mary has, from her very first YES to God, pointed the way to Jesus and been a human model for us.

Many of the misunderstandings about Mary assume too much from too little. They presume that if we look to Mary or the Saints or to each other for help, that we are somehow implying that Jesus alone is not enough. That’s simply false logic. And it’s precisely backwards. It is because Jesus is the source of all grace and love and that he has chosen to work through humans that we look to each other to soak up as much as we can.

Jesus asks us to look to each other. We are called to help one another, pray for one another (i.e. mediate for each other). This doesn’t take away the fact that ultimately Jesus is the One mediator. But he chooses to mediate through us, essentially making us co-mediators in as much as we cooperate with Him. He did that in an extremely special way through Mary (as she is how God, the creator of all things, chose to come into the world).

Jesus says that whatever we do for each other, we do for Him. And this teaching becomes much more profound once we realize that we (all of us sinners) are HIS body, the Church. We receive the love of God and His grace through one another all the time. This is life. That doesn’t mean we are cutting Jesus out of a job or implying he couldn’t do it all on His own if He wanted to. That’s just how He chose to do it. Jesus is the source of it all! But it flows through us all in this mysterious Body. He CHOSE to use us. He CHOSE to use Mary to give Him his humanity. To give us Himself. Catholics simply acknowledge this and the implications along with it.

It really is beautiful. And the people I know with the most profound and beautiful and inspiring relationships with Christ also have profound relationships with Mary and honor her as His mother (as we’re called to to). That’s the honest truth. The fruits speak for themselves.

If you would like to ignore Mary, the Saints and others and their role in your salvific journey, you’re just missing out. But stop with the ignorant accusations of idol worship and Mary worship. God love ya.

1. Exodus 20:4-5
“Thou shalt not MAKE unto thee ANY graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not BOW DOWN thyself to them Nor SERVE them.”

Do Catholics MAKE graven images? Yes.
Do Catholics KNEEL down to statues of Mary or Jesus? Yes.
Do Catholics SERVE Mary? Yes, as in “Legion of Mary.”
Do Catholics BOW DOWN and kiss the foot of the pagan god Jupiter which was renamed St Peter? Yes.

2. Leviticus 26:1
“You shall make you NO IDOLS nor GRAVEN IMAGE. Neither rear you up a STANDING IMAGE. Neither shall ye set up any IMAGE OF STONE in your land to bow down unto it.”

Do Catholics rear up STANDING IMAGES? Yes.
Do Catholics set up any IMAGE OF STONE? Yes.

3. Deuteronomy 4:16
“Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and MAKE you a GRAVEN IMAGE, the similitude of ANY FIGURE, the likeness of MALE or FEMALE.”

Do Catholics make graven images of MALE or FEMALE? Yes. Mary is a female. Jesus and the apostles are males.

4. Deuteronomy 16:22
“Neither shalt thou SET thee UP ANY IMAGE: which the Lord thy God HATES.”

Do Catholics SET UP ANY IMAGES? Yes.
Does God HATE IMAGES? Yes.

5. 1 Thessalonians 1:9
“How ye turned to God FROM IDOLS to serve the living and true God.”

Did the early Christians turn FROM IDOLS? Yes.

6. Deuteronomy 27:15
“CURSED be the man that MAKES ANY GRAVEN or MOLTEN IMAGE, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place.”

Does God put a curse on any person that makes any image? Yes.
Why does God call an image an ABOMINATION? Because He hates it.

7. The early Christians had NO IMAGES
Early Christian writers such as Irenaeus, Clement, Cyprian, Athanasius and Jerome wrote strongly AGAINST images, statues and any manner of prayer or veneration regarding them. The Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. voted unanimously to remove all images from the Churches.

8. The Catholic Church removes the second Commandment against MAKING graven images from the list of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17. This presents them with the problem of only having 9 Commandments. They resolve this problem by splitting Commandment number 10 into 9 and 10. That is: 9. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife. 10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s goods. The following is seen in the book “A brief summary of the Ten Commandments” by the Daughters of St. Paul, p.12, 13:

WHAT ARE THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD?

Got Questions?
http://www.gotquestions.org/virgin-Mary.html

You may find, if you will listen to His voice, He will lead you to the pillar and foundation of the truth – the Church of the living God. ~1Timothy 3:15

That they may be One, Father ….