Actually, God could have just found someone else who was a virgin, faithful, and from the line of David. The very thing that makes Mary worth remembering is that she chose obedience.
God also could have created Eve without freewill so that she would not have listened to the serpent and sinned. Given that God will not violate our freewill, i don't think i can be as certain as you seem to be that God would have continued to "shop around" for an eartly mother for His Son had Mary chosen to refuse obedience to His will.
Anyway, the point is--she willingly DID what she did in humble submission to God's will, and thus has earned both a place of honor before the Father's Throne and veneration in the hearts of all Christians.
And allow me to clarify. I have actually talked with a Catholic who believes that the Holy Spirit comes through Mary, rather than being sent by the Father and Son according to John 14:16-17. This is a serious aberration. And how did she come to this conclusion? Through the abuse of the Hail Mary.
All what you state "clarifies" is that the person you talked to is way off the track--not understanding the teachings of the Catholic Church on the subject at hand. There are those unfortunates who get off track, but this has nothing to do with Catholic or Orthodox Church teachings or practices which are as i have already outlined them.
On the other hand, i have heard of Christians who honestly believe that "THE DA VINCI CODE" is a "ground-breaking work of scholarly non-fiction" and even have study groups going in their homes to study this new "spiritual" guidebook and avail themselves of the "truths" it contains. In both your example and mine, exceptions prove the rule in that they are aberations. If you want to know and understand Church teachings on Mary and the Saints, go to the
authoritive sources, not to the extremists who have gone off on their own tangents and are outside the pale of true Christian worship.
Yet, you pray those prayers, and sing those songs. No one is worthy of that level of praise except God.
To the contrary, the level of veneration accorded to Mary and the other Saints is
far below the level of worship and praise given to the Blessed Trinity--both in quantity and in quality--but still well within the bounds of what they deserve for the service they have provided--and continue to provide--to God on our behalf.
But according to the Bible, miracles are God's idea. Anything they would have prayed for is something that He would have already begun to do, since He knows every thought before it happens.
If what you are saying is literally true as you state it, what is the point of intercessory prayer between us here below? The Bible enjoins us in many places to pray for one another--what is the point of that if what you say is true and God is going to provide what we are asking for whether or not we ask for it or request our brothers and sisters to pray on our behalf? Personally, i would question whether our Lord would have acted to turn the water into wine at Cana if His mother hadn't asked Him to.
Scripture states, "THE PRAYER OF A
RIGHTEOUS MAN AVAILS MUCH." (James 5:16) The benefit of asking for intercessory prayer from Mary or another of the Saints is that they have a proven exemplary record of righteousness, holiness, and pleasing God and thus we can be well assured that their prayers on our behalf will be heard. As for the prayers of Pastors, Televangelists, and our next-door neighbor--who knows? Things are often not what they seem to be (to say the least!)--Spiritually speaking
i think the OP's original question has probably been answered by now, so perhaps we shouldn't continue hijacking her thread. If you have a serious need to debate this question, perhaps you might try the General Theology Forum.
A BOND-SLAVE OF CHRIST,
ephraim
The reason they are called Rosary beads, is because the prayers offered in remembrance of Jesus, and to increase our faith and to remember what Christ has done for us during His life, death and Resurrection, is like a string of lovely fragrant roses, given to the Blessed Mother of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
