Ah, yes. It is one of my favorite hymns.
If you'll note in the second line of the first stanza, it is the emblem of Jesus suffering. Protestants greatly cherish that emblem, just as Catholics cherish their crucifixes.
Nowhere in the song does it elevate the cross to anything Godlike or worthy of worship. In fact, it says that the cross will be exchanged for a crown in heaven.
When we kneel before crosses, we are kneeling before Christ. When we kneel before the altar, we are kneeling before God the Father.
You have it exactly. Having been a Protestant, when I hear this song, I cry like a baby. It was played at my Grandma's funeral and I learned to sing it as a small child. It centers my mind on what Jesus did for me.
The cross is a symbol.
The statues in the Nativity are like a symbol, they are a reminder of the Birth of our Lord. Each person and animal brings the scene together showing the part they might have played in this great event, God becoming man to walk among us and bring redemption to a sinful world.
When a Catholic sees a Statue of Mary, or one of the Saints, it is a reminder of folks saying, "yes" to God.
These are heros in the Church, examples to Christians.
The Jews and even Jesus and the early Christians showed this sort of respect and a certain degree of reverence to great people of God like Moses and Elijah. We honor Apostles like Peter and Paul. Not because they were great by themselves, in fact, more because they were not great. Moses admitted to a speech problem and he argued with the Lord. Peter was a true stumble bum, even denying he even knew Jesus. Paul persecuted the Church and confessed to a thorn in his flesh and his sinfulness.
The Saints of the Church were folks but each one of them said "yes" to God and "walked the walk". They are examples for us, heros if you choose or you might say they are a symbol of a Godly life.
Mary is a bit more so if you look at her in a slightly different way. Let me explain.
Jesus is called a second Adam in Scripture, right? Think about what this means.
The first Adam brought sin and death into the world, the second Adam, our Lord Jesus conquered sin and death and brought new life into the world.
Eve, said, "no" to God and contributed to the fall. In fact it was an (fallen) "angel" who tempted her to utter disobedience.
An Angel from Heaven spoke to Mary. She said, "yes" to God (being fully aware what the community and her betrothed, Joseph would think of her) and was fully obedient to God. Both Eve's response and Mary's contributed to the Greatest events in Salvation history.
Catholics believe both of these women were free of original sin. They both had the same level playing field.
Neither had and advantage over the other. Their responses were absolutely opposit.
It is with this knowledge that we look at Mary. We see her as not only a hero of the Church, and example but we also see her like a second Eve.
Not everyone will see her this way and many cannot even understand why we do.
Not a single Saint, including Jesus's mom is elevated to the level of God. Not a single one can do anything but continue to adore and praise and serve our Lord. If serving him, includes praying for us, that is not even close to being devine.
I believe folks do better if they have these symbols and hero's. They have certainly helped me with my walk. That is the point, in my opinion.
