Catholic are often accused of “worshipping” Mary, the Saints, icons, statues and the like. With this harsh accusation that the Catholic Church has been receiving, please be reminded that bearing fictitious witness and judging discriminatorily and out of lack of knowledge are not virtues extoled by God and the watching angels.
Veneration should not to be confused with
WORSHIP or ADORATION. Worship is due to God alone and ANY CONVERSION of such
adoration to a creature or LIFELESS object is purely an idolatry.
In
Ephesians 3:14 Paul says, "I kneel before the Father," and in Acts
9:40 Peter "knelt down and prayed." The Catholic custom of kneeling
is consistent with Scripture and is another manifestation of the continuity
between the Church of the first century and the Catholic Church of today.
There are “differing levels” of respect to be given to others and
to God. One is to honor God but also
honor father and mother, as the Scripture says, “Stand
up in the presence of the aged, and show respect for the old; thus shall you
fear your God. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:32)
Anyone who is clueless of ancient customs and code of
behaviour might misinterpreted David to be worshiping Saul, because the former
even calls the latter “lord” aside from prostrating on the ground before the
king. But far be it from David’s heart
that to worship a man. One falls on
their face before God, but also before the King but the actions of the heart
are quite distinct in either gesture.
To clarify differentiation, Catholic doctrine explains the
distinction with the terms latria (worship and adoration allowed to
God), dulia, and hyperdulia (forms of respect and veneration
given to worthy creatures.
Failure to follow of the distinction between veneration and
worship which the Church teaches may be negligence of the Catholic on reason
that some of them are uncatechized and do not understand or practice what the
Church has taught because of laxity in involvement in the Church and frequent
absences on the Liturgy. This manner of
slackness could also be spotted in different communities as humans regardless of
age have occasional tendencies of disobedience.
Equating
the act of bowing of a person to another as worship is unbiblical. A lot
depends on cultural context. In Middle Eastern culture of the Old Testament,
bowing is not necessarily worship but simply an act of honor.
In
the Old Testament, kings bow to prophets and vice versa. No-one is alarmed or
rebuked because of it. In that cultural background, everybody understood what
that act meant.
In
the case where bowing down is an act of worship, the scripture is very
meticulous to specify that the person “bowed down and worshipped.
Below
are the Scriptural passages affirming that there is nothing wrong with humans
honoring each other by the act of bowing.
Genesis 27:29 "Let peoples serve you, and nations pay
you homage; Be master of your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to
you. Cursed be those who curse you, and blessed be those who bless you."
(This was Isaac to Jacob)
1 Kings 1:16 Bathsheba bowed in homage to the king, who said to her, "What do you
wish?" (No rebuke from David)
1 Samuel 24:9 David also stepped out of the cave, calling to Saul, "My lord the
king!" When Saul looked back, David bowed to the ground in homage.
1 Samuel 25:23 As soon as Abigail saw David, she dismounted
quickly from the ass and, falling prostrate on the ground before David, did him
homage. (which is repeated in verse 41)
1 Samuel 28:14 "What does he look like?" asked Saul. And she replied, "It is an
old man who is rising, clothed in a mantle." Saul knew that it was Samuel,
and so he bowed face to the ground in homage.
2 Samuel 9:6-8 When Meribbaal, son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David, he fell prostrate
in homage. David said, "Meribbaal," and he answered, "Your
servant." "Fear not," David said to him, "I will surely be
kind to you for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the
lands of your grandfather Saul, and you shall always eat at my table."
Bowing low, he answered, "What is your servant that you should pay
attention to a dead dog like me?"
2 Samuel 14:33 Joab went to the king and reported this. The
king then called Absalom, who came to him and in homage fell on his face to the
ground before the king. Then the king kissed him.
2 Samuel 18:28 Then Ahimaaz called out and greeted the king. With face to the ground he paid
homage to the king and said, "Blessed be the LORD your God, who has
delivered up the men who rebelled against my lord the king."
1 Kings 1:23 When he had been announced, the prophet entered the king's presence and, bowing
to the floor, did him homage.
1 Kings 2:19 Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to
speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and paid her
homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the
king's mother, who sat at his right.
1 Kings 18:7 As Obadiah was on his way, Elijah met him. Recognizing him, Obadiah fell
prostrate and asked, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?"
2 Kings 2;15 The guild prophets in Jericho, who were on the other side, saw him and said,
"The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." They went to meet him, bowing
to the ground before him.
The
act of kneeling does not eternally mean that the person kneeling is staging an
act of worship. Catholics kneel in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary and the
Saints to articulate respect and honor and to pray for intercession, but not
fall down on their knees to worship her.
Prayer can be worship, communion with God and
pleading but not generally a worship
Prayer can be worship but it can also be an act of
communication and beseeching, without any componet whatsoever of being worship.
It can be worship but is not by its very nature, worship. Praying to Mary is
not worshiping Mary, which is evidently a negligent comprehension of word
meaning. Everyone should take time to
comprehend Catholic terminology before assuming too much or judging too
callously.
Prayer, as to it etymology simply means, “to ask” but not “to worship”
at its heart. In England one still prays to the court for leniency or favor. Hence, to pray to Mary is no different in its spirit
from anyone asking for a brother in Christ for a favor/ intercession. The only
distinction is one has gone on to heaven, whereas the other has physical
communion with each other.
One may argue like, “If I can pray directly to God, why should I pray to Mary?” If I can go directly to God, why do I ask my brother in Christ to pray for me? Can’t I just pray to God directly? One who is asking a brother to be a mediator for the other to pray to God for her/him is simply an act of humility than the mentality and feeling of self-sufficiency that he/she can do it anyway by him/herself alone. This is simply what a Catholic does when asking Mary for intercession. After all the Scripture charges not only to pray for one another but to ask for intercession when it says, “Pray for one another, that you may be healed. The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful.” (James 5:16)
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