Many people mistakenly believe the Roman Catholic Church teaches Mary is on par with Jesus in the role of mediating between God and man. Some of this confusion comes when non-Catholics hear The Hail Mary prayer: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus, Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
The Catholic Catechism says, "Mary, ever associated with her Son, prays for us with Him. She is not alone in this. The whole community of the blessed in heaven imitate Christ in continuing their concern for us. As we pray for one another upon earth and for the souls in purgatory, so our brothers and sisters in heaven intercede for us. We are united with all of them by the intimate bonds of Christian love. But Mary, our spiritual mother, has an altogether exceptional role in this. Among those redeemed by her Son, her intercessory power is by far the most extensive and effective." (Ronald Lawler, ed., The Teaching Of Christ, [Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, Inc., 1983], pp. 228-229). The Bible teaches there is "one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5). This passage not only rules out Mary as a mediator, but also all of the other Catholic "saints." You will also note the Bible never calls Mary our "spiritual mother" nor mentions a place known as purgatory.
Assumed into Heaven
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that after Mary ended her earthly life; she was taken up into heaven in body as well as in soul. This doctrine was "defined" in Catholic theology by Pope Pius XII in 1950. You might wonder where the Bible teaches such a doctrine as this. Knowing that no verse in the Bible even hints at this doctrine, Keating, in his chapter on Marian Beliefs, says, "fundamentalists ask, where is the proof from Scripture? Strictly, there is none. The mere fact that the Church teaches the doctrine of the Assumption as something definitely true is a guarantee that it is true" (Keating, p. 275).
Keating is willing to reject the Bible and accept the word of the same people who brought us the Crusades and the Inquisition.
While Jesus was teaching in Galilee, "a woman from the crowd called out, 'Blest is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!' 'Rather' He replied, 'blest are they who hear the word of God and keep it" (Luke 11:27). This woman had the same idea that Catholics have today. The reply of Jesus cuts at the heart of Mariolatry. While not denying that Mary was blessed in being His mother, our Lord insists that more blessed are those who "hear the word of God and keep it."(Luke11:28). JBD
