I get an absolute TON of e-mail every day, and there are so many interesting, uplifting, and even challenging messages to go through. I am sometimes approached for help, sometimes asked for guidance, sometimes attacked for my beliefs, sometimes accused of being anti-catholic (which you already know is not the case at all). And sometimes I receive simple, emotional, wonderful messages of thanks. Such is the case recently, and I thought I would share this very happy message with you:

“Thank you for posting your testimony here. God is using your story to
affect many lives. I came here as a Christian looking for more information
on Catholicism and how it differs from Christianity, so that I may share
it with my loved ones. I pray that God will work in their hearts as He did
in yours. Thank you once again.”

You’re very, very welcome.

To Jesus through Mary?

I was following a van the other day, and I noticed a bumper sticker affixed to the back of the vehicle. The message was simple:

“To Jesus through Mary”

Now I’m guessing that was a catholic person’s van, I’m sure they’re a catholic who considers themselves a Christian, a genuine christian catholic I’m sure. But to be honest, it doesn’t really matter if it was or wasn’t. The fact is, the entire message on the bumper sticker is wrong. Jesus doesn’t require an intermediary for us to reach Him. As a matter of fact, Jesus is the ONE and ONLY intermediary between us and the Father:

John 14:6 says…

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

What else is necessary? Why add another layer when it isn’t required?

We shouldn’t strive to reach Jesus through anyone. Not any living person, not anyone who is no longer on this earth, and not through Mary, even if she was the woman who gave birth to our Savior’s physical body. Instead, we should strive to reach the Father through Jesus, exactly as He told us we must.

As human beings, most of us are very fond of our mothers. We love them dearly, and we care about them deeply, and we hurt and mourn when we lose them. There is no getting around that, it is our nature — most of us are attached to our mothers. After all, they gave birth to us. But as Christians, if we are truly Christians, then we must not fall into the trap of assigning human values to the things of Heaven.

Some catholics may believe themselves to be Christian or to be a Christian catholic. If so, they would understand that it is NOT God’s Will that we should find it necessary or desireable to seek our Savior through another human being. He sent his Son here, for us, and because he walked this earth Himself there is no need — ever — for us to reach “Jesus through Mary”.

If you want to know more about catholicism and my journey from catholic to christian, please read my story and learn how I came to better understand the issues with the Roman catholic church.