Dear Mr. Shea,
Thanks for an excellent article. I enjoyed it so much, I clicked on the (loooong) article, “By What Authority: The Lens in My Eye,” and read the entire thing.
Even though the excerpt from “By What Authority” gave me a great deal of insight into your “journey home,” I'd like to read the whole story sometime. I am genuinely impressed by your scholarly and intellectual process in your journey (mine was emotional and instinctual).
However, may I offer one small piece of advice? Please don't take this as a criticism — I honestly don't mean it to be. Your intellectual and scholarly insights are very important and meaningful to those of us who are trying to follow Christ without becoming “holier than God” (as 2 priests have accused me to my face). Nevertheless, I think you need to come “out of your ivory tower” now and then, and mingle with the “average” Catholic in the pew (or, Adoration chapel). Your assertion that Evangelical (and other) Protestants have a “misconception” about Mary worship is simply not true (i.e., not a misconception).
Having worked in RCIA for 16 years after re-verting to Catholicism, I know backwards and forwards what the Church teaches about Mary and her place in our faith. You might be amazed (I hope not disheartened) by how many Catholics-in-the-pew do not. The reason Evangelical Protestants believe that Catholics “worship” Mary is because so many of them do! If you eavesdrop on conversations — or, engage them in direct discussion — there is no other explanation for their opinions. They are scared to death of God-the-Father, Jesus-the-Savior, and the Holy Spirit — each one or all taken together as a whole. Mary and the Saints may be way above us, but at least they are human, like us. I see it, hear it, every single day — even though I've been out of RCIA work for 8 years — and it breaks my heart. (I can only barely imagine what it does to God's heart!)
My personal conclusion is that Protestants are going to go on (and on, and on….) “misunderstanding” Catholicism until we as Catholics are properly catechized. Then, we will not only be able to intelligently present the truth of our faith, but we will also stop acting like superstitious pagans!
Keep up the good work! Please!
Yours in Christ,
Mrs. Carol Luscomb
Flint, MI
Carol:
I won't dispute that Catholics in the pews are capable of saying, thinking, and doing almost anything. So I have no doubt that there are some Mary worshippers out there. I do think that the charge of Mary worship is vastly over-rated. Perhaps it's where we live, but I have never met a living soul who worships Mary. Nor have I in my travels. I suspect that in different areas and cultures, that equation could change dramatically. But I have to say that as an Evangelical convert, I was relieved almost to the pitch of disappointment to discover that this great bogeyman of Catholics all worshipping Mary just didn't seem to be there. However, as I say, I will not deny your experience. I've seen too many Catholics think too many loony things about their faith to deny what you've encountered. 🙂
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
