By Godwin Kalu Nchege

Seen from this sacrifice/ worship prism, then time and space as you used them to indict the church in the second part of your article will mean nothing in worship.

Easter and or  Christmas can then fall into any time of the year. Worshipers  of the sun god TAMMUZ and those of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can then use the same worship ground at the same time if it is possible.

The way these worships  are done and  the  sacrifices  offered therein will attract each God to his own people – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to the body and blood of Christ  and Tammuz, to whatever the Romans offer  Tammuz  in their worship  for Christ once said  “I am the good shepherd, and I  know  My own and My own  know  Me,  John 10:14. I hope this will help you settle your mind as to time and place in worship.

–  In the last segment of the article you talked about  “Mariolatry”  – worship of Mary. From the end events  of the Golden Calf and the Bronze Serpent  stated above you know what worship is. One of the highest Marian  feasts we have is that of the Assumption  of the Blessed Virgin Mary  which comes up on  August 15th  yearly.

In this feast, the church offers to God the sacrifice  of the body and blood of Christ for all the graces He bestowed on Mary. We DO NOT OFFER IT TO MARY.  So we don’t worship Mary rather we  honour  her and join all generations in calling her blessed.

Luke 1: 14 – 42, Luke 1: 46 – 49. At this point let me correct one erroneous impression you have. MARY WAS NOT AND CANNOT  BE  “AN ORDINARY WOMAN”:  with or without any  prophecy in the bible concerning her as you claimed.

She is the virgin to whom the angel Gabriel said  “ Rejoice  you who enjoys God  favour  the  Lord is with you” Luke 1:28- 29. SHE IS THE EXTRA ORDINARY CREATURE whose fiat”:  you see before you the hand – maid of the Lord.   Let it happen to me as you have said”, brought salvation to the entire world Luke 1: 38.

After this answer, “the word became flesh and lived among us John 1:14”.

–  That was the flesh of salvation together with the sin-cleansing blood of redemption derived from the Blessed Virgin Mary.

–  This God/Man found the splendor and purity of heaven in Mary  for which we call her the  Immaculata. Even the most naïve of people cannot describe her as ordinary. And I know you have better words in your vocabulary to describe her adequately and befittingly  only that  your  bigotry will not allow  you. Compare your feelings about the Blessed Virgin Mary with  what God sees in her “ A woman robbed with the sun standing  on the moon, and on her head  a crown of twelve stars …….. The woman was delivered of a boy, the son who was  to rule  all the nations with an iron  septre  and the child was taken straight to God and  to His throne Rev: 12: 1-17. This is how God sees the woman who in man’s eye is ordinary.

If you believe that Christ is the son who was taken to His throne and that Mary is his mother then ponder on this riddle “then the dragon was enraged with the woman and went away  to make war on the rest of her children who obey God’s commandments and have in themselves  the witness of Jesus”.

Mary will not force you to be her child except you accept her to be your mother as she accepted to be the mother of God – Christ Jesus.

Venerating or rather honoring a mother is just the beginning of wisdom. Christ  did this to Mary when He kept the fourth commandment and the bible did not call him an idol worshiper. Be Christ – like and learn from Jesus Christ as all Catholics aspire to be.

*Nchege is a Catholic lay faithful, Abia State.