Militia of the Immaculata

I happened upon a web site for the Militia of the Immaculata, a group of people who defend and propagate the Roman Catholic teachings about Jesus' mother. Having been raised a Catholic, I was for many years encouraged to venerate Mary. My teachers proclaimed that she was the only woman conceived without original sin, and that after the immaculate conception, she remained a virgin. In honor of those two distinctions, we prayed to her for her intercession with her Son, Jesus. The Rosary was our most powerful prayer tool, and a novina of(nine) Rosaries was enough to gain freedom from Purgatory. We called it a Plenary Indulgence. Down at my level of reprobation, such things were too high for me to consider. I heartily believed the ecclisiastical verdict that I was a depraved sinner forever, and my only hope for heaven was to confess my sins to a priest whenever I was within visiting distance of a Catholic church, and if I was lucky, to have a priest give me the sacriment of Extreme Unction when I died. Because everybody knew God's grace was only available through sacrimental indulgences. When I started reading the Bible, however, somehow I knew it was God's Word, and the only absolute truth in this depraved world. And when it didn't align with my catacism and other Catholic teachings, Tradition simply didn't cut it as an excuse. Much of what the Catholic church teaches about Mary isn't in the Bible. And according to that Good Book, Jesus is the only intercessor between God and mankind. In fact, For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (1 Timothy 2:5-6) Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) And that's just scratching the surface of Catholic teachings that don't jive with the Bible. Some Catholic teachings, in fact, are pure herisy: At the top of the list is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Catholics must attend mass once a week as--not just a reenactment of Jesus sacrifice on the cross, but as its reinstatement. In short, Jesus' one-time death was not enough to gain our salvation. In answer, the Bible says, By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:10-14) So, today I am not a member of the Catholic church. And not only that, but I can't see how people who cling to Catholicism's apostate teachings can hope for personal salvation. Yet I have personally known Catholic brethren who bore the pure fruit of God's Spirit. And there are many Catholics who have lived exemplary lives of Christian love and faithfulness. Among them are Maximilian Kolbe, who gave of himself constantly, until he offered himself as a substitute for a married man who was doomed to die at Auschwitz. And of course everyone has heard of Mother Theresa, who spent her life tending to and defending the nobodies of Calcutta. They, and many others, offered their lives because they so acutely felt Jesus' love for themselves, their neighbors and their enemies. My only conclusion can be that regardless what religious affiliation people claim, if they love the Lord God with all their bodies, minds, souls and spirits, and their neighbors as themselves, they obey the Greatest Comandment. Even if they never walk the sawdust trail, accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as their own Personal Savior after an evangelistic service according to the Evangelical Protestant standard; even if they call themselves Catholics, or maybe Seventh Day Adventists, or even Mormans or Jehovah's Witnesses, and they love God and accept His grace through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross--or torture stick--maybe even those people have a hope for eternal life. I've long held that adherants to all religions will be surprised who they find in heaven--and who they won't find. Our salvation is God's business, and maybe, just maybe, those of us who presume to judge others' eternal destiny will find ourselves out in the cold--or fire--for eternity.