The Detroit Festival team was recently at St Mary’s. There, evangelist Bob encountered a woman who used to be Catholic but who now attends a non-denominational Church.

She accepted a Rosary and then asked where the Rosary came from. Bob told her about St. Dominic’s vision of our Blessed Mother.

The woman then asked, “Where is it in the Bible that Mary would appear to us?”

“Nowhere,” Bob answered. But then he asked, “Do you think it needs to be?”

The woman said, “Of course.”

“Why?”

The woman replied, “Because the Bible is our guide.”

“True,” Bob said. “But it’s not our only guide. Before there was a Bible, Jesus left us with His Catholic Church. Then the Church, inspired by the Holy Spirit, gave us our Bible, but not until years later. So there was a period early on in the Church when there were no writings… the good news was spread only by word of mouth.”

“The books of the New Testament were written from around the year 50 to around the year 100. Then the Church, near the end of the 4th century, decided which of the many books would make up the New Testament.”

Bob concluded, “So anyone who puts their faith in the Bible is indirectly putting their faith in the Catholic Church. This idea that we should only believe something if it’s explicitly taught in the Bible is a relatively new, man-made tradition—a tradition that isn’t Scriptural or logical.”

Then he added, “Besides, Mary never appeared to someone and told them something that was CONTRARY to Scripture. If she did, then we would know it wasn’t really she. All Mary ever does is point us to her Son.

Great job team Detroit!

The Holy Scriptures form the Church, but they also belong to the Church. The bible is like a book of family history; it helps the family understand and be faithful to its own identity, and yet it itself is best understood only by the family.