A Protestant Reader Who Wants to be Catholic writes…

 I just wanted to thank you for your article about Marian devotion, which I found incredibly helpful and enlightening.
http://catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0173.html
I came to faith in Christ in a Baptist church here in the UK, but then moved to a Church of Christ fellowship a few years later and eventually went to Bible college and was ordained in 1993. I left the ministry in 2001, but have continued to be active (preaching, leading worship) in an independent evangelical church.
Over the last 2 to 3 years I have been questioning several points of reformed theology, whilst simultaneously becoming interested in Church history and also exploring a more liturgical approach to worship. These seemingly separate strands of thought have led me to the point where I am about to meet with a local Dominican Friar (in about an hour!) and discuss my desire to join the Catholic Church.
I would describe the journey so far as being quite beautiful. It has resulted in an inner peace that is beyond anything I have ever known. However, Marian devotion (in fact all veneration of the Saints) is the one area that I found really challenging. I’ve read several web articles, and also the relevant sections of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which have all been very useful, but your article really got to the heart of what I was experiencing from my reformed ‘conditioning’.
I think the key issue was that I have always associated prayer as an activity between the human and the Divine. So, even though I could grasp intellectually the difference between ‘worship’ and ‘honouring’, whenever I address the Blessed Virgin it ‘felt’ like I was treating her as divine. Thankfully, this is gradually changing as I allow God to transform my mind in this matter.
My situation is complicated as my wife is supportive, but does