ary: The Biblical Truth

ary: The Biblical Truth
If you asked 100 Protestant Christians to list the top ten Catholic beliefs that they found strange, irritating, or even infuriating, I’d bet that at least half of them would put Catholic beliefs about Mary at the top of the list A well-known former Protestant was asked what the three biggest obstacles were in her conversion to Catholicism. Her answers were “Mary, Mary, and Mary.” To many Protestants, devotion to Mary is about as shockingly unbiblical as the worship of a pagan goddess. This devotion is deeply rooted in the Catholic faith and in the lives of many Catholics, but can really justify this devotion when confronted by non-Catholics.

198. What kind of devotion is directed to the holy Virgin?
It is a singular kind of devotion which differs essentially from the cult of adoration given only to the Most Holy Trinity. This special veneration directed to Mary finds particular expression in the liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and in Marian prayers such as the holy Rosary which is a compendium of the whole Gospel. I’d like to start with making the most important point in our discussion of the Virgin Mary: Catholics don’t worship or adore Mary God alone is worthy of adoration, yet Catholics do believe that Mary deserves a great deal of honor for her singular role in God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ In the drama of salvation, she’s not the star of the show, by any means, but she’s certainly the best supporting character Which brings us to another central point that I hope to make clear tonight

CCC 487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ. Protestant’s biggest objection to any significant attention to Mary is the fear that it takes away from attention to Jesus Christ The Catholic Church contends, however, that everything that we believe about Mary is based on the Church’s more central beliefs about Jesus Christ and illuminates its faith in Christ. The Church’s teachings about Mary are like a frame that surround her teachings about Christ and accentuate the true beauty of Jesus Christ As I hope we will see, each of these teachings is like a moat around the teachings of Jesus Christ, which guard those teachings from distortion

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. Luke 1:26 – 31* * All Scripture citations from the New American Bible unless otherwise indicated. Mary’s time in the biblical spotlight comes in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke

"He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. …" Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. Luke 1:32 – 38 Without question, this is the most significant biblical account of the Virgin Mary, and there are a few others in the New Testament that we’ll be touching in passing. Protestants are quick to object, however, that there is relatively little in the New Testament about Mary, and that few of Catholic teachings about her are explicitly contained in the Bible. You will never find a passage of the Bible that explicitly says, for example, “Mary was assumed body and soul into heaven when her earthly life was completed,” but Catholics do believe that. The most basic question asked by Protestants regarding Catholic teachings on Mary is simply, “If it’s not in the Bible, how can you believe it?” To answer that question, I have to begin with a significant disclaimer: Catholics don’t rely on Sacred Scripture alone in developing their understanding of Mary or any other doctrine. Instead, the Church has a living memory that we refer to as Sacred Tradition You see, before the New Testament was even written, the Apostles and the early Church knew Mary, the mother of Jesus personally. If Mary was assumed bodily into heaven, the early Christians would have known about it, even if they didn’t write about it in the New Testament History shows, however, that they did spread that information orally and did write about such an event in other credible historical documents These documents are not part of sacred Scripture, but make up part of that living memory of the Church known as Sacred Tradition, which helps us to understand the truths of the Bible. In writing the New Testament, the leaders of the Church had more important things to explain than things like the Assumption of Mary – they were instead explaining the basic foundation of the Gospel If the assumption of Mary or other doctrines that Catholics claim about Mary were true, many Christians would have known firsthand, and wouldn’t be waiting for an inspired letter from St. Paul or St. Peter to confirm them If such claims about Sacred Tradition seem unlikely or scandalous, I encourage you to look into the idea a bit more, perhaps by listening to a presentation on that topic that is available at our parish website – Nonetheless, the Bible is not silent about Mary, and hints at many of the things that Catholics believe Perhaps surprisingly, various Old Testament images that foreshadow the Virgin Mary are particularly enlightening

3 Old Testament images that prefigured the Blessed Virgin Mary
Fulfillment of these images in Revelation 12 5 Catholic Dogmas about the Blessed Virgin Mary

ary: The New Eve The first old testament figure that points to Mary is Eve I’m sure we’re all very familiar with the story of the sin of Adam and Eve, and its consequences for humanity Adam and Eve were the first humans in creation, and sinned against God by disobeying his command Eve was tempted by the serpent, the devil, and gave into that temptation She in turn tempted Adam to disobey God’s command St. Paul is clear in the New Testament in affirming that Adam’s sin caused death for all of humanity Adam was in a sense the head of the human race He had received the command not to eat the forbidden fruit before Eve was created He had a unique responsibility to lead humanity in holiness His sin thus had consequences for us all But we know that Adam was not alone in his sin Eve was the one who tempted him Even though St. Paul for good reasons lays the blame on Adam, Eve bears a significant part of that responsibility

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel. Genesis 3:15 God of course promises salvation in the book of Genesis, telling the serpent [READ] Called the Protoevangelium Who is the offspring that is promised? Scripture makes it clear that it is Jesus Christ Jesus is victorious over the serpent In his New Testament letters, St. Paul thus speaks of Jesus Christ as the New Adam, the one whose obedience makes up for Adam’s disobedience, making possible a new creation Just as Adam was not alone in his disobedience, the earliest Christians recognized that the New Adam, Jesus Christ, was not alone in his obedience They saw in the Protoevangelium a prophecy not only of the coming of a new Adam, but also of a new Eve “I will put enmity between you and the woman.” Who is this woman who would be in conflict with the serpent? First possibility is Eve herself, but Scripture never portrays her in conflict with the devil The answer comes in the Gospels

(And) Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me
(And) Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come." John 2:4 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son. " John 19:26 It may seem surprising, but Jesus Christ never refers to Mary in the Gospels as “Mother,” or “Mom” Instead, he always calls her “woman” [READ] Many have pointed out that this seems to have been sign of respect in Jesus’ day Like calling someone “Maam” Some modern translations translate these addresses as “Dear woman” Many have also seen in this a hint that Mary is the woman predicted in Genesis 3:15 After all, if Jesus is the offspring, his mother is the “Woman” whose son would be victorious over the serpent Mary is the woman in combat with the devil, this “New Eve” Even if Mary is the New Eve, this “woman” of Genesis 3:15 , is her role really that important? A closer look at Genesis 3:15 reveals something surprising In the original Hebrew, it’s not entirely clear whether the woman or her offspring crushes the head of the serpent In the original Hebrew manuscript, there is a pronoun that most modern Christian Bibles translate simply as “he” – “he will strike at your head” or “he will crush your head” The difficulty is that the pronoun doesn’t really say he “He” is a masculine, singular pronoun The original Hebrew word doesn’t specify a gender, and doesn’t specify whether it’s singular or plural, which makes it uncertain whether the pronoun refers to the woman, the offspring, or both Because of this ambiguity, many older Bible translations like the King James chose to say, “it shall bruise thy head.” Jewish English translations today typically translate the pronoun as “they,” which would seem to indicate both the offspring and the woman crushing the serpent

Genesis 3:15 (Douay-Rheims)
I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she (ipsa) shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. Genesis 3:15 (Douay-Rheims) In the fifth century, St. Jerome, who was a great scholar of Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, thought the best way to translate the pronoun was as “she” or in Latin “ipsa.” In his translation, which was the official Catholic Bible for centuries, the woman was the one who crushed the head of the serpent The Douay-Rheims, which is a Catholic translation from the Latin, translated at around the same time as the King James, thus says [READ] As you can imagine, reading Genesis 3:15 this way has a big impact on the emphasis that is placed on Mary If she is crushing the serpent’s head, you can’t view her as a bystander in God’s plan of salvation To this day, Catholic art depicts Mary standing on the head of the serpent For just a moment, let’s entertain the possibility that Mary is decisive in crushing the head of the serpent, and see whether there’s any Scriptural basis to such a claim To do so, I’d like to recall the words of Elizabeth to her cousin, Mary Mary has just agreed to God’s plan through the message of the Angel Gabriel Elizabeth says to Mary, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Similar words are found in two places of the Old Testament In both cases, those words are spoken when a woman has literally crushed the head of an enemy

Blessed among women be Jael, blessed among tent-dwelling women…
Blessed among women be Jael, blessed among tent-dwelling women…. She hammered Sisera, crushed his head; she smashed, stove in his temple. Judges 5:24 Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all the women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, the creator of heaven and earth, who guided your blow at the head of the chief of our enemies. Judith 13:18 Jael in the book of Judges is a woman who killed the enemy of Israel, Sisera She invites Sisera into her tent, gives him a drink, and when he falls asleep, drives a tent peg through his skull with such force that he is pinned to the ground. Judith is the main character of the book of Judith, one of the books of the Catholic Old Testament that Protestant do not recognize as part of Scripture. Because of her beauty she is invited into the tent of Holofernes, a Babylonian general. He becomes drunk and she grabs his head, strikes him twice and decapitates him with his own sword. Both of these woman have struck the heads of their enemies Both of these heroines are described as “blessed among women” because of their victory – to my knowledge the only two women praised with these words I think that it is significant Mary addressed with the same words Through her faith and obedient acceptance of the plan of God, she has struck a blow to Satan Through her “Yes” to God, she conceives the Savior. No one can deny that the ultimate victory, however, comes through Jesus’ Cross and Resurrection It is then that Satan is definitively crushed. No one can deny, though, that Mary has a decisive role in this victory To clarify, however, the modern Vulgate, the official Latin Bible of the Catholic Church, uses the word “ipsum” or “it,” reflecting the ambiguity of the Hebrew Genesis 3:15 – it does not say “she” would crush Satan I think that perhaps this ambiguity in the Word of God is significant, because it implies that both the woman and her offspring, the New Eve and the New Adam, would be involved in the victory Just as Adam was not alone in the disobedience that brought about death, the New Adam is not alone in the obedience that has brought about life Just as Eve was the first to disobey in creation, the New Eve is the first to obey in God’s new creation. The Catechism sums it up well:

CCC 494 … As St. Irenaeus says, "Being obedient [Mary] became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race." Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert…: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith." Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary "the Mother of the living" and frequently claim: "Death through Eve, life through Mary."

Eve Visited by fallen angel Believes the angel Disobeyed God Brings death to all Mary Visited by angel of God Obeyed God Brings life to all

ary: Ark of the New Covenant
Another significant Old Testament image in understanding a Catholic vision of Mary is the Ark of the Covenant This sacred box held within it the tablets of the Ten Commandments, a jar of the manna that fed the Israelites in the desert, and the staff of Aaron, the first High Priest The ark was made of wood that was covered with gold both inside and out Was the holiest object in all of Judaism because of what it contained As the Israelites travelled through the desert, it could be carried only by the Israelite priests responsible for it – anyone else who touched it would be subject to death The place of the Israelites worship during the days of Moses was called the tabernacle, and the ark was kept in the inner-most part of the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies The ark led the Israelites in victory as the conquered the land that God had promised them When the Israelites became a kingdom, King David had the ark brought up to capital, Jerusalem, where the temple would eventually be constructed, and the ark would then be placed in the Holy of Holies in the temple

David feared the LORD that day and said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?" So David would not have the ark of the LORD brought to him in the City of David, but diverted it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months… David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the City of David amid festivities.… Then David, girt with a linen apron, came dancing before the LORD with abandon… 2 Samuel 6:9 – 14 The account of the ark being brought up to Jerusalem is recorded in 2 Samuel It is being carried on a cart to the city, and the cart begins to become unsteady A man grabs hold of the Ark to steady it, and he is struck dead by God We read: [READ] I chose to read this particular account because it lays a foundation for a subtle truth revealed in the Gospel of Luke: Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant To see how Luke makes this point, remember three details from this story: David says, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” It stays three months at the home of Obed-edom It is greeted with dancing

During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. Luke 1: Now we fast forward to the Gospel of Luke, where Mary is visiting Elizabeth, an event that we’ve begun to discuss [READ] Notices three details that Luke includes: Elizabeth says, “how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Mary stays with Elizabeth three months Mary is greeted with dancing

David asks, “How can [it] come to me?” Greeted with dancing Mary
Ark of the Covenant Holds Word of God Stays 3 months in house David asks, “How can [it] come to me?” Greeted with dancing Mary Elizabeth asks, “How can [she] come to me?” All of these details combine to confirm that Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant The Old Ark of the Covenant contained the Word of God in stone, while the New Ark contains within herself the word of God in the flesh Like the Old Ark of the Covenant, Mary was holy because of what she contained It’s hard to exaggerate the reverence that was paid to the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament If Mary contained within her womb something far greater than the Ten Commandments, manna, or the staff, shouldn’t an even greatest reverence be shown to her?

ary: The Queen Mother The final Old Testament concept that prefigures Mary is that of the Queen Mother, or in Hebrew, the gebirah If you read the books of 1 and 2 Kings or 2 Chronicles, you’ll see accounts of all of the Kings that followed David. The Kingdom after Solomon split into a Southern Kingdom, ruled by David’s descendents, and a Northern Kingdom, ruled by a number of particularly evil kings Whenever the Old Testament introduces a king from the Southern Kingdom, it takes the time to say, “and his mother’s name was” The Old Testament doesn’t generally bothers to mention the mothers of the Northern Kings It’s a subtle distinction, but the reason may be significant Both Catholic and Protestant scholars agree that the mother of the King held a unique position of authority in the Southern Kingdom, David’s Kingdom We are accustomed to the idea of a king’s wife being queen, but the custom of that time was for the kings mother to be queen Kings rarely had a single wife, and choosing one to be his queen would present obvious difficulties Instead, in all kingdoms of the Near East at that time, the mother of king was queen She was known as the Gebirah, which is translated as “queen mother” or “Great Lady” It seems that this office was particularly important among the kings that followed King David Scripture indicates that both of them wore crowns and both of them had thrones We get a glimpse of this in the book of Jeremiah, were God is displeased with how one king and his mother are ruling, and removes them from their thrones:

Say to the king and to the queen mother: come down from your throne; From your heads fall your magnificent crowns. Jeremiah 13:18 Clearly both the king and the queen mother held positions of great importance If the mother of the king is the queen of the kingdom, then Mary is the queen of Christ’s kingdom When the angel said to Mary, “the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end,” we can only imagine what was going through Mary’s mind After all, Jesus is the King of Heaven and of Earth, which would make Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth What a throne and what a crown for a simple Jewish girl to receive! To see the importance of the queen mother, I think it’s informative to see a contrast between how one particular woman is treated before she becomes queen mother and how she’s treated after

So Bathsheba visited the king in his room, while Abishag the Shunamite was attending him because of his advanced age. Bathsheba bowed in homage to the king, who said to her, "What do you wish?" 1 Kings 1: You may recall that long before this David had seen Bathsheba bathing, had summoned her to his palace, got her pregnant, arranged for the death of her husband, and then married her. It’s clear David had a great affection for Bathsheba. [READ] Yet, when she enters, there is no pomp or circumstance offered to her.

[Adonijah asked Bathsheba], "Please ask King Solomon, who will not refuse you, to give me Abishag the Shunamite for my wife." "Very well," replied Bathsheba, "I will speak to the king for you. " Then Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, and the king stood up to meet her and paid her homage. Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king's mother, who sat at his right. "There is one small favor I would ask of you," she said. "Do not refuse me." "Ask it, my mother," the king said to her, "for I will not refuse you." 1 Kings 2: Years later, however, Bathsheba’s son Solomon is king, so she is the queen mother See how the circumstances are now different, because she now has a unique position of authority in the kingdom [READ] Notice that the king bows down to her, which might seem surprising, and that a throne is given to her We also notice that the queen mother apparently had a reputation for being able to persuade the king, and if people wanted a favor from the king, they could ask the queen to intercede for them The kings statement to the queen mother is significant He says, “I will not refuse you” If you know the story, you may recall that the king does not grant this particular request, because of his past with Adonijah, but the event makes very clear that the king respected the requests of his mother

The words of Lemuel, king of Massa
The words of Lemuel, king of Massa. The advice which his mother gave him: What, my son, my first-born! what, O son of my womb; what, O son of my vows! … Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to the sorely depressed; When they drink, they will forget their misery, and think no more of their burdens. Proverbs 31:1 – 3, 6 - 7 In the book of Proverbs we see that queen mothers gave advice to their sons This particular proverb is interesting in light of a New Testament story that we’ll touch upon in a moment [READ]

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." (And) Jesus said to her, "Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servers, "Do whatever he tells you." John 2:1 – 5 In the New Testament, Mary and Jesus are at a wedding at Cana, the wine runs out, and we see her too interceding for the people, asking her son to give them wine [READ] Mary’s words, “do whatever he tells you,” remind us that she knows Jesus is in charge, and seeks to remind us of the same truth After all, Mary’s greatest dignity, and the reason God has bestowed on her such dignity, comes from the fact that she was faithful, humble and always obedient At first we might suspect that Jesus is going to refuse her request, but a couple of things seem quite noteworthy First, of course, is the fact that Jesus did in fact fulfill her request, showing how much he valued her request Second is the fact that Mary knows he is going to fulfill the request before Jesus even says anything She has an almost childlike trust in her son, knowing that he is going to provide It reminds us that this isn’t the first time Jesus has fulfilled a request from his mother

Queen Mother Mother of Jewish king Interceded for people Requests wine for people Mary

ary: Woman Clothed with the Sun
We’ve looked at three Old Testament images (Eve, Ark of Covenant, Queen Mother), and have seen how they point to Mary Now I want to show how these three images all converge in the book of Revelation, chapter 12, when we see a woman clothed with the Sun, giving birth to the King of Kings Many Protestants insist that this woman is not Mary, but is the nation of Israel Others, including some Church Fathers assert that the woman is the Church There is some merit to those possibilities, but it seems to me that since Mary is the woman who actually gave birth to the King of Kings, it makes sense for this woman to be Mary Because the book of Revelation is so rich in multi-layered symbols, there’s no reason why there can’t be some level of truth in all three of the possibilities It remains clear, however, that since Mary is the woman who actually gave birth to the King of Kings, she is the obvious candidate for the role of the woman clothed with the Sun, so we will read the passage through that lens I do want to start with a disclaimer that it is beyond the scope of tonight’s discussion to really investigate at all of the details of this passage, since there are so many layers of meaning

Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was with child and wailed aloud in pain as she labored to give birth. Revelation 11:19 – 12:2 For centuries Jews had wondered where the Ark of the Covenant was located The 2 Book of Maccabees indicates that the prophet Jeremiah hid it in a cave when the temple was being raided The book says that the location of the ark would remain unknown until God’s glory was seen in a cloud In the book of Revelation, we see Jesus in the clouds, then Heaven is opened and the ark is seen In John’s vision, the sight of the ark is blocked by lightning and hail, and as this storm parts, John sees not the Ark of the Old Covenant, but a woman with child – the Ark of the New Covenant She is crowned with a crown of stars, a heavenly crown, because she is the Queen Mother, the mother of the King of the Heavens

Then another sign appeared in the sky; it was a huge red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems. Its tail swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them down to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. Revelation 12:3 – 5 [READ] We see a huge red dragon entering the vision. She gives birth to the King of Kings, and the devil wants to consume him, but God takes him up to his throne

The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God, that there she might be taken care of for twelve hundred and sixty days. Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. Revelation 12:6 – 9 [READ] Notice that the serpent with the Woman is in conflict is identified as “the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world Just as prophesied by Genesis 3:15, we see the woman in conflict with the serpent

The serpent, however, spewed a torrent of water out of his mouth after the woman to sweep her away with the current. But the earth helped the woman and opened its mouth and swallowed the flood that the dragon spewed out of its mouth. Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus. Revelation 12:13 – 14 Once again, we see God protecting Mary from the devil, and the devil storming off in anger because he is unable to harm her Instead, he goes of to wage war on “the rest of her offspring,” which brings us to Catholic idea – that Mary is the mother of all Christians Genesis 3 calls Eve Mary the mother of all of the living Now Mary is revealed as the true mother of all of the living, the mother of all who have been reborn in Christ We’ll be returning to this idea

arian ogmas We’ve seen a biblical vision of Mary, now let’s walk through what Catholics believe about Mary. As we make this transition, I need to reemphasize the disclaimer that I offered at the beginning of our talk: Catholics don’t draw everything that we believe about Mary from Scripture alone Much of what we know about Mary draws largely from the living memory of the Church, from Sacred Tradition. The Bible was not written in a vacuum, and it’s not read in a vacuum. The Church trusts the reliable witness of early Christians who were not far removed from the time of the Apostles themselves when they write about the Virgin Mary, and the testimony of that Sacred Tradition is solidified by Sacred Scripture.

ogma #1 Our first dogma is the easiest, when properly understood Mary is the Mother of God Mother of God

95. “...Born of the Virgin Mary”: Why is Mary truly the Mother of God?
Mary is truly the Mother of God because she is the Mother of Jesus (John 2:1, John 19:25). The One who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and became truly her Son is actually the eternal Son of God the Father. He is God himself. [READ] Mary is the mother of God because Jesus is God – it’s that simple The amazing truth of Christianity is that God was born of a woman, lived for us, died on the Cross, and then rose from the dead If God was born of a woman, then Mary is God’s mother This does not mean that Mary is somehow the origin of God’s eternal existence, but that the child born of Mary was God himself in the flesh. This dogma points not so much to the greatness of Mary but to the humility of God, that he should choose to be born of and raised by a simple Jewish girl named What an amazing notion that the God of the universe made himself obedience to a human mother When Elizabeth greeted Mary, she said, “How is it that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?” When understood properly, this is the easiest of the Catholic dogmas to accept, and is in fact widely accepted by Protestants, at least at some level

ogma #2 Perpetual Virginity

98. What does the virginal conception of Jesus mean?
The virginal conception of Jesus means that Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Virgin solely by the power of the Holy Spirit without the intervention of a man. He is the Son of the heavenly Father according to his divine nature and the Son of Mary according to his human nature. He is, however, truly the Son of God in both natures since there is in him only one Person who is divine. [READ] Christians agree that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit – this affirms that the coming of Christ is God’s initiative, and that Jesus is God’s Son, not Joseph’s This is undeniable from Scripture When told that Mary would become the Mother of Jesus, we read in Luke 1: But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?" And the angel said to her in reply, "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Clearly Jesus was conceived not by natural relations, but by the Holy Spirit Mary had no relations with Joseph in conceiving Jesus

99. In what sense is Mary “ever Virgin”?
Mary is ever virgin in the sense that she “remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin” (Saint Augustine). Therefore, when the Gospels speak of the “brothers and sisters of Jesus”, they are talking about the close relations of Jesus, according to the way of speaking used in Sacred Scripture. Catholics extent this claim to the rest of Mary’s life, proclaiming that she was a virgin throughout her life that she had no other children that the union between Mary and Joseph was never consummated She is referred to as “ever-virgin” [READ] This second aspect of the dogma is not widely accepted by Protestants today, but was strongly defended by both Martin Luther and John Calvin Both Catholics and these early Protestants see significance in Mary’s question to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” The question implies that, even though she is about to be married, she has no intentions of having relations with a man Think about it She’s on the cusp of her marriage, and an angel says to her that she will conceive (not that she has) There’s nothing particularly miraculous about that, if Mary is planning on being with Joseph soon. Her question implies what early Christian documents like the Protoevangelium of James [150 AD] state: that Mary had taken a vow of celibacy, and that she and Joseph had no intentions of being intimate The most basic objection to this dogma is that the New Testament speaks of “brothers and sisters” of Jesus

Is [Jesus] not the carpenter's son
Is [Jesus] not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Matthew 13:55 Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee… After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Matthew 27:56; 28:1 We see these brothers and sisters of Jesus in Matthew 13 [READ] “James and Joseph” are identified in Matthew 27 and 28 as sons of another Mary [READ] John 19 identifies this other Mary as the wife of someone named Clopas. The basic point is that these two men, Joseph and Simon, are called Jesus’ brothers, even though they clearly weren’t biological brothers. In Hebrew and Aramaic, there is no word for cousin, and any kinsmen is simply referred to as “brother” Thus, Genesis refers to Lot as Abraham’s “brother” even though he’s really Abrahams nephew After all, when Jesus was on the Cross, he felt it necessary to tell the Apostle John, who is not mentioned as a relative, to take care of Mary, and Scripture says that Mary lived with John from that point on If Mary had other children, why did John need to take care of her? It would have been quite an insult to them for Jesus to insinuate that they couldn’t take care of her and even more of an insult for Mary to move in John instead of them I think that recalling the OT image of the Ark of the Covenant helps to shed some light on why the perpetual virginity of mary is so important Because of the sacredness of the contents of the Ark, only a priest could touch it without being punished Similarly, because of the sacredness of the Word made Flesh in Mary’s womb, it makes sense that no one else should enter that womb Ezekiel refers to a temple gate that the Lord entered through, and no one else was to use: (44:2) - This gate is to remain closed; it is not to be opened for anyone to enter by it; since the LORD, the God of Israel, has entered by it, it shall remain closed.” Church Fathers said this gate was Mary’s womb.

Immaculate Conception
ogma #3 If there is one Marian dogma that is most objectionable to non-Catholics, it is the Immaculate Conception Just to clear up any confusion, the Immaculate Conception does not refer to Jesus being conceived by a virgin – that is the virginal conception of Jesus. The Immaculate Conception of Mary refers to the conception of Mary Immaculate Conception

96. What does the “Immaculate Conception” mean?
God freely chose Mary from all eternity to be the Mother of his Son. In order to carry out her mission she herself was conceived immaculate. This means that, thanks to the grace of God and in anticipation of the merits of Jesus Christ, Mary was preserved from original sin from the first instant of her conception. [READ] Since the sin of Adam and Eve, all human beings have been born in a state of original sin, that is, we’ve been born without the holiness that all of us are supposed to have Jesus’ mission was to bring about a new creation, as St. Paul says. His mission was to free us from the effects of original sin Jesus, as the New Adam, was conceived without original sin, that is, he possessed the holiness that humanity lost through the sin of Adam and Eve His mission was, by dying and rising again, to restore the rest of humanity to that same holiness by the grace of faith and Baptism The dogma of the Immaculate Conception states that God chose to share the grace that Jesus bringing with Mary from the very moment of her conception It does not mean that she acquired this holiness by her own power, but that God chose to give this holiness to her in a unique way

And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one [κεχαριτωμένη]
And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one [κεχαριτωμένη]! The Lord is with you." Luke 1:28 κεχαριτωμένη - perfect passive participle of χαριτόω χαριτόω - verb – to bestow grace or favor [χαρις] χαρις - noun – grace, favor Other uses of cari in New Testament For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace. (Romans 6:14) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God. (Eph 2:8) When the angel Gabriel greeted Mary, however, he implied something extraordinary [READ]: He greeted her with an altogether unique title – Hail, κεχαριτωμένη This Greek word is used only one time in the entire Bible, and it’s a word loaded with meaning In Greek grammar, this type of word is called a “perfect passive participle,” which means that action has been completed It’s a perfect passive participle of the Greek word χαριτόω, which means to bestow grace or favor In Greek, the word for grace or favor is χαρις – you can see that root in the title that is given to Mary A very literal translation of the title given to Mary is “the one on whom grace or favor has already been bestowed” Again, no one else in Scripture is given this title In Latin, St. Jerome translated this word as gratia plena or “full of grace” As we know, the idea of grace is at the heart of the Gospel, and to say that Mary has already received God’s grace implies quite a bit. Look at some other uses of the word “grace” in the New Testament. [READ] The early Christians reflecting on the address of the angel to Mary and on her unique role in God’s plan discerned that God had chosen to create her in a state of grace After all, when God gave directions for the construction of the ark of the covenant, he commanded that it be created with purest gold, inside and out, because of what it would contain It is fitting that Mary be created pure because of the one whom she would contain In the Garden of Eden, God had created both Adam and Eve in holiness, but they had fallen into sin In the New Covenant, Jesus, the New Eve, is brought into the world in holiness and remains in holiness It is fitting that the same be true of the New Eve The Catechism of the Catholic Church continues:

97. How does Mary cooperate in the divine plan of salvation?
By the grace of God Mary was kept free from every personal sin her whole life long. She is the one who is “full of grace” (Luke 1:28), “the all holy”. When the angel announced to her that she would give birth to “the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32), she freely gave her consent with “the obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5). Mary thus gave herself entirely to the person and work of her Son Jesus, espousing wholeheartedly the divine will regarding salvation. That title “all holy” is a title that the earliest Christians attributed to Mary – was in use even before the Nicene Creed was written The oldest remaining Byzantine Church in Greece, dating to the fourth century, bears this Greek title, “Panagia” After all, freedom from sin is the ultimate victory over the devil, that ancient serpent

For there is no distinction; all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23 And Mary said: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. Luke 1:46 – 48 Protestants quickly object that Scripture says “all have sinned.” Of course, both Protestants and Catholics know that Jesus himself is an exception to this statement Even though Jesus was human like you and I, St. Paul wasn’t including Jesus in his statement. We also know that St. Paul wasn’t talking about newborn infants, who themselves are not yet capable of personal sin We know that St. Paul meant “all” in a general sense, just as the Gospels say “all of Judea” went out to see John the Baptist, even though we can be fairly certain that a few people stayed at home. The dogma of the Immaculate Conception means that God has chosen Mary, by the grace of Jesus Christ, to be an exception to this general rule. Protestants also object that Mary says, “My spirit rejoices in God my savior.” If Mary never sinned, it is claimed, then she needed no Savior. On the contrary, the Immaculate Conception means that she was saved in an altogether unique way She was not only saved from the punishment of sin, but was saved from ever sinning The Catechism makes it very clear that it is through the grace of God in Jesus Christ that Mary was saved:

CCC 492 The "splendour of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son". The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love". [READ] Why would God choose exalt a human person in such a way? First, because of the dignity of the child that she was to bear – the care with which God created Mary points to the significance of the child that was to be born to her Second, because doing so demonstrates the real power of God’s grace Time and time again, Scripture reminds us that we who have been forgiven from sin are called to walk in holiness and are given the strength to do so through Jesus Christ So often, we sell the grace of God short, as if our human weakness is more powerful than God’s grace, so we couldn’t possibly avoid sin, we couldn’t possibly be holy The Immaculate Conception proves to stubborn humanity that holiness is not only a remote possibility but is a reality through the merits of Jesus Christ In Mary, we discover someone who by God’s grace gave her self completely to God’s plan Even though none of us received that grace at our conception, all of us received that same grace in our Baptism, and all of us are called like Mary to overcome temptation in imitation of Christ.

Assumption into Heaven
ogma #4 The fourth Dogma about Mary is only slightly less objectionable to Protestants Assumption into Heaven

CCC 966 "Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death." The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians… [READ] As I have already stated, there is no single Scripture verse that says, “Mary was assumed bodily into Heaven.” Yet the collective memory of the Church preserves the historical reality that Mary was assumed into heaven. The Church does not regard individual writings of early Christians outside of the Bible as inspired or without error like the Bible is, but does trust in the overwhelming consensus that Mary was bodily taken into heaven at the end of her life These early writings are not perfectly consistent in details some, for example, say that Mary died first, and then was taken up, others say that she was taken up without suffering death. Some disagree about who was with her and where she was at, but all are clear in affirming that she was assumed bodily Another significant detail is that no one claims to have Mary’s physical remains You can visit the tombs of St. Peter, St. Paul, other Apostles, and dozens of other significant early Christians, because the earliest Christians took great care to preserve the remains of those who had followed Christ Yet the early Christians explain that no one had Mary’s remains because they were not on the earth, because she had been physically assumed Once again, this dogma is points not so much to Mary’s own strength, but to the power of God through Jesus Christ. It is only because Christ is risen from the dead and ascended by his own power that she can be assumed, by his power Just as her Immaculate Conception is a demonstration of the holiness that God wants to give us, her Assumption is a demonstration of the glory that God desires to give to us When Christ comes again at the end of time, Scripture says that all faithful followers of Christ will be bodily glorified and united to Christ in heaven Mary becomes living proof of the power of Christ’s salvation Recalling our biblical images, we can see why the Assumption of Mary makes sense Just as Adam and Eve were both cast out of their earthly paradise and their bodies turned to dust, the new Adam and new Eve are both brought into the heavenly paradise and their bodies are glorified Just as the ark of the covenant was brought into the earthly temple in honor, the New Ark of the Covenant, Mary is brought into the heavenly temple in honor. Not only her soul is brought, but the very body that bore Christ is brought into heaven. Finally, just as the King of Heaven is seated on his throne in Heaven, Mary the Queen Mother is assumed to her throne in Heaven.

No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.
John 3:13 As they walked on conversing, a flaming chariot and flaming horses came between them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 2 Kings 2:11 Some Protestants object that John 3:13 says, “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.” We know from the Old Testament, however, that Elijah was assumed into heaven in a whirlwind in 2 Kings 2:11. John 3:13 recalls that only Jesus could open the gates of heaven. Anyone else who enters – Elijah, Mary, and hopefully all of us – can do so only because of his death and resurrection

ogma #5 Mother of the Church
The final point of Catholic teaching that I’d like to address is that Mary is mother of the Church. Mother of the Church

100. In what way is the spiritual motherhood of Mary universal?
Mary had only one Son, Jesus, but in him her spiritual motherhood extends to all whom he came to save. Obediently standing at the side of the new Adam, Jesus Christ, the Virgin is the new Eve, the true mother of all the living, who with a mother's love cooperates in their birth and their formation in the order of grace. Virgin and Mother, Mary is the figure of the Church, its most perfect realization. [READ] Remember that Revelation 12 says “Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus.” That means that Mary is our Mother The Church believes that Mary spiritually cares for us as a mother, especially by praying for us, interceding for us before her Son the King As she received the grace to follow Christ throughout her life, she prays that we too would continue to receive that grace in ours Her words to us are the same as her words to the attendants at the wedding at Cana: “Do whatever he tells you.” Here the Compendium points out what I’ve been alluding to in our discussion – “Mary is the most perfect realization of the Church” In Mary, we have a model of the power of the grace of Jesus Christ in someone who believes In her holiness, in her humble faith, in her assumption into Heaven, we see what God can do to someone who makes their own the attitude of Mary – “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to your word” As our Mother, she prays that the obedient heart that she was given would be given to each of us, her children.

196. In what sense is the Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of the Church?
The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the Church in the order of grace because she gave birth to Jesus, the Son of God, the Head of the body which is the Church. When he was dying on the cross Jesus gave his mother to his disciple with the words, “Behold your mother” (John 19:27). Mary gave birth to Jesus, whom Scripture calls the Head of the body which is the Church. If Mary is the mother of Head of the body, it makes sense for her to be the Mother of the rest of the body as well. At the Heart of the Gospel is the reality that, because we are united to Jesus Christ, we have God as our Father, because Jesus is the Son of God If being united to Jesus makes God our Father, doesn’t being united to him make Mary our Mother? At the foot of the Cross, Jesus explicitly gave his mother to the Beloved Disciple, John

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. John 19: [READ] It’s interesting that the Gospel doesn’t specifically mention John’s name there, but simply calls him “the disciple that Jesus loved” Reflecting on this, Christians through the centuries have come to realize that Jesus was making Mary the mother not only of John, but of every disciple whom he loved On the Cross, Jesus gives his disciples a token of his affection, the woman who had raised him Like John, we are called to “take Mary into our home” as our spiritual mother, not because Jesus isn’t good enough, but because Jesus wants to share everything that is his with us Unfortunately, Protestants tend to want to keep Mary at arm’s length, or in some cases a mile’s length, because they are afraid that any affection given to her takes away from affection given to Jesus That’s a notion with good intentions, but is misguided Imagine a young man who says to a young lady whom he is seeing, “I’d like to introduce you to my parents.” What is the most loving response? Does the young woman say, “No, honey, I only love you, and getting to know your parents would just be a distraction.” Or does she say, “I’d love to. Anyone who raised someone as amazing as you must be pretty amazing themselves.” I think the answer is obvious. In fact, it was the Jewish custom that a bride consider her husband parents as her own. In the same way, Christ longs to introduce his mother to so many Christians, because he knows that they can learn a lot from her about faithfulness, about obedience, and about the power of God’s grace The Gospels tell in great detail about the birth of Jesus Christ and about his infancy, and even include a small glimpse into his teenage years – where do you think that they learned those details From Mary, of course. As Mary watched Jesus’ like unfold, Luke says twice, [Luke 2:19 and 2:51] that Mary kept these things and pondered them in her heart I imagine her sharing these pondering with the Apostles, in great wonder at all that God had done through her son, so that the events of his life could be handed on and recorded John Paul II often spoke about learning from what he called “the school of Mary” He spoke affectionately about turning to her spiritually to learn to follow Christ more faithfully

At the school of the Virgin, the disciples learn to know the Lord deeply, as John did, and to have an intimate and lasting relationship of love with him. They also discover the joy of entrusting themselves to the Mother's maternal love, living like affectionate and docile children. The history of Christian piety teaches that Mary is the way which leads to Christ and that filial devotion to her takes nothing from intimacy with Jesus; indeed, it increases it and leads to the highest levels of perfection… May every Christian, after the beloved disciple's example, "take Mary into his house" and make room for her in his own daily life, recognizing her providential role in the journey of salvation (John Paul II). May all of us learn to love Mary as John Paul II and centuries of Christians before him did Catholics do not worship Mary, but we do love her a great deal, and for good reason. She is just a creature like all of us, but is someone whom God chose for an extraordinary mission and who loved God without reservation We shouldn’t be concerned about loving her too much, because no one can love her as much as Jesus loved did.

ore Information Websites www.catholic.com
(See “Mary & the Saints” Tracts) (See “Holy Queen” Online Study Books Hail Holy Queen by Scott Hahn Mary, Mother of the Son :Volume 1 – 3 by Mark Shea Catholic for a Reason II by Scott Hahn & Leon Suprenant

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