Mediator? Mary/Jesus

[Truth_Faith13]

Obviously Jesus is a mediator but does the CC view Mary as a mediator as well?

 

[JM3]

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2C.HTM

964 Mary’s role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it.

970 "Mary’s function as mother of men in no way obscures or diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed Virgin’s salutary influence on men . . . flows forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rests on his mediation, depends entirely on it, and draws all its power from it."511 "No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer; but just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by his ministers and the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is radiated in different ways among his creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source."512

vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P9F.HTM

2679 Mary is the perfect Orans (pray-er), a figure of the Church. When we pray to her, we are adhering with her to the plan of the Father, who sends his Son to save all men. Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus’ mother into our homes,39 for she has become the mother of all the living. We can pray with and to her. the prayer of the Church is sustained by the prayer of Mary and united with it in hope.40

 

[catholic1seeks]

Obviously Jesus is a mediator but does the CC view Mary as a mediator as well?

In no way is Mary mediator as Christ is mediator. We Catholics couldn’t forge that idea even if we wanted to. We don’t neglect our Bibles* that* much.

Haha. Okay in all seriousness, the answer is a straight-up no. The Church has been quite faithful in her 2,000 years in understanding that the faith we’re proclaiming is all about God’s son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Christ, who came to bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth and bring us ever closer to Him through his saving passion, death, and resurrection.

The Incarnation was all about God doing very human-y things. Not only did he become man, but he was humble about it, too, and lived simply. He got close to the dirtiest of people to express spiritual realities. He used common earthly things like water, dirt, bread, and wine to administer healing and achieve spiritual experiences. He chose sinful men to deliver his saving message to the world, even making some of them leaders of the early Christian community and entrusting them with the power to speak and heal for Him. And Christ had a mother, too. And as he lifted up everything material in the world, making matter have a religious and saving significance - conduits of grace and symbols of his presence - so Christ even made his mother, the person who could be easily argued to be the person closest to him, an experience of God’s love.

Just as we preach the Gospel to others, help each other, bring love to one another, and pray for each other, so the saints in Heaven do too. Mary, being specially chosen by God to deliver his Son to the world, was no random person but a human lifted up to be a sign of God’s presence. The earliest Christian teachers of the faith, as evident in their writings and practices, taught that Mary truly was a special character in the Christian story of God’s salvation. She is part of God’s family. Christ shares His Mother with us.

 

[Cromwell4]

I think this sentence summarized the point well…

No creature could ever be counted along with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer

There is only one Redeemer.

 

[JRKH]

Obviously Jesus is a mediator but does the CC view Mary as a mediator as well?

In a sense the Church views all of us as mediators.

We are to pray to the Father with and for each other.
We are to desire and seek the highest good for our neighbor.
We are to be God’s Conduits - His hands and heart in the world.

All of these things are forms of mediation…

I do not say this to detract from the Glory of Christ or of Mary - but rather to suggest that we not get too rigid or narrow in how we view “mediation”

Peace
James

 

[sousley]

Obviously Jesus is a mediator but does the CC view Mary as a mediator as well?

Mary is not the most highly honored saint because the Catholic Church defines her that way, but because God did. She was chosen and given more grace than any other creature by God for her particular role in His plan of salvation.

You may be defining mediator too narrowly. Jesus is the mediator between God and man in the sense that only He could redeem mankind, and that no one can come to the father but through Him. But we are also told to pray for one another, making us mediators for each other, although not to the same magnitude of Jesus.

The role of the queen mother was always an intercessory role between the people and the king. If you look up a list of the kings of Judah (Jesus’s line) and follow through the books of kings, you will find that all of the kings mention the mother’s name. For example: 1Kgs. 15:2–He (Abiam) reigned three years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Maacha, the daughter of Abessalom. In a world where the man was the head of the house, it is the mother that is always mentioned.

Jesus is the eternal King of the world, and his mother is the queen mother, and ours.

 

[pablope]

Obviously Jesus is a mediator but does the CC view Mary as a mediator as well?

From St. John Paul II on the Blessed Mother ( it is a short article and contains so much):

ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2bvm49.htm

 

[boomerang]

The CC does not view Mary as a mediator. That role is for Jesus exclusively. All the saints in heaven, as well as living Christians, act as intercessors for one another. Intercession and mediation are entirely different things.

 

[TimothyH]

A mediator is someone who helps two parties come to an agreement.

Anyone who reads the Bible knows that there were many mediators between God and man. Mary was a mediator between God and man at the wedding at Cana when she helped the servants and Jesus resolve the conflict over running out of wine. Moses was a mediator between God and man when he went up and down Mt. Sinai at least five times, bringing God’s proposal to the people and the people’s response to God.

Jesus however, is the perfect mediator between God and man because Jesus alone is both God and man. Jesus alone mediates between God and man perfectly because he alone bridges the gap between God and man.

-Tim-

 

[sousley]

The CC does not view Mary as a mediator. That role is for Jesus exclusively. All the saints in heaven, as well as living Christians, act as intercessors for one another. Intercession and mediation are entirely different things.

You may run into some difficulty if people reference the Catechism #969

969 “This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. . . . Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”

 

[JM3]

You may run into some difficulty if people reference the Catechism #969

969 “This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. . . . Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”

Read the footnote.

Lumen Gentium

1. This maternity of Mary in the order of grace began with the consent which she gave in faith at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, and lasts until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this salvific duty, but by her constant intercession continued to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.(15*) By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son, who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and cultics, until they are led into the happiness of their true home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked by the Church under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix, and Mediatrix.(16*) This, however, is to be so understood that it neither takes away from nor adds anything to the dignity and efficaciousness of Christ the one Mediator.(17*)

For no creature could ever be counted as equal with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer. Just as the priesthood of Christ is shared in various ways both by the ministers and by the faithful, and as the one goodness of God is really communicated in different ways to His creatures, so also the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this one source.

The Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary. It knows it through unfailing experience of it and commends it to the hearts of the faithful, so that encouraged by this maternal help they may the more intimately adhere to the Mediator and Redeemer.

Here’s a little extra.

vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/1997/documents/hf_jp-ii_aud_01101997_en.html

4…In proclaiming Christ the one mediator (cf. 1 Tm 2:5-6), the text of St Paul’s Letter to Timothy excludes any other parallel mediation, but not subordinate mediation. In fact, before emphasizing the one exclusive mediation of Christ, the author urges “that supplications prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men” (2:1). Are not prayers a form of mediation? Indeed, according to St Paul, the unique mediation of Christ is meant to encourage other dependent, ministerial forms of mediation. By proclaiming the uniqueness of Christ’s mediation, the Apostle intends only to exclude any autonomous or rival mediation, and not other forms compatible with the infinite value of the Saviour’s work.

 

[Pax]

Obviously Jesus is a mediator but does the CC view Mary as a mediator as well?

First of all, it is extremely important to appreciate what is meant by the word mediator when it refers to Jesus. Scripture says that Jesus is the one mediator between God and man[1 Timothy 2:5].

That statement does not, however, preclude other subordinate forms of mediation by people other than Jesus. That statement is a reference to the unique sacrifice offered to the Father on our behalf by our divine Savior, Jesus. No one else could offer a redemptive sacrifice of “infinite” value to God for our salvation. Finite man is incapable of making such an offering, thus the God/man, Jesus, becomes the sole mediator in that role.

There are, however, other forms of subordinate mediation performed by those who are members of the body of Christ. This is amply demonstrated in the following scriptures:

3 Jn 1:8
Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may become co-workers with the truth.

Eph 4:29
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.

Rom 15:15-16
I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable,

Rom 15:18
For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles,

Col 1:7
This you learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,

I hope that helps and God bless.

 

[sousley]

Read the footnote.
Lumen Gentium

Here’s a little extra.

Hi JM3. I may not have made my thoughts clear. I was responding to the statement that the Catholic Church does not refer to Mary as a mediator but only as intercessor. Often what can happen if a non-Catholic asks this question and it is phrased as such by a Catholic, they (the non-C) can be quick to point to the CCC which refers to Mary as Mediatrix. So it is best, in my opinion, not to dismiss the term of mediator and instead explain Mary’s role.