The Bible and the Virgin

[Rich]

In discussions with Christians from the Reformation traditions they usually say “Of course we honour Mary but…” Trouble is I don’t see how they honour Mary or when they do it. Apart from a few Lutherans or Anglicans Protestant Christians practically never mention our Lady except when in argument with Catholics. So I’ve written a blog looking at the explicit references to Mary in the New Testament showing from Scripture why Christians should honour her even if they don’t share Catholic beliefs about her role in the Communion of Saints and the economy of Salvation.

The Bible and the Virgin- Part 1

This is how I conclude-

From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me Luke 1:48-49 NIV Our Lady prophetically foretells that until the end of time all generations will call her blessed. Those who do not do so are clearly resisting the Spirit and paying little heed to the plain sense of Scripture. She also tells us why all generations will do this, because the Mighty One has done great things for her. That is, we cannot think of the blessedness of Mary without thinking of the Divine One who blessed her. Those Reformation Christians who fear that giving praise to Mary means robbing praise from God have turned a both/and gift from God’s bounty in an either/or choice which smacks of over scrupulousness on their part. Catholics do not fear to praise those to whom praise is due because we know that this praise is only due and can only be due because they have been richly gifted by God who is the source of all good in heaven and on earth.

Just one question. If Christ lives in you by His Holy Spirit, and you have 24/7 access to the God Head why does your honoring her take the form of hours in prayer to her and not to Jesus?

 

[catholicscot]

Just one question. If Christ lives in you by His Holy Spirit, and you have 24/7 access to the God Head why does your honoring her take the form of hours in prayer to her and not to Jesus?

My blog doesn’t mention praying to Mary.

 

[Jerurussia]

The Virgin Mary’s unique charism is that she is “Pierced with a sword of sorrow that the thoughts of all may be revealed.” Discuss amongst yourselves.

 

[catholicscot]

Part Three now out, looking at the finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple and the Wedding at Cana. Also Sherlock and prayer.

Many Christians, particularly those in the Reformation traditions (also called Protestants), think that the word ‘prayer’ has a specific connection with worship, that is all prayer is also worship. Flowing from this is the belief that prayer should, therefore, only ever be addressed to God. Words do change their meaning over time and it may be that prayer will one day come to have that exclusive idea firmly attached to it. It was not always so and even yet it is not entirely so. ‘To pray’ can simply mean ‘to request’. We can see this, for example in a 2014 episode of Sherlock where “pray silence for the best man” is said just before Holmes makes an *** of himself and solves a crime at the same time

 

[catholicscot]

Part Four is now published. This looks at

-Did Jesus reject Mary?

-Did He refuse to call her Blessed?

-What happened on Calvary?

*As He was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “The womb that bore You and the one who nursed You are blessed!” He said, “Even more, those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed!” *
Luke 11:27-28 (HCSB)

There is a school of biblical interpretation which suggests that the dialogue should be understood like this-
Woman- Blessed is the woman who bore you
Jesus- No she isn’t.
But, once again, the text does not suggest the interpretation of it in this fashion.

 

[catholicscot]

In the final part The Bible & The Virgin Come To A Conclusion I produce this handy list

-The Archangel Gabriel tells Mary that she has “found favour with God”
-Mary is the first person in the world to hear about Jesus.
-Immediately she becomes the first person to have faith in Him, i.e. Mary is the first Christian.
-She gives her joyful consent to God’s plan
-She is (necessarily) present at the Incarnation of the Son of God which takes place in her womb.
-The sound of the Virgin’s voice is the agency which God uses to cause St John the Baptist (and St Elizabeth) to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
-The divinely inspired St Elizabeth declares our Lady to be Blessed among women.

• Mary was (necessarily) present at the birth of the Son of God
• The shepherds and the Magi found Jesus with Mary
  -Mary treasures and ponders all these events in her heart.
  -Mary was present when Jesus was offered, in accordance with the Law, as a symbolic sacrifice to the Father in the Temple.
  -The Virgin was the subject of a prophecy by the inspired Simeon which specifically refers to her and to the closeness she will have to the sufferings of her Son.
  -Jesus, Mary and Joseph become political refugees seeking asylum in Egypt in order to save the life of the Saviour.
  -Mary’s suffering for three days while Jesus is missing, hidden in the House of His Father, prefigures the events of the Passion.
  -Jesus willingly subjects Himself to the authority of Mary and Joseph
  -Mary displays a delicate and charitable sensibility by being distressed at the potential humiliation of the newlyweds at Cana.
  -Prompted by this she prays to Jesus and by her prayers brings about the first public miracle of Jesus’ mission.
  -In giving her counsel to the servants ‘do whatever He tells you’ Mary anticipates the words of Jesus at the Last Supper ‘if you love me you will keep my commandments’
  -Mary accompanies Jesus from Cana to Capernaum where our Lord begins His public mission of preaching, teaching and healing.
  -Mary accompanies Jesus to the Cross and stands steadfastly at its foot sharing in His agony.
  -Jesus, in the final depths of that agony, takes thought for His mother and gives her into the care of His beloved disciple and gives the beloved disciple into her care. Until He had done this, St John suggests, His mission was incomplete.
  -Having been present at the birth of her Son in the flesh at the first Christmas Mary was also present in the birth, as it were, of her Son in the Spirit as the the Body of Christ appears in the world at Pentecost.

 

[FCEGM]

Just one question. If Christ lives in you by His Holy Spirit, and you have 24/7 access to the God Head why does your honoring her take the form of hours in prayer to her and not to Jesus?

You assume that every Catholic spends “hours” in prayer to the Blessed Mother and not to Our Lord. :tsktsk:

This quote from Pope Benedict is appropriate as it establishes the principle of the unity we have with all our brothers and sisters in Christ - including His Mother who is our Mother, too - be they in glory or yet on earth:

". . .from the first moment of his salvific activity, Jesus of Nazareth strives to gather together the People of God. Even if his preaching is also an appeal for personal conversion, in reality he continually aims to build the People of God whom he came to bring together, purify and save.

"As a result, therefore, therefore, an individualistic interpretation of Christ’s proclamation of the Kingdom, specific to liberal theology, is unilitaral and without foundation, as a great liberal theologian Adolf von Harnack sumed it up in the year 1900 in his lessons on the essence of Christianity. ‘The Kingdom of God, insofar as it comes to single individuals, is able to enter their soul and is welcomed by them. The Kingdom of God is the dominion of God, certainly, but it is the dominion of the holy God in individual hearts.’

"In reality, this individualism of liberal theology is a typically modern accentuation: in the perspective of biblical tradition and on the horizon of Judaism, where the work of Jesus is situated in all its novelty, it is clear that the entire mission of the Son-made-flesh, has a communitarian finality. He truly came to unite dispersed humanity; he truly came to unite the People of God. . . . .

". . .We cannot have Jesus without the reality he created and in which he communicates himself. Between the Son of God-made-flesh and his Church there is a profound, unbreakable mysterious continuity by which Christ is present today in his people. He is always contemporary with us; he is also contemporary with the Church, built on the foundation of the Apostles and alive in the succession of the Apostles. And his very presence in the community, in which he himself is always with us, is the reason for our joy. . . " (Pope Benedict XVI, The Apostles)

When this is understood one can see more deeply into the mystery of the Communion of Saints and why it’s never just a “me and Jesus” life that a Christian is to lead, but that there is a great Communion into which we are invited with and in Him. Thus the veneration of the Blessed Virgin as the Mother of all in this Communion in her Son has perenially been encouraged by the Church. One choosing not to participate in this veneration has chosen an individualistic approach unwarranted by Scripture and Sacred Tradition.