This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As Catholics we celebrate a number of feasts and solemnities associated with the Blessed Mother. Our devotion to her is different than what most Christians do or practice. Obviously our Eastern brothers and sisters, i.e. the Greek, Russian Orthodox Churches also maintain many of the same devotion as we do in the Catholic Church. Why is it that other Christians do not or did not maintain the same devotions? What exactly do we believe about the Blessed Mother?
Dealing with the second question first, as Catholics we believe in four major dogmas surrounding Mary. They are:
1) The Virgin Birth
2) Her Immaculate Conception
3) Her Assumption
4) Her perpetual virginity
The first one all Christians agree on. Mary was a Virgin when she bore Christ in her womb and when she gave birth to Him. The Gospels of Luke and Matthew are very clear in stating such. The virgin birth is one of the cornerstones of belief in being a Christian.
The issues arise when we begin discussing Mary’s perpetual virginity. The Gospels make reference to Jesus’ brothers and sisters as well as saying that Joseph knew her not until she bore her first born. Some Christians have come to accept that Mary knew Joseph intimately and had children with him after Jesus’ birth. We must first understand that marriage and procreation is a holy endeavor and vocation. By believing that Mary and Joseph had no children and remained chaste does not make marriage and procreation a bad thing, both are ordained by God. As Catholics we believe that the brothers and sisters of Jesus whom are mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures are either cousins (since the word for brother was used very loosely when referring to other relatives such as cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.) or that Joseph was previously married and was a widower when he met Mary, hence Jesus’ brothers and sisters would have been his step brothers and sisters.
Not knowing Mary until after Jesus was born does not explicitly state that Joseph ever knew her in that way, since the word until here refers to an indeterminate time (St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica). Also the passage refers to what happened before Jesus was born not after, here is the passage: Joseph had no relations with Mary until she bore a son. Why would the author go to the pains of informing us on the sexual activity of Mary and Joseph? The author was more concerned about what happened before and up to that point, not what happens later since he was not there to see it. 'The use of 'until' in Matthew 1:25, then, is purely to indicate that Christ was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, not conceived by Joseph and Mary, since they did not 'know' each other 'until' the birth. In this context 'until' is really synonymous with 'before'. If on the contrary it were meant in its full contemporary English sense—that is, if it really meant that Joseph and Mary's chaste relationship changed after the birth—then the stylistics present another big problem: the reader would have to believe that Matthew was actually inviting contemplation of the couple's later sexual activity. This is doubtful to say the least." Although in the English translation the phrase with "until" is ambiguous, it is less so in the original Greek text, c.f. Anastasia Giannakidou. 2002. 'UNTIL, aspect and negation: a novel argument for two untils.' In Brendan Jackson (ed.), Semantics and Linguistic Theory (SALT) 12, CLC Publications, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 84-103.
The dogma of Mary’s perpetual virginity is taught with the certainty of faith and the magisterium of the Church. It is to be believed with an ascent of the mind and with the ascent of faith. This does not mean that people do not search, inquire, and reflect on the teaching. Human beings are not robots and we ask questions. God invites the questions so that we may learn who He is, so that we can learn who the saints are, as well as learn who we are. If you have a problem with this dogma or have questions with it you can find a plethora of information on line by a simple search. Remember though if you are Catholic your first inclination is a bias towards faith not doubt, we live in a time where some Catholics have become so progressive that they actually have a bias towards doubt or at least a bias against the Magisterium.
The Immaculate Conception is another dogma about the Blessed Mother. The dogma declares she was free from original and all actual sin from the moment of her conception and throughout her entire life. The teaching finds its roots in Scripture when the angel Gabriel says to Mary, “Hail, full of grace.” No one besides Jesus is ever referred to as full of grace. There is one exception with Jesus, in the Gospel of John it says of Him, “Full of grace and Truth.” Mary does not receive the second part, full of Truth, since she is not divine. Nevertheless the angel declares who she is in essence. The difficulty arises when St. Paul says in Romans, “all have sinned and all are deprived of the glory of God.” This led some to believe that Mary was exceptionally holy and may have been delivered from original sin and actual sin before her birth but not from conception (Thomas Aquinas and Bernard of Clarveux did not believe in the Immaculate Conception, but more in a Immaculate birth) since they could not reconcile Romans 3:22-23. If Paul was being super literal than does that mean Jesus as well in the “all have sinned”? Obviously not and when he wrote the letter to the Romans he may not have been aware of all the truth’s concerning Mary as all doctrine develops through sacred Tradition, not all the answers came immediately.
And for this week we celebrate the Assumption. There is a quick little side joke that when Mary passed away she went missing and no one could find her so we just ASSUMED she went to heaven. Actually the Church does not define or declare if Mary actually died or was taken to heaven while still alive, that is up to the believer, but what must be believed is that she was rewarded with the resurrection for her co-work with Christ her son in His passion and resurrection. No one gave up more than Mary besides her Son, the love and sacrifice she offered as a mother knows no equal, therefore the gift of Jesus taking His own Mother to Himself makes perfect sense.
Why some Christians argue against all the gifts that the Catholic Church showers upon Mary is hard to understand. When we shower all the titles on her, devotion to her, and believe in dogmatic truths about her life we are actually sharing in them, because what mother would not share her gifts with her children? The more you take away from Mary the more you take away from yourself.
The assumption is waiting for us now, we too will be resurrected and experience what Mary has already done, and she will be there waiting guiding us towards the light – her Son, so that she can share with us what she has, eternal life and happiness, i.e. Made immaculate.
By Fr. John
No comments:
Post a Comment