Quo Vadis Youth

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Quo Vadis Newsletter Issue 1.1

Mary’s Motherhood.
Can Christians Truly Call Mary the Mother of God?
By Mary Clare Piecynski
Not many things jolt the average Joe into attention more than calling a mere woman “Mother of God.” This title at first glance speaks of heresy-how could a mortal woman be the mother of divinity. Isn’t it true that for God to be God He would have to preexist all time? How could a human person possibly claim to be God’s own mother? Many centuries ago, the Catholic Church wrestled with these very questions when in the 5th century a man named Nestorius declared that one could not properly call Mary the Mother of God, Theotokos in Greek. Instead, Nestorius preferred the title Christotokos, or Christ-bearer. Nestorius believed this to be fitting since he asserted that Christ had two natures along with two persons. As a result, Mary was the mother of the human nature united to the human person, but not to the divine nature united to the divine Person. Consequently, the Catholic Church was thus issued the challenge to decide whether or not it was fitting for Christians to call Mary the Mother of God.
            In response to Nestorius, the Catholic Church met in Ephesus in 431 to consider the question of Mary as Mother of God.   The question of whether or not it is fitting to call Mary the Mother of God bespeaks of course the question of who is Jesus Christ? Is He really a dualist entity, comprised of two persons and two natures, one human and one divine? The Council concluded that Jesus Christ was one Person with one human nature and one divine nature. Therefore, the Council at Ephesus further stated, it was fitting and appropriate to call Mary the Mother of God. The Council taught that Mary is the “Mother of God, not that the nature of the Word or his divinity received the beginning of its existence from the holy Virgin, but that, since the holy body, animated by a rational soul, which the Word of God united to himself according to the hypostasis, was born from her, the Word is said to be born according to the flesh.”
            To understand this idea of calling Mary the Mother of God one needs to take a step back and examine where the Council at Ephesus was coming from. More specifically, a person needs to take a closer look at just who is the Person of Jesus Christ. For, if Jesus is both truly God and truly man and if Mary was His mother, than it would follow that you could call Mary the mother of God. First, the question, is Jesus Christ truly God? The Scripture continually attests to the fact that Jesus truly is God, the Second Person of the Trinity. For example, Christ claims that He and the Father are one (John 17:22) Peter confesses that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16) and Thomas hails Jesus as “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28). The humanity of Christ is just as evident throughout the Bible. The New Testament relates how Jesus ate, conversed, grew weary and slept, all which help us understand that He was fully human.
            How then are we to understand Mary in relation to Jesus? She is obviously His mother, and since Jesus is not only fully man but fully God we can rightly call her Mother of God. That does not mean, as the Council of Ephesus proclaimed, that she is the mother of Christ’s divine nature. Rather, she is the mother of the Person Jesus Christ, who is both God and man. This is true since “an earthly mother is such not only of the body, or the human nature of her child, but of the actual person of that child…Mary is not only the Mother of the body of Christ, but Mother of the Person subsisting in the body, which Person is divine, the Work of God (Suenens, Leon Joseph. Mary, Mother of God Hawthorn Books, New York 1962, page 46).   The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it this way, “the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit...was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence, the Church confesses that Mary is truly ‘Mother of God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 495).
Does this title of Mary however have any Scriptural bearing? A cursory glance at the first two chapters of Luke results in a resounding yes. First of all, the angel Gabriel tells Mary that “the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) If this child is to be called the Son of God then it follows that His mother would be called the Mother of God. Further, when Mary visits Elizabeth, Elizabeth cries out that Mary is “the mother of my Lord.” (Luke 1:43) Since Lord is merely another term for God, Elizabeth is essentially calling Mary the Mother of God.
            In essence, the question of whether or not to call Mary the Mother of God boils down to the question of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ has two natures united in one Person as orthodox Christians have always asserted, then there is no problem with logically deducing that Mary is then the Mother of God. Therefore, since Mary is the mother of the Person of Jesus Christ and not just His nature one may rightly call Mary the Mother of God.

All in the Family
Scripture and the Question of the Brother of Jesus
By Robert Rodgers
“What do you mean Mary was the virgin Mother of God?” These common words uttered to us Catholic’s, often followed by “Scripture is clear, Mary had other sons and daughters.” The latter statement will be our focus here.
                Once again we are present with an argument that views verses of the Sacred Writ out of context with the rest of Scripture.   The entire Canon needs to agree before we attempt to make a claim to the truth it reveals.
                Those who put forward this argument hold to the same verses: Matthew 12:46, Luke 8:19, and Mark 3:31, Matthew 13:55-56, John 7:1-10, and Gal 1:19.   Let us take these common examples that claim a definitive truth of Mary’s other children and lay them against the rest of the Canon.
                Below as a series of bullet points the shed further light to the truth of Mary’s “other children” and the truth proclaim by Christ’s Holy Catholic Church.
Adelphos
                Most Protestants will claim the authors would have used a word other then brother (adelphos) should they have been otherwise. Should this be the case, these two examples from Genesis show their error when we look at all usages of the Greek word.

For example in Genesis 13:8 and 14:14 the word adelphos was used to describe the relationship between Abraham and Lot; however, these two men did not share a brother relationship, but one of uncle and nephew. Another instance is that of Laban, who was an adelphos to Jacob, not as a brother, but as an uncle

Linguistics

Actually, the confusion originates in Hebrew and Aramaic, the languages of most of the original Old Testament texts and of Christ. In these languages, no special word existed for cousin, nephew, halfbrother or stepbrother; so they used the word brother or a circumlocution, such as in the case of a cousin, "the son of the brother of my father." When the Old Testament was translated into Greek and the New Testament written in Greek, the word adelphos was used to capture all of these meanings

What of the mentioned of his brothers and sister?

Other Gospel passages actually clarify these relationships. James and Joses were the sons of Mary of Cleophas (Mk 15:40). Judas, and by extension Simon were the sons of James (not either of the apostles) (Lk 6:16). James the lesser was the son of Alphaeus (Lk 6:15). James the greater and John were the sons of Zebedee with a mother other than our Blessed Mother Mary (Mt 20:20).

Mary the Mother of God

The gospels are also very clear that Mary was a Virgin at the time she conceived Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt 1:1825, Lk 1:2638). Remember when the Archangel Gabriel announced to Mary God's plan, she responded, "How can this be since I do not know man?" After the birth of our Lord, although the Gospels do not give us many details of His childhood, no mention is made of Mary and Joseph ever having other children. Never do the Gospels refer to the "sons of Mary" or "a son of Mary.”

Jesus on the Cross

Jesus’ words upon the cross Woman, there is your son," and then to St. John, who is definitely not a blood brother, "There is your mother" help shed light on why Jesus did not have siblings. According to Jewish law, the oldest son had the responsibility of caring for the widowed mother, and that responsibility would pass to the next oldest if anything happened to the first born son. By this time, St. Joseph has died. Since Jesus, the first born, had no "blood brother," He entrusted Mary to the care of St. John, the Beloved Disciple.

Early arguments

Actually, this whole confusion in not new. About 380, Helvidius suggested that the "brethren" were the children born of Mary and Joseph after Jesus. St. Jerome declared this as a "novel, wicked, and daring affront to the faith of the whole world." In his On the Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Mary, St. Jerome used both Scripture and the fathers like Saints Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus and Justin Martyr to refute Helvidius. Later, the First Lateran Council (649) definitively declared that Mary was "ever virgin and immaculate." Therefore, as Catholics, based on Sacred Scripture and Tradition, we do not believe that Mary and Joseph had other children and consequently that Jesus had blood brothers and sisters.

What is key for us as Christians is to remember we fit the faith, we do not make the faith fit us. One verse is a window to the truth of the Word of God; however, it needs to be tested against the Word.

Thou Shalt Not Have False Gods Before Me.
Praying to Mary-is it Biblical?
By Mary Clare Piecynski

Few things give non-Catholics more of a turn than the idea of praying to a person other than God. Most Protestants shun the idea of praying to Mary and the saints, preferring to “go straight to Jesus.” Catholics, however, maintain that there is a strong Scriptural basis for praying to Mary and believe that the Mother of God is a powerful intercessor before the throne of God. Who is right? This question must be closely examined in order to ascertain whether or not one can rightly pray to Mary without giving insult to Almighty God.
            Before you can even begin to consider the question of Mary’s intercession, your Protestant friend whips out his Bible and quotes 1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” “There!” The man exclaims, 1 Timothy shows clearly that one cannot go to Mary for prayers since Jesus Christ is the sole mediator between God and man. “Oh really” you ask, but if you look at the context that verse doesn’t exclude intercessory prayer at all. In fact, you continue, 1 Tim 2:1-4 states “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kinds and all who are in high positions…this is good, and pleasing to God.” Furthermore, Christ’s unique mediatorship comes from the fact that He is both God and man, the connection between us and God. But that doesn’t mean that only Christ can intercede for us, as 1 Timothy 2:1-4 reads, along with other verses such as (Rev. 8:3-4) where the prayers of the saints are offered to God by an angel (showing also that heavenly beings are aware of our prayers) and James 5:16 that states “the prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects.” Paul in Romans 15:30 asks the Christians “by the love of the Spirit, to join me in the struggle by your prayers to God on my behalf.” Moreover, Jesus Himself commands us to pray for one another in Matthew 5:44 when he says “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”
            Now, the logical question arises, if we are commanded by Christ to pray for one another, wouldn’t that mean that Mary prays for us? Further, just as a mother and a child have an incredibly close love and bond between them, Jesus and His mother have a love unmatched in normal human relationships and that Christ’s devotion to Mary would prompt Him to please His mother in any way He could. Therefore, it would seem that if Mary was interceding for us Christ would be quite likely to grant her request since it came from the mother He loves.
            In essence, intercessory prayer is a strongly based Biblical concept that is important for Christians today. Not only can we and should we pray for each other on earth, we have the privilege of asking God’s own mother for her prayers on our behalf. Just like at Cana where Christ honored Mary’s request, Mary’s prayers prove efficacious for the believer who presents their petitions to her. To conclude, Mary is a mother whose requests to her Divine Son do not go unanswered, her prayers being a precious means of obtaining favors and grace from Jesus Christ

Immaculate Mary
Was Mary Without Sin?
By Mary Clare Piecynski
The Immaculate Conception “So, what have you done today” your Mom asks. To be perfectly honest, you would have to recite the litany of petty quarreling, gossiping and complaining that you’ve done on and off all day. Now why is it that we fall into sin so often? The brief answer to that question is that because of the fall of the first man, Adam, human nature is wounded and now subject to things such as sin and death.   Because of Adam’s fall, personal sin is now a continual issue that mankind has to deal with. There were, however, two individuals in the history of the world who were free from all sin. One, as you might have guessed, is Jesus Christ, true God and true man while the other is His mother Mary. Mary was preserved from sin from the moment of her conception in light of the fact that she was to be a tabernacle for the living God. Though entire books have been written on this singular grace given to Mary, we will content ourselves at looking Biblically at the basis for this sinlessness and examine why in 1854 Pope Pius IX infallibly proclaimed Mary to be sinless, the Immaculate Conception.
            First, however, you might pull out your Bible and point to Romans 3:23 where Saint Paul writes that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Doesn’t that seem to disprove the idea that Mary is sinless? Well, not exactly. A Catholic apologist would answer and say that for one, Jesus was fully human but did not sin. Further, children below the age of reason do not have the capacity to sin. How then could they have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God? Or again, there are handicapped individuals who are not capable of committing personal sin. It is also interesting that the state of sinlessness is not one unknown to mankind. Adam and Eve were both sinless before the fall. One should also note that the Bible often speaks in general not strictly literal terms. For instance, does the verse that reads “all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26) really mean that every last person will go to heaven? Most likely not. Thus, it would be a mistake to take every single word of the Scriptures and exclusively use their literal meaning.
            Perhaps though you insist, it doesn’t say anywhere in the Bible that Mary was without sin, so why should I believe something invented by a 19th century pope?   Well, before anyone jumps to any conclusions, let’s examine Mary’s sinlessness from a Scriptural standpoint. First of all, in Luke 1:28 Mary is saluted by the angel as “full of grace.” This phrase, “full of grace” was addressed to Mary as a title or a name, something that is applied her exclusively. So what does this term full of grace mean exactly? Essentially, grace is the opposite of sin (Eph 2:8, Romans 3:24, Titus 2:11, Romans 5:17, Romans 6:14) since grace is God’s life while sin deprives us of this life. Consequently, one who is “full of grace” would be full of God’s life and have no room for sin. Hence, Mary who is full of grace is also sinless.
            The beginning pages of the Scripture also have something to say about Mary’s being sinless. After Adam and Eve had sinned God punishes them but in the same breath promises redemption, brought about by a woman. The words in Genesis read “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers (Genesis 3:15).” The verse goes on to state that the woman’s offspring will crush the serpent’s head. Since the Person who crushes Satan is Jesus Christ, that would make Mary the woman, since Jesus is her offspring. Now, one should ask, how can there be enmity between the woman Mary and the serpent if Mary is sinful, since “he who does what is sinful is of the devil” (1 John 3:8). There obviously cannot be enmity between Mary and the devil if Mary belongs to the devil through sin. Consequently, Mary must be without sin.
But, you object, doesn’t this idea of Mary’s sinlessness prevent Jesus from being her Savior? Actually, Jesus saves Mary just as much as he saves anyone else. In fact, the Immaculate Conception, Mary being born without sin, is one of the greatest acts of God. For saving a person from sin takes as great of an act of God’s grace as later forgiving a person after he’s sinned. Remember, this state of a person being created in the state of grace isn’t unique to Mary, both Adam and Eve were created without sin. Further, there is the example of a person falling into a pit and being saved by another man. But for a moment imagine that the man saw the pit the person was walking towards and warned him ahead of him. The man saved the person either way, once by pulling him out of the pit and once by foresight. It is the same with Christ. Whether a person is saved after incurring sin or before he or she is still saved by Christ. Pope Pius IX explained Mary’s Immaculate Conception in this way “the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.” (Pius IX Inneffabilis Deus, 1854 emphasis added) Therefore, Mary was only saved because of Christ, not without His saving merits.
            In essence, Mary as the Immaculate Conception is a Biblical concept solemnly proclaimed by the pope as an infallible dogma. From the first pages of Genesis to the beginning of Luke, Mary is seen as a person set aside by God for the privilege of bearing the Son of God, a privilege that warranted Mary being Immaculately Conceived without sin. Mary is the woman at enmity with the devil, the one full of grace whose offspring forever crushes the serpent. In conclusion, the Immaculate Conception is a Biblically based fact that shows forth God’s great mercy, power and love.

Catechism quote of the month
Mary's divine motherhood
Catechism of the Catholic Church 495 Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus", Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord".144 In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).145

Book of the month-Hail, Holy Queen By Scott Hahn

Hail, Holy Queen is a fantastic book by Scott Hahn that clearly elucidates various Marian beliefs such as the Immaculate Conception, Mary as the Mother of God, her perpetual virginity and the concept of honoring Mary. Dr. Hahn backs traditional Catholic beliefs with solid Biblical evidence to create an excellent basis for Catholic devotion to Mary. A book you can easily understand and enjoy reading! Hail, Holy Queen is a terrific way to start, expand or deepen your knowledge of Mary.
Available from the Coming Home Network for 19.95.

Novena of the month
Annunciation Novena
I greet you, Ever-blessed Virgin, Mother of God, Throne of Grace, miracle of Almighty Power! I greet you, Sanctuary of the Most Holy Trinity and Queen of the Universe, Mother of Mercy and refuge of sinners!

Most loving Mother, attracted by your beauty and sweetness, and by your tender compassion, I confidently turn to you, miserable as I am, and beg of you to obtain for me from your dear Son the favor I request in this novena:

(mention your request).

Obtain for me also, Queen of heaven, the most lively contrition for my many sins and the grace to imitate closely those virtues which you practiced so faithfully, especially humility, purity and obedience. Above all, I beg you to be my Mother and Protectress, to receive me into the number of your devoted children, and to guide me from your high throne of glory.

Do not reject my petitions, Mother of Mercy! Have pity on me, and do not abandon me during life or at the moment of my death. Amen.

Mary, Did You Know?
Test your knowledge about Mary.

At what Church Council was Mary proclaimed Mother of God?
What two doctrines about Mary did have been proclaimed infallibly?
By what title did the angel Gabriel call Mary?
Where did Mary request that Jesus perform his first miracle?
What was Mary’s cousin’s name, the woman who bore the last prophet?
What is the most widespread private devotion to Mary?
What are Mary’s last words in Scripture?

Ephesus. 2. The Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. 3. Full of grace 4. At the wedding in Cana. 5. Elizabeth 6. The rosary 7. “Do whatever He tells you.”