Home › Forums › All Things Catholic › seems a lot like prasing and worshipping Mary if you ask me.
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April 17, 2009 at 3:17 am #1896AnonymousInactive
i have heard a catholic song in which it has the lyrics
“Hail Holy Queen enthroned above”
“Hail Mother of Mercy and of Love”she is not the mother of mercy. Mary cannot show you mercy only Jesus can.
any thoughts?
April 17, 2009 at 5:37 am #9294AnonymousInactiveWe all have the ability to show mercy. However here we are talking about someone who is not longer here on earth, but in heaven. (I assume that we agree she is in heaven, as there was no comment on the discussion of the state of the dead.)
The wedding at Cana is probably the best way to show how Mary was the mediatrix of man or the mediatrix of all grace, as the Catholic Church believes. The Scriptures say,
[quote:y1wg4lb0]”On the third day there was a wedding in Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.” (John 2:1)[/quote:y1wg4lb0]
One could be confused how John would first mention Mary rather than Jesus. It is because he wanted to show what this woman is like. She does not want to be honored alone, but wants to give Jesus to the world as she first did in Bethlehem. So we read,[quote:y1wg4lb0]”When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.'” (John 2:3)[/quote:y1wg4lb0]
We see that no one knew that they ran out of wine, but Mary knew. She knows man’s needs before we tell her. And so she says a little prayer to Jesus, “They have no wine.” This signifies the wine that Jesus will give them at the Last Supper. When she said they have no wine, Mary is saying,“This is it. It has been a long time that we were together. It is their time now to have you. They need bread that comes from above and a drink that will give them eternal life. They need to be freed from their sins by your blood. They have nothing to eat or drink. You need to give them yourself so that they will have something to eat and drink. Your flesh is true food and your blood is true drink, so you need to give them what they need.”
Jesus responds by saying [quote:y1wg4lb0]”Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come” (John 3:4).[/quote:y1wg4lb0]
In other words, He said,“Mother, do you know what you are doing? You are giving me to the world. Do you not know that when I suffer, you will suffer as well? Do you not remember what Simeon has told you that a sword will pierce your heart? If I do this, this means that you will not be called the mother of Jesus anymore, but Woman. I am calling you what I have called Eve: you will be the mother of all those living in Me. When you receive this title, you will have to (painfully) redeem the world with me and that you will bring me many souls. Those souls are the sword that Simeon has told you about. This means that whoever my brother or sister is, they are your sons and daughters. Are you sure you want me to do this?”
Mary gives her second fiat. [i:y1wg4lb0][b:y1wg4lb0]”Do whatever He tells you.”[/b:y1wg4lb0][/i:y1wg4lb0] We know in John’s Gospel, the main point of the story is to believe in Jesus.
[quote:y1wg4lb0]”But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31)[/quote:y1wg4lb0]
So Jesus does make the miracle Mary has asked Him to do. And we see after they saw the miracle,[i:y1wg4lb0][b:y1wg4lb0]”Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.”[/b:y1wg4lb0][/i:y1wg4lb0]
We see that they believed in him because He did the miracle. Who made them do this miracle? Mary did. This is why she has been called the Mediatrix. She is the Mediatrix because she made Jesus do the first miracle in order for them to believe. If she didn’t, this means that the disciples would not believe in Him. We also see that her role will be as a mother. She will guide many to Jesus. Jesus is the mediator of God and man, and Mary is the mediator of Jesus and man (in fact we all act as little co-mediators, co-workers with God, cf. 1 Tim 2:1-8; 1 Cor 3:9). Her role in the redemption will be a painful one because we know that Jesus is one who suffers.
Saint Paul teaches us that “there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:5). Mary’s participation in salvation history as Mother of Christ and Mother of Christians does not diminish the unique mediation of Christ; rather, it points to Christ’s unique mediation and reveals its power
For the first thirteen centuries of the Church, the influence of Mary in art, in architecture, in books, has been obvious. The great cathedrals in Europe, such as Notre Dame in Paris, the great works of art by Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci, the great writings by St. Thomas on the role of Mary, all of these stem from the inspiration and leadership that came from the mother of the Church.
From the Annunciation to the Crucifixion of her Son, Mary can be seen as God’s ultimate validation of free will. The Virgin Mary’s obedience to the will of God as conveyed to her in the angel Gabriel’s message was no less voluntary in its affirmation than the disobedience of the virgin Eve had been in its negation. In the 2nd century St. Irenaeus the Bishop of Lyon and a second generation disciple from the Apostle John wrote: “…so also Mary, betrothed to a man but nevertheless still a virgin, being obedient, was made the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. […]. Thus, the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith.” Against Heresies, 3.22.4, Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons.
Mary, as the first human to kiss the face of God and the first to believe in Jesus as her Savior, took her place in Salvation History as the first Christian. She is also the one disciple of Jesus who didn’t flee or doubt when all the others fled and doubted, but who stayed and accepted to the very end the burden of being under the Cross. Down through the ages the weeping Mary of the Cross witnessing her son’s torture and death stands in solidarity with all believers who also suffer and live under the shadow of the Cross.
Mary’s true mission in the past and in the present is to lead us in obedience and faithfulness by her example to her Son, Christ Jesus. It is important to understand that Mary’s motherly mediation in no way adds or takes away from her Son’s unique mediation as the risen Lord in glory. Her true glory is ever to be entirely transparent to His and to lead us by her motherly love and compassion to her beloved Son and Savior.
On the altar of the Cross our Lord gave His Mother to the Apostle John and through him to the whole Church. When Scripture tells us from that hour the disciple took her into his home [John 19:27] our understanding is that John became not only the representative of the Church but also a representative of the whole human race. Therefore, the Virgin Mary becomes mankind’s spiritual mother calling all men, as she did the servants at the wedding in the Gospel of John 2:5, to do whatever He tells you. The wedding at Cana was the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and it was also the beginning of Mary’s role as intercessor for the human family.
April 18, 2009 at 4:40 pm #9298AnonymousInactivehttp://www.firstthings.com/article.php3 … irgin+mary
Baptist Minister rethinks the Evangelical opposition to Catholic Veneration of Mary
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