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Brother Anonymous,
Whether we are talking about Mary, any of the Saints, or indeed the Church
Herself, all Catholic doctrine stems from the way the Church answers Christ's
question to Peter:
- Who do you say that I am?
Let's start by looking at 1 Timothy 2:5:
For there is one God an one mediator between God and Man, the Man
Christ Jesus.
Protestants often point to this text as a proof text which excludes any
possibility of the intercession of Saints, in particularly Mary but, in
fact, the verse says quite the opposite.
Notice that Paul's emphasis on the humanity of Christ in this verse. He
doesn't simply say the one mediator Christ Jesus. No, Paul says the Man Christ Jesus. This emphasis makes it clear that it is, in
and through the Incarnation, that man has access to grace, but there
is more to this.
The Incarnation, itself, is an indication that God desired
man to participate in his own redemption.
- It was through the sin of the
first Adam (man) that sin and death entered the world, and
- it is through
the Second Adam (the Man, Christ Jesus, or Son of
Man) that we have been redeemed.
Now, it is by faith and Baptism that we are incorporated
into the Body of Christ thus we are all seated in Heavenly
places with Christ Jesus. We have become members of One
Body, the family of God, which is in Heaven and on Earth.
As members of the Body, we therefore become members of
the Man Christ Jesus and participate in various ways in
the redemptive work and mediation of the Man, Christ Jesus. Again,
Paul writes to the Corinthians, "we are co-laborers with
Christ for the sake of the Gospel." (1 Corinthians 3:9)
Using a business model, we become the distribution network.
Therefore every time you as a Pastor are faithful
to preach the Gospel, you become a mediator of grace, hence
you become a co-mediator. You work, with Christ, to redeem
souls, hence you become a co-redeemer.
Mary played a unique role in our salvation. If Christ
is all Grace, then Mary became the Mediatrix of all Grace
by bringing Him into the world.
- Have you ever thought that just as God gave His
Son for our Salvation, Mary also gave her son, in the same way?
Oh, she might not have known all the details of His sufferings
when she said to the Angel:
Let it be done to me according
to your word. (Luke 1:38)
but she knew He would be the Savior. As a good Jewish
girl, who could offer such a beautiful and doctrinal
rich prayer as the Magnificat (My soul magnifies the Lord..) Luke 1:46-56, odds are Mary was
well acquainted with the Scriptures. She would have known of Isaiah 53 and the other prophecies about the Messiah's sufferings and yet, she,
a simple Jewish girl, agreed to give her Son for the sake of the world.
In doing so, she also became a cause of our
Salvation. Just as Paul compares Jesus to Adam, so the
early Church Fathers compared Mary to Eve. In effect, Mary's Yes to God undid Eve's No.
So Mary then becomes an Icon of the Church. A model of what we should
be as believers. As she is the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus, she
becomes our mother as well. Surely as the Church is the Body of Christ,
and Jesus dwells in our hearts, it follows that she becomes mother of the
Church and mother to all Christians.
All that said and done, she is still a human being. She is not part
of the God head and we don't worship her.
Again, if we want to use the business model as a tool:
- Christ is the CEO of the Church
- the rest of us are the
sales and customer service departments.
- Mary, then
becomes the head of Sales.
Most importantly, Marian devotion is meant to bring us closer to Christ.
Her words to us are the same as they were to the servants at the Wedding
at Cana:
Do whatever He tells you to do. (John 2:5)
She is not an alternative
route to the Father nor is she a free agent. Her will is united to will
of Her Son. That is why her intercession is so powerful. Did not Jesus
say,
Ask according to My Will, in My Name, and it shall be
granted?
(Matthew
7:7-8)
That is why we ask her intercession.
The Catholic approach is that a personal relationship with Christ
entails personal relationship with the rest of the Body of Christ.
You
can't separated Christ from His Body or It's members. Christ taught us
to pray Our Father not My Father. As Catholics,
we don't ever pray alone.
We believe our prayers are upheld as bowls of
incense to the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, by the Saints
in Heaven. (See Revelation 5:8). When we worship, we enter into the Divine Liturgy taking place in Heaven. (See Revelation 4-5 and Hebrews 12).
It's not just about me, Jesus and my Bible. An eye cannot
say to ear, "I don't need you"; nor can the
hand say likewise to the foot.
When you begin to look at Mary and the Saints in Heaven
as simply a part of Church, each with particular roles,
then there is no risk of idolatry.
It's no different than someone coming to you at an Altar Call
and asking you to agree in prayer with them, whether it be for forgiveness,
healing, or what not.
They are not worshiping you, Rev. Anonymous. They are
asking for prayer and they recognize and honor the office
to which God has called you.
I hope this helps.
Stay in touch brother, and best wishes for a Sacred Advent and Christmas.
Under His Mercy,
John DiMascio
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