In response to the title of this blog, Alan Perez wrote the following:
I'm sorry to cut in but there is two thing on this post that totally totally totally totally bugged me. One the praise to a man (obama) is insanity . Two "Mary, the holy mother of God"? since when Mary is holy? God is holy no human being no man or woman are titled to be called holy except for the God man Jesus who is holy..Please open up your bible and tell me where in all 66 books that says mary a "Holy mother". i will recant if you prove me wrong and please do it according to the word of God which is the bible. You dont pray to mary pray to Jesus for he is the one who died for your sins not mary. If Mary even hear people praying to her she'll be in outrage. Also if mary is holy why dont we say the same to king david?. This is why america is not gospel harden is gospel ignorant.
Your first question Alan is "Since when is Mary holy?" Luke 1:28, the angel Gabriel greets Mary saying ""Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" Here we have an angel acknowledging Mary's holiness, for what is being holy if not being full of God's grace? We also, in rightly calling Mary, the mother of God, acknowledge her holiness, for Jesus was born of her womb and God would not let His Son be carried in a vessel that was in any way not pure and filled with His grace.
Your second question I believe is "Where in all 66 books that says Mary a "Holy mother"? The original Catholic bible contains 73 books but I think I can answer your question by referring to the ones common to both our bibles. I don't believe there is a specific place in any book of the bible that refers to Mary as Holy Mother. But then, there is also no place in the bible that says that everything that is to be known about Jesus' life is contained in the bible. Quite the opposite, in fact. John 20:30-31 says,"Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name." And John 21:25 says, "But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written." These verses clearly indicate there are a great many things about Jesus' life not recorded in the Gospels. This is why Catholics adhere also to the sacred Traditions, which have been passed on to us through the Catholic church from the apostles. St Paul writes in 2 Thes 2:15, "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter." Here we have St Paul clearly instructing Timothy to adhere to the sacred traditions and to sacred scripture.
Your third point, Alan, seems to be asking why we pray to Mary?. The answer to that is that we don't pray to Mary. We ask Mary to pray for us. In the same manner that we may ask a friend to pray for us, we also ask Mary, the mother of God, to pray for us. To join with us in prayer to Jesus. In James 5:16 we read "Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects." Who is more righteous than those souls who are now perfectly joined in the body of our Lord Jesus Christ in heaven?
I hope this answers your questions, Alan, about Mary's place in the Catholic faith. If you have any others, please let me know as I will be happy to answer them.
Yours, in Christ,
Dan Hughes
Luke 1:28, the angel Gabriel greets Mary saying ""Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" The "Full of Grace" is a term used of all believers in eph 1:6, where it is translated "Accepted" this portrayed mary as a recipient, not a dispenser,of divine grace.
ReplyDeleteNext one you said this "The original Catholic bible contains 73 books but I think I can answer your question by referring to the ones common to both our bibles. I don't believe there is a specific place in any book of the bible that refers to Mary as Holy Mother". If its not written that mary is holy why did you use Luke 1:28 that you say shes holy which it doesnt say or refer to that she is.
Using an illustration of asking a friend to pray for us is not the same as asking mary, Why dont we also ask Matthew, Paul,Luke, or even john the baptist?...There is only one mediator between God and man is Jesus Christ.
James 5:16 is stating Mutal honesty,openness and sharing of needs will enable believers to uphold each other in spiritual struggles. Where in that verse that says mary on it?
All I know that since I was a catholic you ask mary because catholics theology sees Jesus as a person who is hard to talk to who is full of anger that talking to mary who is his earthly mother of his would calm him down and listen to our prayer..This bad theology is what made Martin Luther and rest of the reformers changed the whole christianity back to its root..
Mary is not holy, she was choosen same as the disciples and apostles were.
Soli Deo Gloria
-Alan
Thanks for reading my reply, Alan. Please let me respond to your comments.
ReplyDeleteIf you reread what I wrote, you won't find anywhere where I implied Mary was a dispenser of grace. She was "full of grace", that divine grace being a gift to her from God and acknowledged by the angel Gabriel.
As to your next point, where I also acknowledged that it wasn't written that Mary is referred to as Holy Mother in scripture, you may have missed the point John was making when he stated that everything about Jesus life was not written down. Can you find anywhere in the bible where it states that you must believe only those things written in the bible?
I'm curious, what difference do you see in asking Mary to pray for us as opposed to a friend? In fact, to your next comment, we do ask the saints (Mathew, Paul, Luke, John the baptist and all the others)to pray for us, in addition to Mary!I know I can use all the prayers I can get! I think that we also need to make a distinction between mediation and asking for prayers. We don't ask Mary or any of the saints to mediate for us to God. Merely to pray for us.
Your last point is troubling: "All I know that since I was a catholic you ask mary because catholics theology sees Jesus as a person who is hard to talk to who is full of anger that talking to mary who is his earthly mother of his would calm him down and listen to our prayer." There is nowhere in Catholic theology, now or ever, that teaches us Jesus is full of anger and that Mary calms Him down. I don't know who told you that but they were very, very wrong! We believe, as you do, Alan, that Jesus is a being of infinite Love and Mercy and Justice and wants all of His children to join Him in Eternal life. He is most certainly not full of anger.