In today’s Religious annotation, I’ll be discussing the Blessed Virgin Mary – the Mother of God. There are many Christians today who don’t regard the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of God.
Some fundamentalists and most Protestants think Catholics worship Mary – this not so! This is nothing more than a misconception and many Protestant Ministers and preachers spread this false information in their sermons. Prior to my conversion I found, not only do they preach to their congregation against the true church founded by Christ, they tell them that we worship Mary!
I do not worship Mary and I have never met another Catholic who does! Catholics do not worship the Blessed Mother, however we do venerate Mary! We love her, honour her as the Mother of God and as the Immaculate Conception and give lots of veneration.
There is a big difference between ‘Worship’ and ‘Venerate’ – The definition of ‘venerate’ is to regard with great respect and to give much honour. This is NOT worship! The definition of ‘worship’ is to show great adoration for God! My former Spiritual Director and Mentor, the late Monsignor John Meany did an excellent job of explaining the difference to me.
Using Scripture and explaining Sacred Doctrine, I came to see the light. Dr. Scott Hahn, Speaker, Author and a convert to Catholicism like myself, explains it brilliantly in his books. We worship Jesus Christ (God) every time we attend mass. Worship is not singing songs, playing the piano and clapping hands in a highly spirited fashion; this, my friends is called ‘Praise’!
Indeed we should sing and offer Thanks and Praise to Our Lord, but worship is far much deeper than that. Worship is our offering to God of the Sacrifice of the Mystical Body and Blood of Christ. Every time the priest (as the visible instrument of God) consecrates the bread and wine during Mass, it becomes the Holy Eucharist and we receive the precious Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we are in fact worshipping Almighty God in the very deepest sense of the Word.
We also attend Perpetual Adoration, or prayer, where we adore, kneel, bow and pray before Our Lord. This also is a form of worship. Do you see the difference? Catholics will never offer a sacrifice to Mary. We do not place her on the Altar and we will never worship her as though she were God. Protestants refuse to accept the following 4 doctrines, however I truly believe and accept them all.
• Mary’s Immaculate Conception – she was preserved and exempted from the stain of original sin.
• Mary’s Perpetual Virginity – she remained virgin for her entire life.
• Mary’s Divine maternity – is the Mother of God.
• Mary’s bodily Assumption – she was taken body and soul into heaven.
I pray with Mary daily. I offer her, as my Spiritual Mother, my hopes and aspirations and I ask her to intercede before God on my behalf. Now this is where my mother and I disagree, as I’m Catholic and she’s not. She asked me a question recently and in my response she was finally able to comprehend why Catholics honour Mary – the Mother of God.
Momy had received a call from my friend in Grand Cayman wanting to send her a gift basket. She could not quite understand this gesture from someone she hardly knows. Thinking about it for a moment, I responded that it’s the same relationship Catholics have with the Mother of God. We love Jesus, and we follow Him, so why not show some love and respect for His Mother?
How can I say I love Jesus and know that He’s my Redeemer yet turn my back and not have love in my heart for Mary? My mother was pensive, and I think for the first time it finally got through to her. Just like how my friend loves and respects me, she wants also to respect and get to know my mother better. In loving Jesus you honour Mary – in loving Mary – you glorify her only son Jesus Christ.
God Himself honoured Mary above all other creatures by making her the Mother of His only divine son, Jesus Christ the Redeemer; the second person of the Blessed Trinity – One God. I believe in honoring the Blessed Virgin, the church is following the example of God Himself! We pray the rosary, which is a special devotion/prayer to Mary, but in the Rosary, Jesus Christ is ultimately glorified and honoured because the Rosary is a contemplation of His life.
Some Protestant churches do pray the rosary. Please read Luke1:26-56 for a better understanding. There you’ll read how the Archangel Gabriel shows Mary great respect in his greeting. You’ll also read how Mary’s cousin Elizabeth – the mother of John the Baptist, calls her ‘blessed’ twice in just a few short verses. Note the respect and honour which the older Elizabeth gives to Mary with the words, “and how does this happen to me, that the Mother of My Lord should come to me?”
We call Mary Blessed, and Our Lady said that all ages call her blessed. I’ve studied the book, “Explaining to and Defending the Catholic faith” by Fr. Frank Chacon and Jim Burnham. The following is as a result of research by these two men of God. All Christians believe that Jesus was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, We also believe that although Jesus has two natures, (one divine and one human) He is One Divine Person.
Since Almighty God chose Mary to give Jesus Christ His human nature, and He was born of Mary, she truly is the Mother of the One Divine person: in short she is the Mother of God. If a person denies that Mary is the Mother of God, whether he/she realizes it or not, they are denying the Incarnation (God becoming human or “flesh”).
“The Assumption” is the doctrine that Our Lady was taken body and soul into heaven at the end of her life. The Bible tells us that Elijah and Enoch were assumed into heaven as well. It shouldn’t be difficult to believe that God gave his Mother this priviledge. No city has ever claimed her body. There is no record of her relics or remains anywhere!
“The Immaculate Conception” is another name for Mary. She was born without original sin. Mary’s birth should not be confused with Our Lord’s virgin birth. The Blessed Mary ever virgin was conceived in ‘the normal’ way by the acts of her parents, however, God poured forth special graces at the moment of her conception, and therefore she was conceived without original sin.
The Blessed Virgin Mary was immaculately conceived. Protestants reject this totally! The Perpetual virginity of the Blessed Mother of God. Do not misguided by fiction such as the Davinci Code – I have read the book and it was interesting but not a book that would make me abandon my faith or leave the Holy Catholic Church. Mary remained a virgin for her entire life.
This was believed by the early Church. Mary, the Mother of Jesus did not have any more children. Don’t be confused by the word “brothers’. Remember “brothers’ in the Bible can also mean relatives. Think about this: if Jesus had blood brothers, He would not have entrusted His Mother to crucified Christ, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the wife of Cleopas.
The two so called ‘brothers’ of Jesus, - James and John – are the sons of Mary and Cleopas. Remember back in those days the term “brother” also meant cousin. Even today in some churches, members refer to male members of the church as “Brother” – does that mean he is their actual blood brother? Of course not!
In conclusion, I’ll pray the Hail Mary – which is Scriptural and based on the teachings from the Bible found in Luke:- “Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee! Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
