catholic answers forum 4 dummies

CarbonCrux · #1 Today, 10:39 am

Hello, thanks for taking the time to read my (admittedly strange) question.

I was just curious why Mary would receive the benefit of being 'without sin,' and not the rest of us. Of course, I know that she was chosen to be the special vessel of Jesus, but this seems like human favoritism rather than the act of a all-loving creator (Mary only received the 'benefit' of being without sin because this would, in turn, 'benefit' the Son of God.)

I'm not just speaking here of the lack of original sin, but also the lack of committed sins. As a creature with free will, Mary had the ability to sin, but had the will power to avoid temptation and a disposition toward the good which, I think, we all would like. Clearly, free will is a great blessing, but why did God equip Mary, and not the rest of us, with the 'control's to use it solely for the good?

simpleas · #2 Today, 11:29 am

I was thinking the same thing lately, wasn't sure how to ask the question!
Was going to ask if all human's from Adam are born with sin, how could Mary be without sin?

R_C · #3 Today, 11:52 am

Our Lady was to be the mother of Christ, thus the mother of the New Creation and by divine right the Queen Mother of all Creation. It was proper that, just as the Ark of the Covenant was of pure gold and incorruptible wood, so the living Ark of the New Covenant was to be pure and incorruptible. Her special privilege was granted to her because the living God foresaw that she would willingly assent to collaborate in God's redemptive plan, therefore He preserved her in such way that at her conception she did not bear the stain of the original sin.

This was foreseen in Scripture. Here you can see a series of citations (although books have been written on this topic, such as "Hail Holy Queen: the Mother of God in the Word of God" by Scott Hahn.

Consider Psalm 45:

Quote:

Daughters of kings are among your honored women;
at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

The bride, a princess, looks glorious in her golden gown. In embroidered garments she is presented to the king.

In embroidered garments she is led to the king; her virgin companions follow her-- those brought to be with her.

What a joyful and enthusiastic procession as they enter the king's palace!

In place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth.

I will perpetuate your memory through all generations; therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

Consider this part of the Canticle of Canticles:

Quote:

You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no stain in you.

You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes.

A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a spring locked, a fountain sealed.

There are [...] virgins without number.
My dove, my perfect one, is the only one,
the only one of her mother,
pure to her who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed;

“Who is this who looks down like the dawn,
beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun,
majestic as the stars in procession?

Consider how greatly does the prophet Micah honor her, as he binds the coming of the Messiah to her own Immaculate Conception:

Quote:

The ruler in Israel will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne.

Consider what the Church Fathers spoke about her!

Quote:

"In the same way that Eve was married to Adam and yet was still a virgin [...] n the same way then that Eve, by disobeying, became the cause of death for herself and for all of humankind, likewise Mary, having for husband a man who had been destined for her in advance, and yet was still a Virgin, became, by her obedience, cause of salvation (cf. Heb 5:9) for herself and for all of humankind.

How will men depose the mortal birth, if not through a new birth, given against all hope by God as a sign of salvation, which took place in the womb of the Virgin, to regenerate them by the means of faith?

Why did the Divine Word not want to take flesh in Mary's womb before obtaining her consent through the angel? It's because He wanted the whole world to be indebted to Mary for the mystery of the Incarnation and recognize in her the beginning of all good. "
Iraeneus of Lyons

You speak in an interesting way when you say the following:

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarbonCrux

this seems like human favoritism rather than the act of a all-loving creator [...]why did God equip Mary, and not the rest of us

Did you not read the Parable of the Workers in Mt 20:1-16? What did the Lord reply to those who thought they were entitled to receive more?

Quote:

Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own wealth? Or are you envious because I am generous?

And did you not know that it is written:

Quote:

He gives to His beloved in their sleep

Quote:

Jesus went up on a mountainside
and called to him those he wanted,
and they came to him.

Quote:

What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses,

I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. [...]

One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?”

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

Bow your head before the perfection of the Holy Virgin Mother and know that by the grace of Christ and by perserverance in cooperation with Him, by forgetting self and bearing our cross, we too shall one day sit before the throne of the Lamb, not "at his left and right", but we will still behold His glory.

maryj · #4 Today, 11:55 am

Would you imagine that the devil was watching and laying in wait for the woman that was promised would crush his head and was to bare the Redeemer? That our Triune God knew this and that to not only protect her but to protect all of mankind she was conceived and born without the stain of sin, which makes the rest of us fallen in nature? I would imagine that our Blessed Mother endured many attacks by those who wondered why she was so Holy, why she was chosen instead of them. Thank you most merciful Lord for the gift of our Mother!!

http://www.ecatholic2000.com/agreda/...__Toc338962828

R_C · #5 Today, 12:06 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by simpleas

if all humans from Adam are born with sin, how could Mary be without sin?

The Holy Father Pius IX teaches us from the Chair of Peter:

Quote:

the Blessed Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from every stain of original sin

The Sacred Council of Trent echoed his words stating:

Quote:

Granted "by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God", this preservation from original sin is an absolutely gratuitous divine favour, which Mary received at the first moment of her existence.

And the Holy Father Pius XII clarified:

Quote:

the very singular privilege...was never granted to another person

We often forget what original sin actually is: it means that we are born without sanctifying grace, which is given to us for the first time in Baptism.

What is this singular privilege, then? As Catholic Encyclopedia summarizes,

Quote:

Our Lady was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin at the first moment of her animation, when her soul was created and infused into the body, and sanctifying grace was given to her before sin could have taken effect in her soul.

The formal active essence of original sin was not removed from her soul, as it is removed from others by baptism; it was excluded, it never was in her soul. Simultaneously with the exclusion of sin. The state of original sanctity, innocence, and justice, as opposed to original sin, was conferred upon her, by which gift every stain and fault, all depraved emotions, passions, and debilities, essentially pertaining to original sin, were excluded. But she was not made exempt from the temporal penalties of Adam — from sorrow, bodily infirmities, and death.

The immunity from original sin was given to Mary by a singular exemption from a universal law through the same merits of Christ, by which other men are cleansed from sin by baptism. Mary needed the redeeming Saviour to obtain this exemption, and to be delivered from the universal necessity and debt of being subject to original sin. The person of Mary, in consequence of her origin from Adam, should have been subject to sin, but, being the new Eve who was to be the mother of the new Adam, she was, by the eternal counsel of God and by the merits of Christ, withdrawn from the general law of original sin. Her redemption was the very masterpiece of Christ's redeeming wisdom.

We can therefore echo with our Lord: "in the beginning it was not so". Our Lady, the New Eve, was human just like Eve was, the perfect firstfruit of the new creation. Thus Revelation speaks of the Woman who gave birth to the Son who is to rule all the nations, and then speaks of the Woman's offspring, "those who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" - the New Creation of which St. Paul speaks:

Quote:

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—

these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

He has let us know the mystery of his purpose, according to his good pleasure which he determined beforehand in Christ, for him to act upon when the times had run their course: that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything in the heavens and everything on earth.

Quote:

Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of one bread.

For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

And he is the head of the body, the church.

Therefore, if we are in Him, then we are all children of Our Lady, and as the Spirit moves us to call to the Father "Abba'", the same Spirit moves us to call Our Lady "Mother", just like the Messianic words of the psalm:

Quote:

O Lord, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your handmaid.

I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.

catholic answers forum 4 dummies

Thursday, August 29, 2013

working4christ2 working4christ-- Why Didn't God Create Us All Like Mary?