raison d’etre

20 years back while while on retreat, I chanced upon a small “out of the way” room hoping for a few minutes of private solitude between talks. The room had a small altar with a few chairs. After about twenty minutes, an elderly woman comes in and begins setting the altar for liturgy. She struggles to light the tall paschal candle. A few minutes later, an old curmudgeon looking priest walks in and takes his turn struggling with the same candle. I am taller, so I offer my assistance. After struggling myself, the old priest utters, “Don’t worry about it, it’s not required for salvation.” I return to my chair and the three of us join in liturgical worship.

To this day, the saying “Don’t worry about it, it’s not required for salvation,”continues to echo and shape my spiritual journey especially when discerning matters of faith. Even more so when I hear debates between different faith traditions. Religious debates seldom focus on what is truly required for salvation.

Recently, I was reminded when asked by a young Catholic man whose Protestant friend critique the Catholic faith, particularly regarding Jesus’ mother. I promised the young man that I would do a little research and follow up with a few thoughts.

To begin, there are many others who hold a far deeper devotion to the mother of Jesus than I.  My devotion (not worship) to Jesus’ mother can be understood in the graceful words of the Hail Mary prayer which is formed explicitly from Luke’s gospel. And the other is to entrust the spiritual care of my own children and grandchildren to Jesus’ own mother.

I am not a biblical scholar or theologian. Nor do I consider myself an apologist rather I depend on Jesus and His gospel to defend me. I am simply walking a spiritual path, just like any one else, searching for God’s Truth and Will for my life.

I was doubly motivated to write this blog since the call from the young man inquiring about Mary’s Immaculate Conception came just a few weeks after completing a wood carving of the iconic image of Jesus’ mother. It is one of those “holy coincidences,” or moments of Grace, I believe.

Dogma is developed not strictly by explicit biblical reference but also by implicit biblical references – both literal and holistically. The “dogma” of the Immaculate Conception is supported with multiple Old Testament typologies that point to New Testament affirmations.

I will touch on a rough schematic of thought. Therefore, do not take my word, …. instead, go directly to the bible, or to the online Catechism of the Catholic Church at http://ccc.usccb.org/flipbooks/catechism/index.html#I which defines biblical support for all its its teachings.

The way to think about the Immaculate Conception is that the Mother of Jesus was redeemed from the moment of her conception. This is based on God’s predestination of Mary to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word.

Predestination is God’s gratuitous “fore-choice” of creatures for salvation. Mary was not the only human creature predestined as St. Paul speaks in (Eph 1:3-6) and St. John speaks in his first letter (1 Jn 4:10).

Many scholars and theologians consider Genesis 3:15 as OT typology revealing the Father’s fore-love of Mary and her unique role in salvation history of being chosen for the eventual birthing of the Redeemer. Luke 1:26-38, is a primary New Testament affirmation of  this “favor with God” and then another in Revelation 12.

When taking a biblical account of Mary’s presence and role through the Annunciation, Nativity, Presentation in the Temple, intercessory role at Cana, Crucifixion, and Pentecost is it not within human reason to consider – that the mother of our Savior “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role?

Devotion to Mary is not listed in the Ten Commandments, nor do we find any mention of it in the Beattitudes, but ponder this thought;

“Anyone who is spiritually united to Jesus through baptism and filial adoption has also, in a particular way, received the Mother of Jesus as his or her own spiritual mother. This mother offers an immaculate human model of Christian discipleship to Jesus for the entire People of God, and at the same time intercedes as a mother in the order of grace for her Son’s disciples who seek to respond to the Lord’s invitation to Christian holiness with their own personal fiat of faith.”  (M. Miravalle)

Even if one relies solely on a strict literal biblical interpretation,  Mary’s role in salvation history is unique.

I’ve never considered devotion to Jesus’ mother “required for salvation,” but if one’s devotion to Mary guides that person to a deeper reality of her Son, …as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, …so be it.

We all have to find our own return to God.

The featured image includes my recent wood carving of Jesus’ Mother. Take note of her hands and to what she is presenting to you.

ps. feel free to comment