In this blog, I respond to a comment I received on a recent blog I wrote titled: The Parable of the Granadilla vine. The title of this blog is a question or remark Catholics are commonly confronted with by fellow Christians from other denominations. The anonymous comment highlighted some questions and statements about what Christianity truly embodies. I welcome such questions as an important opportunity to clear misconceptions.
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| "Look upon the rainbow, and praise him who made it..." (Sirach 43:11), 1 December 2020 |
I would like to pull out three broad themes mentioned in responding to the comment:
(1) "Nowhere in the Bible does it say we must pray to Mother Mary to intercede for us or pray to the Saints?"
The comment mentioned a specific sequence the Bible "should" be read in, as an adequate guide and manual. I would like to use this sequence of books to indicate where the idea of intercession or the concept of mediation of Mary and the Saints is derived.
At the wedding in Cana, the young couple who were married ran out of wine for their guests. At this time, wedding feasts would last about a week as families travelled long distances to attend the banquet. The likelihood of running out of provisions was very real, and in this case, the couple had no more wine to provide. The couple was Mary's relatives, and she wanted to save them embarrassment. So she asks her son, Jesus (the Son of God), to perform his first miracle of changing water into wine. She says, "Do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5). What Mary simply asks on behalf of the young couple to Jesus, He does without failure!
About three years after this first miracle at the wedding, Jesus now hung broken, bruised, and heavily crucified upon the wood of a cross covered in blood, sweat, and tears. All the disciples had disowned him like we so often do through our thoughtless actions. However, there at the foot of the cross stood John and Mary. I can't imagine any mother standing by watching her son take whippings, beatings, torture, and does not protest.
Mary stood there silently, understanding why this needed to happen, and this is because she is no ordinary woman. After all, she is the woman who bore the Son of God for nine months. As Elizabeth said so beautifully, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." (Luke 1:42). It is the very words of scripture that speak so highly of Mary.
Back to the foot of the cross, in the final few words of Jesus, he leaves us before dying, he exclaims: "… "Woman, behold your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!"" (John 19:26-27). The scene is not to be taken lightly, and this takes us back to the garden of Eden, where the old Adam and Eve introduced sin into the world. Now, Jesus tells us that he is the new Adam and his mother the new Eve, "'The first Adam became a living soul,' the last Adam became a life-giving spirit." (1 Corinthians 15:45). First Eve was made from the flesh of the first Adam, but new Adam (Jesus) came from the flesh of new Eve (Mary). Mary is not any woman. She perfects creation and restores the ability to see as God intended for all man before sin entered the world.
Terminology is essential, and understanding what it means to intercede goes a long way. When we say Mary or a Saint intercedes for us, we refer to the idea that they mediate. In other words, Mary or a Saint acts as an intermediary between God and us. Paul explains in the letter to Romans: "… because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." (Romans 8:27).
Again, we do not pray to human idols. We simply ask exceptional Christian role models to help us pray. Through the action, power, and will of the Holy Spirit, this prayer is made to God (in the same way Mary conceived through the action of the Holy Spirit). Suppose we believe as Christians that life does not end at death. Why would we stop believing that Christians in heaven are no longer part of the body of the Church? Why do we think they are no longer willing to help us here on earth? At the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain “… there appeared to them Eli’jah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus.” (Mark 9:4). Our brothers and sisters who have made it to heaven can speak more directly to God (who is accessible to them differently from us down here).
(2) "Christianity is not a religion. God is not religious, humans created religion."
Religion is simply an umbrella term that defines the belief or worship of a personal God or gods. We use religion to describe whether we are a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or Buddhist.
"If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:26-27).
However, the scriptures are clear that narrowing the Christian faith down to a religion of the Bible limits the faith. Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, which is not a written and mute word, but the Word made flesh and living (CCC, 108).
Jesus Christ grew up in a Jewish family, visited the temple, and understood and practiced Judaism. If he is the Son of God, I am not sure we can say that God is not religious. Although, Jesus came to fulfill the prophets and make Judaism whole by glorifying his Father and introducing Christianity. Till today, Christians believe in the same commandments as the Jews. Yet, Jesus came to set straight the greatest of all commandments. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind … and you shall love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22 36:39). When we prescribe that the practice of Christianity must be followed "the right way by reading only scripture in a particular order," are we not limiting our faith? Our faith is ultimately a personal relationship with God inspired by the Word of God in scripture and the practice of traditions handed down over the two millennia by the first disciples to Christian brothers and sisters.
(3) "Jesus wants us to be born again in his spirit you are forgiven."
It is correct that Jesus has redeemed us from sin by enduring the suffering of the cross. Indeed, that guarantees us a path to heaven to rest eternally with God. However, we are still stained by original sin. Jesus calls us to pick up our cross and endure suffering out of love. St. Paul explains that when one Christian sins and offends another Christian, they hurt that person and the whole body of Christians. He concludes, "Any one whom you forgive, I also forgive. What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, to keep satan from gaining advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his designs." (2 Corinthians 2:10-11)
I wish to emphasise that forgiveness is an ongoing process and has not been fixed once and for all. If it were the case, we would have no counterargument to why God would allow bad things to happen in the world. God still respects our freedom to choose and is not a dictator that demands we are obedient to him. If Jesus encouraged Peter, "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Mark 14:38), then we need to realise that we are saved from the fires of hell through baptism in the Spirit. However, we still need to endure the daily struggle of life and carry our own cross.
We are still sinners, and we will fall. At every Mass, Catholics unite struggles and offerings to Our Lord on the altar. Thereby reenacting the passion of our Lord to be purified and offered to God the Father. "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:17) On the other hand, going to confess your sins before God is a way of purifying your soul through the workings of the Holy Spirit. "… 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiah 31:34)
As the blog comes to a conclusion, I think it may spark further underlying thoughts and questions. Broadly who instituted the Church and priests? Where do we get the Sacraments from? Where does forgiveness really come from and why do Catholics go to confession? Most importantly who instituted the Eucharist and why is it the summit of our belief? I think to respond adequately I will need to follow up this blog post with a response to these common themes.
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