RCIA: Mary, Mother of God - Handout What Catholics Believe about Mary? o Catholics do not worship Mary. We pray to her as an as an intercessor similar to how we would ask someone else to pray for us. o Catholics are not required to pray to Mary, but many people consider her an advocate for them to bring them closer to Jesus. My Soul Magnifies the Lord. Lk 1:45 o The Rosary is not a prayer to Mary, but a prayer reflecting on Jesus Life. It should bring us closer to Jesus her son. o Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus and remained a virgin throughout her life.( Mt. 1:18, 1:34-35, 3:23, Isaiah 7:14) o Catholics believe that Mary was Immaculately Conceived. o Catholics believe that Mary s Body and Soul was Assumed into heaven. Mary Who is She? Mother of God New Eve Ark of the Covenant Queen Mother Blessed Virgin Mary Our Lady First and Greatest of the Saints Of Her Was Born... There, she is introduced as Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. (Mt 1:16) To understand what Matthew tells us with those words, we have to read them in context. They conclude a genealogy that Matthew has primarily presented to demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Mt 1:1) Matthew effectively positions Mary at the center of Israel s history. Read Matthew 1:18-25 (Isaiah 7:14: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel ) Matthew s reference to Mary as the virgin prophesied by Isaiah places her at the center of God s saving plan for Israel and the world.
The Lord Is With You Luke 1:26-56 Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you! Hail - used to begin prophecies about the promised Messiah OT example, in both Joel 2:23-24 and Zechariah 9:9. Compare that to what we see in Zephaniah 3: o Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion... The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst...do not fear, O Zion...the Lord, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory. o Hail Mary Prayer is composed of verses from Luke 1 Magnificat Luke 46-55 It closely resembles the Song of Hannah in 1 Samuel Mary is proclaiming the greatness of God. She is expressing her humility, her thanks, her love for God. She totally gives of herself to the will of God. Luke does more than connect Jesus with the other miraculous births of salvation history. He demonstrates that Jesus is the last and greatest of these births Typology: Important for understanding the scriptural references of Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant, The New Eve, and the Queen Mother. Typology connects the persons, places, and events of the Old Testament to the persons, places, and events of the New Testament It studies how God s work in the Old Covenant prefigured what He accomplished through Christ in the New Covenant. (CCC 128) Examples: Jesus / Jonah (Mt 12:39-40), Isaac/Jesus, Temple/ Jesus (Jn 2:19) The Wedding of Cana / In the Beginning (John 2: 1-11 / John Chap 1) On the third day. In the beginning... (Jn 1:1, Gen 1:1) of Genesis describe God creating light and separating it from darkness, so John s first verses describe Jesus as a light shining in the darkness. (Gen 1:4, 17-18; Jn 1:5) the Spirit hovering above the waters of baptism. (Gen 1:2; Jn 1:32-33) John is using this seven-day structure is to show us that the coming of Jesus into the world marks a new creation. John wants us to see Mary as a New Eve and Jesus as a New Adam through typology of the Genesis story of creation. The coming of Jesus marks a New Creation As Adam names Eve Woman, Jesus also calls Mary Woman. This is one way he shows us that he wants us to see Mary as a New Eve. John only refers to Mary as Woman in his Gospel and in the book of Revelation Mary fulfills this role as our mother in the family of God. She is there for us to bring us closer to Christ.
Mary The Ark of the Covenant Some of what Luke has to say about Mary is conveyed in less obvious ways by means of parallels in typological words and images. Lukes wants us to see Mary as the Ark. The Ark of the Covenant was the sign of God s real presence and a sign of the messiah. its reappearance would signify the time that Jeremiah had prophesied about. It would be the time when God would gather, his people together again and shows his mercy. (2 Macc 2:6-8) Parallels of references to the Ark and Mary: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. (Lk 1:35) Then the cloud covered the meeting tent, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the meeting tent, because the cloud settled down upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. (Ex 40:34-35) the word translated as settled down upon here in Exodus 40 is the same as the word translated in Luke s Gospel as overshadowed. Luke tells us that the power of God will overshadow Mary, just as the power of God overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant in the Israelite s tabernacle. We see Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country. (Luke 1:39-40) David arose and went to a City of Judah. (2 Samuel 6:2) Elizabeths infant, John the Baptist, Leaped in her womb. (Luke 1:41) David leaped and danced before the Ark. (2 Samuel 6:14-16) Elizabeth says. How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? David says of the Ark. How can the ark of the Lord come to me? (Luke 1:41-43/ 2 Samuel 6:9) Mary stays with Elizabeth 3 months. (Luke 1:56) David remained in the House of Obededom for Three Months. (2 Samuel 6:11) Rev 11:19 Then God s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of the covenant could be seen in the temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a violent hailstorm. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, Mary is the Ark described in this image. ARK MARY 10 Commandments Word of God in Flesh/ Law of the New Covenant Word of God in Stone Manna Rod of Aaron Eucharist, True Bread from Heaven Jesus High Priest
Symbol of thehigh Priest Mary Queen Mother Revelations 12 also describes the Woman as a Queen. Depicts Christ as a newborn King OT Queen Mothers treated with favor from the King. The Queen Mother often spoke on behalf of others in the Kingdom to the king. King Lemeul Proverbs 31 Queen Mother gives advice to the King. She was the intercessor between the king and the people. Solomon / Bathesheba - 1 Kings 2:19 - Queen sits at a place of honor. - King bows to her. - She intercedes for others. - The King listens to her. The Queen Mother s place in the heavenly kingdom does not detract from the glory of the King. On the contrary, it is because the King is glorious that His Mother is also glorious. Just like the queen mothers all through the long history of the Davidic kingdom, she points the way to the King, speaking for the people - for us - before Him. Church Teaching on Mary: Marian Doctrines are based on the portraits of Mary that we explained in the New Eve Ark of the Covenant and The Queen Mother. These understandings were present in the first centuries and they were not challenged. Council of Ephesus Mary = Mother of God, First Saint, Allows icons Immaculate Conception Dec. 8, 1854 by Pope - Mary was conceived without original sin Assumption Declared in 1950 by Pope Pius XII - Mary s Body and Soul were assumed into heaven. Immaculate Conception: If the Ark of the Covenant was holy, something so sacred than no man could even touch it, then by the same standards Mary is even holier. Mary had to totally pure to be able to conceive Jesus. The Key to this teaching comes from Genesis 3:19. Which is sometimes referred to as the First Gospel. It states I will put enmity between you (Satan) and the Woman (Mary) and between your (Satan) s offspring (Seed) and Hers (Mary s) Enmity means hate or distrust. So basically God is saying that Mary, the New Eve and her son, Jesus, the New Adam will not be subjected to Satan s Sin. They are basically polar opposites. In revelations, we see the same woman with her son crushing the serpents head defeating sin. This is our
promised salvation. Here God promises us a redeemer or the consequences of Adam and Eve s original sin. Assumption: - As the New Eve, she was free from sin and its consequences which was death - As a Queen Mother, she joins her son in a place he prepared for her. - OT Examples Enoch Gen 5:24 (Heb 11:5) - - Elijah 2 Kings 2:11-4 th 8 th Century, doctrine was accepted and never challenged. - Marian reliquary have never been found Readings: 1 Chron 15:3-4: David brings the ark to its resting place Psalm 132:8- "Advance, O Lord, to your resting place, you and the ark of your majesty." 1 Cor 15: 54-57 Victory over death won for us by Christ. Lk 11:27 28 - Mary not only as the mother of Christ, but also as one who heard God s word and believed. Rev 11:19-12:1-6, 10 - The vision of the Ark in the heavenly temple / Woman Ps 45 Queen sitting at the king s right hand 1 Cor 15: 20-27 Christ the King putting his enemies under his feet, the last being death Lk 1: 39-56 Magnificat Mary as the Ark Always a Mother: 1 Corinthians 3:9 that, We are God s fellow workers or co- workers. What do we do as Christ s co-workers? The basics: We live according to his Word. We love others as we love him. And we accept our crosses. By accepting God s plan from first to last, Mary was Christ s perfect co- worker. As his co-worker, she helps mediate grace and salvation to the world. And as our mother, she regularly intercedes for us in heaven. We worship and adore only God. There is no one above God or before God. He is the author of creation, the author of our beings, and the author of Mary s being as well. We do honor and venerate Mary with great love and devotion. She reminds us of what we re all called to be beloved sons and daughters of God perfectly conformed to his will. Above all, we honor her because she is our mother in faith, given to us by Christ as he hung upon the cross. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, Woman, behold, your son! Then he said to the disciple, Behold, your mother! And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home (Jn 19:26-27). Sources: www.salvationhistory.com - http://www.salvationhistory.com/studies/courses/online/holy_queen_the_mother_of_god_in_the_word_of_god Hail Holy Queen: Scott Hahn Journey Through Scripture The Bible and the Virgin Mary St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology New American Bible Catechism of the Catholic Church