Replies

Thanks for the review, except for the misrepresentation about the Catholic view of Mary -- she is NOT divine and the Catholic Church has never taught that.

Catholic view of Mary -- she is NOT divine and the Catholic Church has never taught that.

I don't know what is taugh at the local Catholic Church here in my small town, but I do know that of people at my work most are Hispanic and Catholic. I can count no less that 4 or 5 images per day on cars (at any time of day or night at our work) that have pictures of Mary with the halo holy style. Most the cars have a small statue of Mary on the dash of the car too. When you see a full size van daily with Mary on the hood then you have to wonder if Mary is not a saint to these particular people. Call me bias, call me simple-minded, call me over for supper, I don't care, but that is my daily world life work senerio.

I first sent this to you as a FReepmail, and you took me to task for not posting it for all to see. So here:

Do you pray, "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."?

If so, and you don't consider Mary to be divine, then you are practicing necromancy, forbidden by God. So, is she divine or not? There is no middle ground, though some may try to slide around this by playing with words.

I didn't post what I did to start an argument, however, since I am being pressed by a number of my Catholic friends, there are some items to indicate to non-Catholics that she is considered by Catholics to be divine (if not in word, in practice):

The Cathedral of Chartres symbolizes the Church. It contains many physical features that make it unique from any other structure. Chartes is hand built and took many years to construct. Chartres, like many other Cathedrals, is full of stained glass windows. These windows serve a huge purpose. On just about every window in Chartres, a story is told. For example, the Blue Virgin Mary is a very famous window that symbolizes the divinity of Mary for giving birth to Christ. Another reason for having so many windows is to allow light in to "illuminate" the Cathedral.

JOHN PAUL II
GENERAL AUDIENCE
Wednesday 9 April 1997
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Continuing our catechesis on the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are considering her cooperation in the redemptive sacrifice of Christ. All Christians are called to cooperate with God as his fellow-workers (cf. 1 Cor 3:9) in spreading the fruits of the Redemption accomplished on Calvary. But the Second Vatican Council reminds us that Mary's cooperation with Christ, unlike that of other Christians, remains "completely unique" (Lumen Gentium, 61), since it forms a part of the very events by which her Son achieved our salvation.

The basis of this unique cooperation is Mary's divine motherhood and her sharing in Jesus' life, culminating in her presence at the foot of the Cross. In God's plan, Mary is the "woman" (cf. Jn 2:4; 19:26), the New Eve, united to the New Adam in restoring humanity to its original dignity. Her cooperation with her Son continues for all time in the universal motherhood which she enjoys in the order of grace. Trusting in this maternal cooperation, let us turn to Mary, imploring her help in all our needs.

Let's see, the Pope said she's the New Eve. Jesus was the New Adam bringing life where Adam brought death. So what does the New Eve supposedly bring? He said that she was a divine mother. He said that we should turn to her for all of our needs. By my understanding of scripture, these are all things that I personally only ascribe to God and His Son. Again, it was not my intent to have an argument, but there seems to be ample evidence that Mary is treated as divinity even if she is not called divine.

"Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.

I'm sorry, but if that isn't the description of a "goddess" and thus divine by definition, I don't know what is.

Thanks for the review, except for the misrepresentation about the Catholic view of Mary -- she is NOT divine and the Catholic Church has never taught that.

Yes his remark (follows) was a bit bizarre.

Is this movie Catholic? Yes and no. Those who see the relationship between Jesus and Mary who are Catholic will likely see Mary as divine. Those of us who believe that Mary was a mere woman who was blessed enough to have been chosen to be the mother of the Christ will see the relationship between a mother and her Son.

He asks if the movie was Catholic and answers by offering what he thinks certain people will see. That's like asking how the pie tastes and answering with a weather forecast.