Posted on 09/07/2006 11:32:47 PM PDT by Salvation
Similarly, the body of believers, the Church, are Christ's body (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:27-31; Ephesians 4:1-6, 15-16; Colossians 1:18; etc.) and since Mary is the mother of Christ, she is also the mother of all us believers. And, as if these facts would not be enough, Jesus himself gave us Mary as our mother as he hung dying on the cross (cf. John 19).
The Mother of God, your mother, deserves the utmost respect.
~~~~~If I can ask my mother for help, and to pray for me when I am away from her, why not after she is is with God?~~~~~
If you build a statue of your mother and kneel in front of it, it is worship...
On this site, http://www.marypages.com/PrayerstoMary.htm, there are a bunch of 'authorized' prayers to Mary...Throughout these prayers Mary is Glorified, Deified, ask to perform miracles of her own, bring answered prayers to people, grant prayers, etc...
You have turned Mary into a Goddess...
Oh, we all felt it, starting when the FR Catholics serendipitously came together to spread that ecumenical LUVvin' beginning at post #5.
Yes, to protect her. Ever hear of groupies?
Who is this 'You' you speak of?
The Anti-Catholics swarm to Marian posts like flies to a picnic, don't they?
I have no degrees in theology or Biblical studies. You could say I am Everyman and no more.
But I'll try to answer your question to me just by using my commmon sense ( FWIW--;-) )
You say that "the Prophets in Scripture were able to perform miracles to validate their own position". I would say that God worked his miracles through the Prophets to validate HIS position. The prophets did not work miracles of their own power. And when I read of the prophets I understand that they knew very well that without God's power acting through them, they had no power at all, and that they submitted their own obedience to God who made the miracles happen, using them as instruments of his Divine Will. I see that Moses got into a little trouble when he mistakenly gave in to his own interpretation of God's will and struck the rock twice instead of just once.
Also, the Prophets acted in the time before the appearance of the Lord Jesus on earth.
OTOH, Mary acted in Cana after the Lord was moving in real time among his people.
And the fact of her Virgin Birth made her a walking miracle--a handiwork of the Father. If St. Paul can refer to us who believe in Jesus as "God's handiwork", then she was the first among us to be such. She was the first believer of his Incarnation--the Word made flesh and dwelling among us.
There are many aspects to be meditated upon in the story of the Wedding Feast at Cana. Scripture tells us that Jesus had just named his 12 Apostles and the next event recorded after that was his appearance with the Twelve and his mother at a wedding feast. Since everything happens as God plans it, Mary became aware of the fact that the wine had run out. She informed her Son. She didn't tell Him what to do. She just gave Him the information. It was his will to act upon it. The Psalms tells us that "whatever the Lord wills, He does". God isn't co-erced by his creatures. In full confidence in her Son, Mary goes to the Chief Steward and says: Do whatever He tells you." These are her words to all of us, and those words are so simple. The Chief Steward listens to her. He does what the Lord tells him to do. And he is the first to witness Our Lord's first public miracle and the opening of Our Lord's public ministry.
So we have the Mother of Jesus acting from the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Lord acting on his own power and the guy in charge who listens to her, and obeys the Lord who is privileged to witness the public beginning of the Lord's power among us.
Mary fades into the background because, as the first believer and model for all of us who believe, she "decreases while He increases."
Yet--she remains the one that is "blessed among women" and whom "all generations will call blessed", as St. Luke tells us. Also in Luke, Mary says:
"my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. For He has looked with favor on his lowly one"---.
She who bore the Incarnate Word calls herself a lowly one, but blessed because of God's grace. She shows us how we are to be as adopted children of God.
Hail Mary , full of grace. The Lord is with you.
The LORD says:
You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah,
too small to be among the clans of Judah,
From you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel;
Whose origin is from of old,
from ancient times.
(Therefore the Lord will give them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, And the rest of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel.)
He shall stand firm and shepherd his flock
by the strength of the LORD,
in the majestic name of the LORD, his God;
And they shall remain, for now his greatness
shall reach to the ends of the earth;
he shall be peace.
or
Brothers and sisters:
We know that all things work for good for those who love God,
who are called according to his purpose.
For those he foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
so that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers.
And those he predestined he also called;
and those he called he also justified;
and those he justified he also glorified.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 13:6ab, 6c
R. (Isaiah 61:10) With delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Though I trusted in your mercy,
let my heart rejoice in your salvation.
R. With delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Let me sing of the LORD, “He has been good to me.”
R. With delight I rejoice in the Lord.
Gospel Mt 1:1-16, 18-23 or 1:18-23
The Book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ,
the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Abraham became the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Judah became the father of Perez and Zerah,
whose mother was Tamar.
Perez became the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
Ram the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab became the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
Salmon the father of Boaz,
whose mother was Rahab.
Boaz became the father of Obed,
whose mother was Ruth.
Obed became the father of Jesse,
Jesse the father of David the king.
David became the father of Solomon,
whose mother had been the wife of Uriah.
Solomon became the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asaph.
Asaph became the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Joram,
Joram the father of Uzziah.
Uzziah became the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah.
Hezekiah became the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amos,
Amos the father of Josiah.
Josiah became the father of Jechoniah and his brothers
at the time of the Babylonian exile.
After the Babylonian exile,
Jechoniah became the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
Zerubbabel the father of Abiud.
Abiud became the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
Azor the father of Zadok.
Zadok became the father of Achim,
Achim the father of Eliud,
Eliud the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar became the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
or
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
All this took place to fulfill
what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means “God is with us.”
By the way, not that anybody else cares as much as I do - today is also my wife's birthday. Her middle name is Marie, the French/Czech form of the name Mary.
"There are two kinds of souls, those that are damned and those that go before Christ and say their names and Our Lord says, 'I have heard my mother speak of you'. And these enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
Well, Happy Birthday to you!
But the fact that she asks her Son, Jesus, for favoros IS BIBLICAL. Please discuss the birth of Mary, here.
I have a picture of my mother on the wall, and I talk to her. Have I turned her into a goddess? There is a mindset that says that even a statue of Jesus is an idol. I take that into a virtual denial of the incarnation--"and the word was made flesh and dwelled among us." But you may see that as an exaggeration.
"Luv" like a nest of hornets with sore legs. Post anything on the Pope or Mary and the hornets swarm like someone opened the jam jar.
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