[Salvation]

Gary Zimak is the founder of Following The Truth Ministries (http://www.followingthetruth.com), a lay apostolate created to assist Catholics in learning more about their Faith. He is a regular guest on EWTN Radio’s “Son Rise Morning Show”, Ave Maria Radio’s “Catholic Connection with Teresa Tomeo” and appears frequently on several other Catholic radio programs.  In addition to writing for CatholicLane. Mr. Zimak hosts a daily program on BlogTalkRadio and posts frequently on his blog, Facebook and Twitter.  He is a member of Catholics United For The Faith and the Knights of Columbus and resides in New Jersey.

[Salvation]

Catholic Ping!

Because of Mary's "Yes" we can say:

 

 

A blessed Christmas to all of you!

[narses]

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[Alex Murphy]

"Is God smart enough not to make a rock so big that even He cannot move it?"

[Tramonto]

Little known fact, Martha actually said no first and then the angel went to Mary.

The interesting question for me is what if Martha said yes?

[353FMG]

I believe it is the wrong question altogether.

It is like asking: “If Mary had said ‘No’ would God have been surprised?”

Let’s try to think in terms of God and not in terms of finite Man — it got us in trouble since Adam and Eve.

[ex-snook]

Well there was Mary’s Immaculate Conception. How would that be if Mary said no?

[P-Marlowe]

She really didn’t have a choice in the matter.

God chose Mary.

[hosepipe]

What IF... it didnt happen at all the way it is reported to have happened.. from conception to birth..
but in a miraculous way instead of a normal(natural) way..

A way worthy of a God not David Copperfield.. What if?..
How “it” happened was to convince Joseph and Mary not anyone else..
What if “there are no words” to explain how Jesus arrived on this planet..
So the first sound byte was invented.. a cover story..

How Jesus got here can be and is in some places a distraction(a diversion) to who Jesus “IS”..
meaning the spiritual Jesus not the flesh Jesus..

Wonder which republican candidate the spiritual Jesus is for NOW...
He may be for Barack Obama to punish America for abortion..

[armydoc]

Oh, where to start?! First of all, Gabriel told Mary that she WILL give birth to th Savior. It was a done deal. No permission or assent was requested. Mary of course gave her assent anyway, and her faith and obedience is to be commended and emulated. But to suggest that she could have thwarted the redemptive plan of God is ludicrous, perhaps even heretical. It elevates a human above God. Second, following you reasoning, the same “hyperdulia” (worship lite?) should be given to the multitudes of Jesus’ ancestors who (by your logic) could have prevented the incarnation by disobedience and thus breaking the Davidic line. Take Noah, by your logic he is every bit as responsible for the appearance of the Messiah as Mary. No ark- no Jesus. Why no hyperdulia for poor Noah? Of course the fallacy here is that God cannot cary out His plan absent our obedience. Scripture is replete with examples of God carrying out His plan despite human disobedience and sin, even using sin to advance His plan. Mary was no different.

[crosshairs]

I’m pretty sure God knew what Mary’s answer would be. After all, He IS omniscient.

[Revolting cat!]

Basic Grammar Police: What if Mary HAD said "No"?

(Geez, the writer must be a native English speaker!)

[Bobsvainbabblings]

If Mary had said no, God would have had Gabriele ask another virgin. The Catholic Church would have done with her as they did with Mary. You would have this same article with her name every place Mary’s is and her graven images would not be worshipped just like the graven images of Mary aren’t.

May God lead us into His truth, BVB

[Hegewisch Dupa]

Thanks for posting this head-scratcher. On the thread I ran across this post: "Well there was Mary’s Immaculate Conception. How would that be if Mary said no?" and that really did make me think (which is hard for me to do). Later, this post - "Questions of "free will" aside, a "no" from Mary would not have prevented the incarnation. God is much, much bigger than that." - at first made my skin crawl for the way it missed the point; no one believes Mary trumps God's will. This was a ridiculous straw man, even by Religion Forum standards.

But then, after holiday drinks (which is easy for me to do), it hit me how the two posts could be related. Of course a 'no' from Mary wouldn't mean God couldn't go through with the incarnation. However, maybe it would mean He wouldn't want to. Perhaps after removing Original Sin from His creation and then posing the question - perhaps a being without Original Sin who turned down God's request would not deserve salvation, nor certainly not the rest of her race who was born into Original Sin. Perhaps one is very, very dependent on the other.