MARY THE MOTHER OF GOD ... WHY IS THIS TITLE AT ALL CONTROVERSIAL???

(Image produced using "artificial intelligence" courtesy of hotpot.ai)

If Mary isn't the Mother of God then who is Jesus Christ???

Here's a post about something I see popping up occasionally on Internet discussions.

First though, let's review a fundamental belief that all Christians ought to agree upon, be they Catholic or people outside The Church.

The Hypostatic Union: Jesus Christ is fully God AND fully Man. God gave Mary the power, through the Holy Ghost, to produce a human body for the second person of the Holy Trinity. Jesus has two natures in one person.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is known by many titles, but I've always thought that the most appropriate title may be "Mary, the Mother of God".

Since before I converted from being an Anglican (from birth) to The Catholic Church (at the age of 38) I have been quite puzzled about protestants' reaction to calling Mary "the Mother of God".

I came up with this idea independent from outside sources, as it seems so fundamental to me. The way I personally thought of this special title was that it must have been the early Church ensuring that nobody could argue that Jesus is not God. Since Mary is the mother of Jesus and since Jesus is God, ergo calling Mary The Mother of God is vitally important.

Think also of St. Elizabeth's reaction to Mary visiting her and St. John the baptist leaping in her womb at the sound of Mary's voice. Elizabeth exclaims: And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Luke 1:43 Douay-Rheims Bible)

Who is St. Elizabeth's Lord, other than God Almighty?

Fast forward 15+ centuries and we find that, after the Protestant ~~revolt, sorry,~~ Reformation, protestants gradually started to recoil from having any special devotion to Mary, and even began to think that calling her the Mother of God was somewhat blasphemous. (Unfortunately, since then, the Lady that God prepared before time to be His earthly Mother and to give Him a human body is being blasphemed very often.)

I can see where some of this is coming from. About ten or so years before I came home to the Catholic Church while still an Anglican I attended a Catholic retreat. One night I was handed a "finger Rosary". Much to my shock I found that I was expecting it to burn a hole right through my hand! Such is the depth to which Satan has caused people to hate the Virgin Mary, who will crush him in God's time. (God created many creatures, but none so powerful as the Blessed Virgin Mary.)

Do protestants REALLY think that Catholics believe that Mary is a "goddess", that she existed before God Himself???

God the Father created Mary, the Mother of God, so that she could produce a Man's body for the redemption of the world. Why would He not grant her special favours and powers? Why wouldn't Jesus honour His foster father and biological mother even unto this very day?

To think that Catholics consider Mary to be above or even equal to God Almighty is, well, ridiculous.

"Mary, the Mother of God FR. WILLIAM SAUNDERS" :

To understand the title, "Mother of God," we must first clearly understand Mary's role as mother of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As Catholics, we firmly believe in the incarnation of our Lord: Mary conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Cf. Lk 1: 26-38 and Mt 1: 18-25.) Through her, Jesus Christ second person of the Holy Trinity, one-in-being (consubstantial) with the Father, and true God from true God entered this world taking on human flesh and a human soul. Jesus is true God and true man. In His person are united both a divine nature and a human nature. Mary did not create the divine person of Jesus, who existed with the Father from all eternity: "In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly 'Mother of God' (Theotokos)" (Catechism, No. 495). As St. John wrote, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us, and we have seen His glory: The glory of an only Son coming from the Father filled with enduring love" (Jn 1: 14).
For this reason, sometime in the early history of the Church, our Blessed Mother was given the title "Mother of God." St. John Chrysostom (d. 407), for example, composed in his Eucharistic Prayer for the Mass an anthem in honor of her: "It is truly just to proclaim you blessed, O Mother of God, who are most blessed, all pure and Mother of our God. We magnify you who are more honorable than the Cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim. You who, without losing your virginity, gave birth to the Word of God. You who are truly the Mother of God. "
However, objection to the title "Mother of God" arose in the fifth century due to confusion concerning the mystery of the incarnation. Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople (428-431), incited a major controversy. He stated that Mary gave birth to Jesus Christ, a regular human person, period. To this human person was united the person of the Word of God (the divine Jesus). This union of two persons the human Christ and the divine Word was "sublime and unique" but merely accidental. The divine person dwelt in the human person "as in a temple. " Following his own reasoning, Nestorious asserted that the human Jesus died on the cross, not the divine Jesus. As such, Mary is not "Mother of God," but simply "Mother of Christ" the human Jesus. Sound confusing? It is, but the result is the splitting of Christ into two persons and the denial of the incarnation.

From https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/mary-the-mother-of-god.html

We must learn to give The Blessed Virgin Mary the honour and praise that is due to her. We can even "worship" her in a way, always knowing that, compared to God, she is less than an atom. (That is how St. Louis de Montfort expresses the relationship in the first chapter of his classic True Devotion to Mary)

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Divine Praises

Blessed be God.
Blessed be his holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the name of Jesus.
Blessed be his most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be his most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most holy Sacrament of the altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in his angels and in his saints.

When you go to Adoration you can never be entirely sure what may happen.

For me it is usually a time of fighting my mind and trying to quiet it in order to fully adore our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament as He is exposed on the altar.

A number of years ago I had a really surprising occurrence. For the first, and almost only, time in my life I felt TRULY REAL.

This past Friday Our Lord Jesus Christ surprised me once again, but perhaps in not such a profound way. Father placed Our Lord in the Monstrance and I had beheld His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity. That's not unusual of course. What was different for me this time was that I suddenly became more aware of His "Divinity". There I was gazing at His human Body, Blood and Soul. But I became very aware of His DIVINITY, His eternal presence. I was lost in gazing at the God who exists outside of time. Our Lord who was with the Father before He created ANYTHING, before time and matter itself.

Thank you Lord for the spiritual blessings you grant to us from time to time!

THE CROSS VERSUS THE RESURRECTION

After many decades I finally learned one of the great truths about the Cross and the Resurrection

When I was 12 years old I had a religious experience of sorts and ended up asking for a bible for Christmas.

Hearing the Passion being read yearly at the Anglican parish I was a part of and then reading it for myself in my new bible, I became, well, frustrated that Jesus did not show His divinity by giving in to those who were taunting him. Why did he not display His power by coming down from the cross and showing them what a mistake they had just made?

Fast forward 4 - 5 decades and I found God revealing Himself to me in a new way. I finally realized that He did something far more amazing than removing Himself from the cross in front of their eyes:

HE RESURRECTED HIS BODY after releasing those imprisoned in the Limbo of the Fathers. The first human to be resurrected! After that, as we know, he led the way for all the saved by ascending into heaven.

This, in the end, leads us to the supernatural virtue of Hope, the hope that we will soon spend all eternity "happy with God in heaven" as the old Catechism says.

Now I ponder how many times we set aside our crosses due to worldly advice. ("Hey, you've worked hard and are tired. Why go to Adoration? Get some rest!")

DOMINUS VOBISCUM

NEW PAGE! THE WAY OF THE CROSS

It's been a while since I've been able to begin to work on this blog/site. (I crashed my computer and it took me a long time to find a replacement. You can't use Blogger (the way I want to) when all you have is a phone.)

Important page for Lent: THE WAY OF THE CROSS.

I've been using this version for privately years. I love how the prayer for each station goes along with the Act of Contrition. "Oh my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee. I detest all my sins ..."

However, it is hard at times to REALLY believe what one is praying. Station Seven, for instance, has me telling God that "I would rather die than ever offend thee again."

Have a blessed Lent everyone.

MARCH TO PROTEST LGBT INDOCTRINATION

I found this VERY uplifting.

From what I have heard it sound like our children, especially here in Ontario, are being denied the ability to see and accept reality.

Here's some folk in Montreal Quebec that were standing up for reality.

Unfortunately, it was not the Catholic Church that was spear-heading this protest.

From LifeSiteNews:

Thu Oct 26, 2023 - 4:41 pm EDT

MONTREAL (LifeSiteNews) — Pro-family advocates at the second Million Person March in downtown Montreal against LGBT indoctrination of children in the classrooms were met by counter-protesters last week.

On October 21, marchers gathered s part of pro-family rallies across the country that day to protest against Canadian schools’ Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) indoctrination.

“They are not of the appropriate age for this kind of material,” one pro-family protester told Rebel News. “While children in China or Japan are studying quantum physics, we are pushing our children here in Canada to engage in a confusing subject like the ideologies of identity, sexuality, or inappropriate material for four-year-old kids.”

Another protester revealed that she attended the rally because her union “sent out a message asking for us to show up on that side (counter-protester side).” She decided that she needed to attend the pro-family rally to show her support of the cause.

“As a child, I would have been a prime target to be transitioned,” she revealed. “As a child, I was a tomboy. I had social issues. I didn’t have a lot of friends. I played sports. I would have been told if I were a child today that I was a boy. But I am a woman. I am a happily married woman with a daughter.”

Additionally, a pro-family citizen voiced concerns over children being indoctrinated with LGBT values.

“They’re trying to force them to change their gender,” the protester said. “They’re trying to push them towards different ideologies. They don’t respect them as they are. We come from different cultures. We protect and accept everybody. So, I’m wondering why they don’t want to accept us as we are.”

The protest remained peaceful despite the large presence of counter-protesters. Police arrested one man, but the reason for the arrest remains unknown.

The second Million Person March, planned for cities across Canada, came on the heels of the success of the first Million Person March on September 20 that saw thousands of Canadians from coast to coast take to the streets to demand radical LGBT agendas be kept out of Canadian public schools.

The protest was organized by Muslim Canadians and used the slogan “Leave our kids alone,” specifically regarding gender ideology, age-inappropriate sexual content in school libraries, and LGBT propaganda.

Kamel El-Cheikh stressed that the Million Person movement is “peaceful” and at the end of the day is “unapologetic” with the message of “Hands Off Our Kids.”

“We want to parent our kids until they’re 18 and ready to make decisions by themselves,” he said.

“Whatever decision they make later, that’s a decision as an adult.”

El-Cheikh recently was interviewed by LifeSiteNews’s John-Henry Weston and said about the first march that it was in a way a “victory” for “every Canadian,” but more work is needed.

“Now you got the Stanley Cup. Everybody gets to bring it to their house, have their turkey dinner, bring their friends over, party, and you deserve to party because you got a little bit of relief,” he said.

GOD'S MOST PRIZED CREATURES

Christmas brings to mind many things.

At the top of our minds of course is the birth of Our Lord. But why would God Almighty enter into time and become a mere creature? Well, out of His infinite Love He came to right the horrible wrong done by our first parents, Adam and Eve.

But... "WHY US?"

Are we possibly among the most prized of all God's creatures?

1. Right in the story of creation in the innerant Word of God we are told that we are created in God's image.

2. God did not become a tree, nor an animal, nor an angel, but God became Man!

What love! What humility!

3. He used Mary to provide the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity with a human body.

4. After ascending into heaven the 3rd Person of the Holy Trinity, Almighty God Himself, came down upon the apostles. All baptized now are temples of the Holy Ghost!

5. Now the very Word of God is on His throne in heaven with a human soul and a human body!!!

God is Spirit. We are in God's image and yet we are both body AND spirit. Body AND soul.

It would seem that out of all creatures, be they material or spiritual, mankind is extra special to the King of the Universe.

Wishing God's blessings on all who are celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas.

PRAYER TO ONE'S GUARDIAN ANGEL

A Prayer to One's Guardian Angel

O my good Angel, whom God, by His Divine mercy, hath appointed to be my guardian, enlighten and protect me, direct and govern me (this day). Amen.

The Church Militant

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