Defending the Catholic Position on Mary to Baptists
I take me camera out into the wilds of the Essex countryside to explain what happened at Baptist Bible study last Monday when I was accused of Mary worship:
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Θεοτόκος
Today is the first day of a New Year. I want to thank everyone who has read my blog in 2013, and hope you will continue to visit in 2014. I like New Year, it is a good opportunity to take stock and make an assessment about what was good and bad in the last twelve months, and try to pledge that the next twelve months will be better. I can think of no better way to start the New Year, than with a beautiful reflection such as the one the Church gives us today: The Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, one of the most ancient Marian feast days of the Catholic Church. In today's Office of Readings there is this wonderful excerpt from a letter of St Athanasius: The Word took to himself the sons of Abraham, says the Apostle, and so had to be like his brothers in all things. He had then to take a body like ours. This explains the fact of Mary’s presence: she is to provide him with a body of his own, to be offered for our sake. Scripture records her giving birth, and says: She w...
Fourth Session of Fr. Robert Barron's Catholicism Project.
Dear Friends This week's lesson was entitled: OUR TAINTED NATURE'S SOLITARY BOAST: MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the programme and found it beautiful, familiar and emotional. Fr. Barron's presentation began by looking at the Annunciation a word which has been anglicised from the Latin Vulgate (the 4th century translation of the Bible by St. Jerome) Luke 1:26-39: Annuntiatio nativitatis Christi. Unlike the stories of the gods of the Greeks, Roman's and ancient Pagans, the God of Israel is not forceful or violent. Rather, He extended an invitation that respected Mary's free-will. Mary is visited (Fr. Barron goes as far as to suggest 'courted') by the Angel Gabriel and gives her assent; her fiat, opening the door to our salvation and cooperating and collaborating with the work of her Son. "Mary's role in the Church is inseparable from her union with Christ and flows directly from it." ( CCC 964 ). Mary's li...
The Assumption
The Assumption The Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion, Jerusalem. I was asked an interesting Catholic question today. I thought I would share it along with my answer as it concerns the Assumption, which seems to be one of those things lots of people have questions about! Here is one of the questions I've been struggling with when it comes to Roman Catholicism. If the assumption of Mary is a dogma that is necessary for one's salvation, and nothing can be added to the deposit of faith the Apostles delivered to their successors, why do we not really see the assumption of Mary much in history and when it does come up it isn't seen as a view necessary for salvation? Thanks for your time. In Christ. Michael This is my answer: On the contrary Michael, we certainly do see the Assumption of Mary in history. In fact the doctrine is specifically the culmination of a long historical process. Apocryphal stories concerned with Mary's death go back to the 3rd Cen...