@@Michelle071 Yes, it is. That's why no one should worry about loving someone too much that it becomes idolatry. You can love anyone deeply without seeing them as a deity because God himself loves us more deeply than any human can love him back.
I’m 36 years old this year. When Covid hit 2020, I was at one of my lowest point in my life. I started saying the rosary in July 2020 and have said it to my utmost knowledge, every single day since. It’s ingrained in me now. I used to say it on and off when I was younger but now I find comfort and peace in reciting the rosary every single day and even on the stressful and tired days. I’m very grateful no matter what. Some days I say it fast, some days I take my time but whatever it is, I make sure my intent is always there.
As an evangelical minister who frequently defends Catholics against false charges of idol worship, I appreciated this video. As followers of Christ, we should never distort anyone's position in order to win arguments. One need not agree with the position of the Catholic Church on any issue in order to accurately and fairly represent it. BTW, most of the protestant reformers, as well as John Wesley, also held to the perpetual virginity of Mary.
I'm pretty sure all the reformers held her in very high regard. Even today, many high church protestants still do. Just not as the way us Catholics and the Orthodox do. Seeing an evangelical minister like yourself defend us against false charges like that is very nice to see. God bless you and your family.
@@SeanO9924 Even though our worship style is very different than found in high churches, Wesleyan evangelicals like myself are strongly influenced by them, as well as our Catholic roots. One thing is very clear: I have much more in common with a Catholic who believes in the Deity of Christ, His sacrificial death upon the cross, His resurrection, His certain and literal return, and the inspiration and authority of Scripture; than I do with a Protestant who does not believe one or more of these things. Sadly too many in both our camps have abandoned these bedrock truths 😢😢😢😢
I have to say that as a former protestant, who is now Catholic, I was extraordinarily impressed by your comment. I threw a tremendous amount of hateful Catholic rhetoric around as a protestant, and I am not proud of that. But your enlightened view, willingness to stick to facts and discuss issues that protestants and Catholics disagree on is extraordinarily unique and appreciated!! God bless you, seriously!! ✝️🙏
In North Idaho where i am from the wheat harvest is a little late, in mid August. And on the 15th the combines are parked, and the dirty service trucks are in the parking lot of Our Lady of the Assumption in Ferdinand Idaho. This commitment and devotion of my cousins and uncles taking time that they very much do not have as much as anything else is that I honor when i think of the blessed mother.
My favorite thing about the wedding at Cana-THERE ARE MANY-is that when Jesus pushes back against his mother, he insists "my hour has not yet come." She knows exactly who he is, and she seems to know the Scriptures well enough to have a pretty good idea of how this ends. He is giving her a chance to say, 'no, not yet. give me another year with my son." and she still says yes. Mary's radical conformity to the will of God is such a wonder. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
Luke also records that she was at Pentecost! So whatever cool associations you have with the apostles and Pentecost, add that to Mary too! And how amazing is it that all of those folks were experiencing the fulness of the Spirit for the first time, and Mary’s there going, “Hello again, dear friend!”
I'm doing the RCIA programme right now, and as a mother I find it very hard to cope with and process what Mary went through. I cant imagine the pain of watching my son be tortured and left to die for a cheering crowd. Ive asked Monsignor how she was able to bear it, how did she not try and rip him down from the cross. Monsignor says she had divine help, and John. The fact that she was human, and so young yet so faithful and strong is incredible. She is awe inspiring. My only hope is that she was reunited with her son very quickly, I couldn't live with out either of mine.
She is not named as among the women at the empty Sepulchre in the Resurrection narratives. A pious belief is that this was because Jesus naturally appeared first to the one person who has been with Him even until that point: His Mother. As someone from an Asian context, I also understand this to be an expression of Christ’s filial piety towards His grieving Mother. The first person we still present ourselves to after an absence is our parents.
Mary was extraordinary. She was about sixteen years old when Jesus was born. The moment she said an unconditional yes to God, she was surrounded and protected by hordes of angels. She was completely free from sin of any kind her entire life. She was the strongest, most blessed woman that has ever walked the face of the earth ❤
My protestant brain has struggled with this for years (Mary raptured body + soul into heaven) yet I don’t question the same for Elijah in the Old Testament… surely if God was willing to take him he would be willing to take the blessed mother of our savior. Another point to the Catholics - every day I get closer to making the jump over
Protestant here. With regards to the Catholic dogmas: 1. Mary is the mother of God. Everyone agrees with that, in the sense that Mary did not originate God. Everyone agrees except John MacArthur lol 2. I find the case for perpetual virginity stronger and stronger. The fact that Irenaeus and Polycarp believed this (with Polycarp having known John himself), it seems fairly likely. 3 and 4 is where trouble comes. 3. I mean the assumption/dormition is all well and good. I’m not saying it didn’t or couldn’t have happened, but it is not a fundamental of the faith. It shouldn’t be in any catechesis, and it isn’t so provable. The evidence that exists for it is dubious, far more dubious than the gospels or even the perpetual virginity. Or put in another way, if this didn’t happen to Mary, is the faith any different than before? And the answer is no. Very different than say questioning the resurrection. 4. The immaculate conception is just wild. This seems like hagiography. Why then if God preserved Mary from original sin couldn’t He have just preserved everybody? I mean everybody isn’t going to be as great as Mary, but surely it would help us right? I never understand this one. I get that the ideas go back further, but it became dogma less than 100 years ago. And also, if Mary is sinless, why does she need a savior? This one is kinda nuts. Should note that the Orthodox don’t believe in the immaculate conception, because they believe in ancestral sin vs original sin.
Mary did have a savior, Jesus. Imagine this, a man falls into a pit (sin ) A savior pulls him out . In the same way the savior may warn the man of the pit before he falls into it , also saving him. This is how Mary is, Jesus saved her by his grace too before and keeping her from sin. Adam and Eve God created without sin , God can do it again and did with the mother of his son. She is Gods master piece, what He intended all of us to be.
As a Protestant seriously considering converting to Catholicism, Mary has often been one of my biggest points of doubt. Thanks for the video; I do like learning more and getting a better understanding
Im a recent convert from protestantism, I know it can be bewildering and feel alien. Im still getting used to her, in daily mass however it's all about Christ, I do the rosary and slowly get to know her. My point is: don't let the holy virgin be an obstacle because in her words: through her will the Lord be magnified. She adds to His glory, not detracts.
For what it's worth, I'm a lifelong Catholic that accepts the doctrines of Mary and she is very important. However, i understand people being cautious as there are some who can give the wrong impression focusing more on Mary than on the Trinity. But this was a good video accurately explaining what I always understood to be true. Praying God guide you to the truth.
Can I ask, what is so objectionable about Mary being preserved from all sin from the first moment of her conception in view of the merits of Christ, for instance? You think that to be impossible?
Protestant here. I do not venerate or ask for intercession from Mary or the saints but I will defend the Catholics that do. Jesus himself said that whoever is not against him is for him and Mary, as far as it seems, always leads back to Christ.
This is one of your best videos! Mary, mother of God, please send aid to Father Casey to give him patience and wisdom in his efforts to reveal the Gospel to a new generation -needing your son Jesus like never before. Amen.
"Let those who think that the Church pays too much attention to Mary give heed to the fact that Our Blessed Lord Himself gave ten times as much of His life to her as He gave to His Apostles."-Ven. Fulton Sheen
Proverbs 3:5-6 EasyEnglish Bible 5 Trust in the Lord completely. Do not think that you understand things well enough for yourself. 6 Whatever you are doing, remember that the Lord is with you. Then he will show you the right way to go.
Fun fact about the Greek of “full of grace,” this is actually not precisely used for Jesus and St Stephen. For the latter two, the Greek is “pleres charitos” which is literally “full of grace” in an adjectival sense. However for Mary (and only one other place in Ephesians 1:6) the Greek “charis” is used in the verb form “charitoo,” in Mary’s case it’s “kecharitomene” which itself is a unique word not found anywhere else in the Bible or Greek literature, a special word for a special person. It’s a feminine present passive participle, which means “you who have been graced,” and since it’s such a grammatically rich word, it falls short without being translated “fully graced” rather than just “graced.”
Hi there! I'm a Protestant who is watching some of these videos to better understand the Catholic view on some things, and while I disagree on a lot of your points, I'm grateful for the clear ways you explain things, and can tell that you have a genuine faith in Christ, which is great! I do have a few questions/challenges for you though: 1. What do you take from Luke 11:27-28? In my eyes, Jesus seems to warn us against with the notion of raising Mary up too highly, and of focusing on her and her 'blessedness' too much, when our intention should be that of following God and His ways. (a similar notion is made in Mark 3:31-35) I appreciate that you said that the Catholic doctrine is not that of worship or idolisation towards Mary, but to me at least, many things about modern Catholicism (naming MANY churches after her, the obsession with her iconography, prayers to her, etc) seem scarily close to that, and can at times become idolatry in the lives of some who call themselves Catholic, and it worries me that the church almost seems to endorse that. 2. Isn't the doctrine that Mary never sinned in contrast to Romans 3:23, and doesn't it fly in the face of the fall of humanity, and the whole point of Jesus' death on the cross? You admit yourself that even Mary needed Christ Jesus as her saviour, but how could that be if she had never sinned & thus never been separated from the glory of God? I don't follow the logic there. Even to entertain the idea that God miraculously chose to restore Mary's fallen state so that she could never sin I simply ask the question of why would he do that for her but make any others sinless in a separate way through Jesus? Am I understanding correctly that in Catholicism the idea is that Jesus had to be born of someone sinless so that He would be sinless too? Because if so then it would follow that Mary's parents had to be sinless too, etc, which obviously doesn't make sense. 3. I find it worrying how much weight is placed in creating doctrine out of things that are not scripture in the Catholic church. I did a quick Google search on the Protoevangelium of James, and granted, Wikipedia isn't a great source, but it seems to me that that document was rejected my many in the church in its own time, including a Pope and a council, and it seems likely to have been a later apocryphal writing not traced to any actual eyewitness. Is that really the best source for the development and justification for doctrine? I will say that I'm not wholly opposed to the idea of Mary being a perpetual virgin and the 'brothers' of Jesus actually being cousins or the like (it definitely seems plausible), but I just don't see a convincing reason to hold that to be true. With all this said, I do pray and hope the best for you and am grateful for your partnership in the Christian faith and for the good you do in sharing the message of Christ to people! May God bless you and I hope you continue to grow closer in knowledge of and relationship with Him. Amen!
Regarding the angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary, "full of grace" is just one of the common translations into English, but the original Greek word in Luke 1:28 is κεχαριτωμένη (~kecharitomene). It is a 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘹 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘯 (i.e. a word that appears only once in the entire scripture) - so it is a rare and unique word - a perfective passive participle used as an adjective (in feminine form) - a more literal translation would be "has been fully graced" - it is 𝘯𝘰𝘵 the same word that is used in other New Testament occurrences of "full of grace" - it seems to describe only Mary. This fact in itself is one piece of Biblical evidence in support of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
The Apostolic Church presented a straightforward, realistic, and very human picture of Mary. Saintly, but not extraordinarily so, when compared to those having walked alongside Jesus throughout His ministry. In John, Mary is mentioned in the inglorious request she made of Jesus at a wedding. His brothers clearly disbelieve Him. And Jesus tells John that she may be his responsibility at the darkest of times, during and following His crucifixion. Hence, the spiritual sword Jesus had explicitly mentioned bringing into the world through His ministry had divided even His own household. For example, in Matthew 10:34-36 we read Jesus saying: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household." Thus, as a new spiritual family called the Church was emerging amidst such conflicts, Jesus compassionately spoke to an immediate concern. However, from the beginning, Mary held and would have no special status or role.... Matthew 12:46-50: "While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Luke 11:27-28: "As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You. But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Acts 1:12-14: "Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers." Notice that in the above list of earliest Disciples, Mary was mentioned only after the women who regularly followed Jesus and just before His previously unbelieving brothers. Therefore, it doesn't appear as though Mary was ever considered or presented as an extraordinary role model or guide when compared to any of Jesus's closest followers. Nor does she appear otherwise in writings from the earliest Fathers of the Church. Nevertheless, if anyone can provide explicit Scriptural statements demonstrating the contrary position, please do so. As someone having been on a long spiritual journey, I am committed to finding Truth. And, apart from such revelation, all pertinent evidence suggests that worldly sentiment led to abstract eisegesis and over reaching in theological discourse. From these forces a grand and glossy but ultimately unwarranted and undesirable tradition has arisen within Christ's Holy Church. Indeed, the first demon Jesus ever encountered was in a synagogue. That is, amidst the devout liturgical gatherings of God's own people. And the "Divine Mother" and "Queen of Heaven" motifs were commonplace in demonic ancient religion, including within Biblically and theologically compromised Israel itself (Jer. 44). Moreover, prior to medieval Christian claims in regards to the Apostles, the Pharisees had already developed dogma based an alleged oral tradition having passed down alongside Scripture from Moses. A principle condemned by none other than Jesus: "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!" Hence, all such historical realities clearly and intentionally warn us of the very subtle, yet powerful, ways in which "doctrines of demons" have been and can be introduced as if delivered by a Moses or the Apostles themselves. Finally, let's hear from recognized authorities on the matter of Scripture vs developing Church Traditions in matters of theology.... Clement of Alexandria (d. ca. 216) said, “But those who are ready to toil in the most excellent pursuits, will not desist from the search after truth, till they get the information from the Scriptures themselves” (Stromata 7:16). Hippolytus of Rome (d. 235) said, “There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures and no other source” (Against the Heresy of One Noetus 9). St. Athanasius (d. 375) said, “The Holy Scriptures, given by inspiration of God, are of themselves sufficient toward the discovery of truth. (Orat. adv. Gent., ad cap.) “The holy Scripture is of all things most sufficient for us” (To the Bishops of Egypt 1:4)." "The Catholic Christians will neither speak nor endure to hear anything in religion that is a stranger to Scripture; it being an evil heart of immodesty to speak those things which are not written,” (Exhort. ad Monachas). “Vainly then do they run about with the pretext that they have demanded Councils for the faith’s sake; for divine Scripture is sufficient above all things; but if a Council be needed on the point, there are the proceedings of the Fathers, for the Nicene Bishops did not neglect this matter, but stated the doctrine so exactly, that persons reading their words honestly, cannot but be reminded by them of the religion towards Christ announced in divine Scripture.” (De Synodis, 6). St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386) said, "We ought not to deliver even the most casual remark without the Holy Scriptures: nor be drawn aside by mere probabilities and the artifices of argument. Do not then believe me because I tell thee these things, unless thou receive from the Holy Scriptures the proof of what is set forth: for this salvation, which is of our faith, is not by ingenious reasonings, but by proof from the Holy Scriptures...Let us then speak nothing concerning the Holy Ghost but what is written; and if anything be not written, let us not busy ourselves about it. The Holy Ghost Himself spoke the Scriptures; He has also spoken concerning Himself as much as He pleased, or as much as we could receive. Be those things therefore spoken, which He has said; for whatsoever He has not said, we dare not say" (Catechetical Lectures, 4.17ff). St. Gregory of Nyssa (d. 394) said, "What then is our reply? We do not think that it is right to make their prevailing custom the law and rule of sound doctrine. For if custom is to avail for proof of soundness, we too, surely, may advance our prevailing custom; and if they reject this, we are surely not bound to follow theirs. Let the inspired Scripture, then, be our umpire, and the vote of truth will surely be given to those whose dogmas are found to agree with the Divine words (Dogmatic Treatises, Book 12. On the Trinity, To Eustathius). St. Ambrose (d. 396) said, “How can we use those things which we do not find in the Holy Scriptures?” (Ambr. Offic., 1:23). St. Augustine (d. 430) said, "For the reasonings of any men whatsoever, even though they be [true Christians], and of high reputation, are not to be treated by us in the same way as the canonical Scriptures are treated. We are at liberty, without doing any violence to the respect which these men deserve, to condemn and reject anything in their writings, if perchance we shall find that they have entertained opinions differing from that which others or we ourselves have, by the divine help, discovered to be the truth. I deal thus with the writings of others, and I wish my intelligent readers to deal thus with mine (Letters, 148.15).
I read others that aren't Catholic sharing that the topic of Mary has stopped them.. It's ironic that as a Catholic, I went back because no one else honored her and the Rosary is a powerful prayer
Hi, Fr Casey, I'm confused about something re: timestamp 4:41. If Mary was really born without original sin, why would she still need a savior? Is it because she still had the potential to choose sin? Just trying to understand that particular doctrine.
Mary could not have been born with original sin, otherwise Jesus would have had it too. Mary needing a saviour is often a protestant talkingpoint that somehow shows how it wouldnt make sense. If you're interested explore the concepts of Mary as the ark, or the new Eve. It should clarify things. :-)
an old adage to explain this is someone falling into a pit (sin). A savior (Jesus) comes along and pulls him out of the pit (the crucifixion). Another person (Mary) comes walking along and a savior (Jesus) grabs her (grace) before falling into the pit. In both examples, the person is saved from the pit by Jesus. One reactively and the other proactively.
As someone who is going through formation the devotion to Mary still gets to me. While there are passages to referencing reverence to his mother there church allows itself a lot of assumptions in this regard. I believe that all the eastern and western Catholic Churches hold truest to the form of the early church but it is Christianity and not Marianity this is to say that none of the other saints are venerated in this way and hardly any mention of Joseph’s role in this. There has to be better explanations that make direct connections to the assumption and the dogma that she was born without original sin. I love that we have a connection with our heavenly family and that they are continuously remembered and thought of just the elevation of Mary and truthfully the over veneration makes it easy for Protestants to say that the Chruch has strayed away from Christ and towards Mary.
Look up the cult of the black Madonna. There has been some pagan worship blended in to Catholicism. Mary is great, and Mary is wonderful. But ultimately Jesus is our only intercessor. We can approach him directly, with no intermediary. Mary I’m sure prays for us in heaven, but that’s not for us to know about. But we need to spend time with Jesus. If you pray the rosary, you spend 10x the amount of time with Mary that you do with Jesus. Let that one boggle your mind a little bit.
I really don’t understand why it would matter to anyone if Mary was a perpetual virgin or not, if she had other children after Jesus or if she ascended directly into heaven. She is Jesus’ mother and that’s enough for me. She trusted completely in God’s will and that makes her someone to look up to.
As humans we are naturally inclined to love and venerate our mothers. Jesus was fully God and fully human. Jesus the child, the teenager, and the man loved and venerated his mother during his earthly lifetime. He tells John from the cross "Here is your mother" which reinforces His earlier message to "Love, how I have loved" And more simply, as living disciples of Christ we are called to follow his teachings and, within the limits of our imperfection, to emulate Him. Jesus venerated His mother so we Catholics venerate her by His example.
As a protestant, I'll make the concerns I think most of us hold with these sort of views. The Bible tells us not to add or take away from the scripture. Why would we deny the scripture to go ahead and add to it things that may or may not be true? Whether it is proper to pray to Mary is irrelevant, the question is, does the Bible tell us we should. Who does the Bible say we should pray to? We may pray WITH other people, but we don't pray to mankind.
Some thoughts, respectfully. We do not pray to Mary, we ask her to pray with us and for us to God almighty. Not worship, devotion. Do people (catholics) sometimes overshoot and end up focussing more on Mary than on Christ? Believing in practice that it's Mary who grants a prayer or works a miracle, not God through her intercession? They do. They're human. They're fallible. But it's not the church's teaching. 'Sola scriptura' is not in the Bible. Read that again, please. Discerning tradition as a legitimate source of faith (as the catholic church does) does not equal adding to or denying scripture. Ironically, 'sola scriptura' does precisely what you criticise here: advocating a manmade view inspired (according to protestants) by scripture. God bless.
I always find it interesting when Protestants hold strong to the idea that we should not add or take away from the Bible, after taking away all the books of the Old Testament that supported theology they disliked. I would say that remembering the things that have happened to Christian’s after the Bible’s narrative ends (assumption of Mary) is not adding to the Bible. That would be silly, is remembering the Protestant reformation or the crusades adding to the Bible? When some of those things that we remember are miracles, they have theological significance. I would also say that studying how the earliest Christian’s organized, worshiped, and believed is not adding to the Bible, it is having the humility to accept that our first impressions and conclusions when we read the Bible may not be correct, and going closer to the source to see how the people taught by the apostles and disciples interpreted the same passages, and how they lived those out.
@@Christiaan-w8p To be completely fair, there are a few places where the bible does directly say "do not add or take away". Most are very clearly referring to their specific contexts, like Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18-19 - the former is in reference to the laws given in the surrounding text, the latter is for the book of Revelation. HOWEVER, there are further unqualified examples that could be interpreted as applying to the bible as a whole, like Proverbs 30:5-6. It becomes a question of how to interpret the phrase "Every word of God", and whether this actually describes the Bible or is meant to refer to the "word of God" as the truth the Bible aspires to communicate, to use phrasing from other videos on this channel. 1 Corinthians 4:6 is somewhere between these two camps; it uses the phrase "do not go beyond what is written" to warn against placing your personal preferences/opinion above the scripture, but yet again there's a lot of nuance - Catholic discernment of tradition, the various councils with their rigor and scope, don't seem to fit the description of preference/opinion. All of this said, the reason I ran into trouble being raised Lutheran was that the idea of "sola scriptura" relies on there being one universally agreed upon Bible as an unchallenged object and objective fact, which doesn't exist - the books vary between Catholicism, Orthodoxy (and even between Orthodox churches) and Protestants. As the Bible doesn't describe how to put the Bible together, sola scriptura is literally impossible: the question of what qualifies as scripture can never be resolved using its own method.
The reasoning for belief in the Christian Mary as mother of God is as comprehensive as it can be, but these reasons always seem outweighed by the force of our universal instinct, our need for, and experience of, maternal love. ‘Mary' is the remnant in our mind of that moment all our mothers first gazed at us, unconditionally, bringing us into the world in an act of giving, in love, alone. The Christian Mary is that remnant transformed into Mythos. Powerful, mysterious, worth praying to, but with little to do with a carpenter’s wife who brought up her children in a humble village in Galilee.
Hello Fr Casey, as catechumen and newbie to christianity (I've yet to read the whole new testament) would you recommend I include devotion to Mary? Some would argue it'd derail from the main focus a relationship with Christ... Any catholics reading this would love your advice too. I must say at time I resonate more with protestants... according to the catholic church I could only be baptised in 2026 :/ Thanks in advance
The short answer: read and pray on the gospels first and foremost. Mary is also in there, but the focus is and should always be Christ. Get familiar with Christ's life and words, and especially his sacrifice. Everything else is commentary, respectfully. Some thoughts to help you along (from my own experience). Mary is no more and no less than a pathway to Christ (per Mariam ad Christum, through Mary to Christ). Any devotion you spend on Mary should point the way to Christ, not to Mary herself. She does not save, she guides you to He who saves. Feel free to (not) spend time with her, though as a catholic I do recommend it, if and only if she does not become the focus and goal of your devotion and prayer. It helps to realise, for example , that the rosary (intuitively seen as a devotional practice centred on Mary) is actually a meditation on the life and sacrifice of Christ, not on Mary. We pray to her to pray with us and for us, not to 'do' anything for us. Also: I hope you're not in a hurry to be baptised. Fervour is great, but patience is much more valuable spiritually. Don't be tempted by any type of 'short track' in these matters. Quite the opposite: trust mainly those guides who tell you to take time for your relationship with Christ to unfold. Faith (= trust) does not come quickly. Also: ask yourself why you 'resonate' with one or the other. Figuring that out will tell you a lot about yourself, your motivation, your hope, your trust. Above all: pray. If nothing else (as a newbie), pray the Lord's Prayer every day, over and over again. It's all in there. It's a perfect starting point. Hope you're going to mass regulary as well! The eucharist is what it's all about! God bless.
Humanity was passed down from Adam and Eve...through so and so, and so and so, including Mary and then Jesus crucified that dead in sin FLESH! Including the dead in sin flesh of Mary!❤ PRAISE GOD!!!
Idk, man. If, on one hand, you're saying that, "this is the church set up by Jesus the Christ, and all scripture is breathed by God," and then have to reference extra-scriptural texts to "prove" Mary "had no labor pains and was thus not subject to the punishment of Eve," then one of the two statements is wrong. Scripture is correct, and the Catholic church is practicing idolatry. Mary is *literally* the mother of God, but not on par with Him. Nowhere is she said to be free from original sin. If she were, she would be blameless, the same as our savior. She would literally be God. "Woman perfected." That's not at all what the Canon-that you created and claim to be the literal word of God-says.
There’s a lot to talk about there, but I’ll just address one point. You said that if she was blameless than she would literally be God. That conclusion is not logical at all. Were Adam or Eve literally God? Are you literally God now that you have been baptized and original sin was washed away? Having original sin is an unnatural state for humans brought about by the mistakes of Adam and Eve, it’s not what separates us from being God.
The conversation about what exactly we believe about the Mother of Jesus is quite the story...and the conversation about her title "Mother of God" is quite the ne-story.
So my "problem" with praying to Mary, or any other saint for that matter, is that they are not omnipresent like God is. And they can't hear my thoughts like God can because 90% of my prayers are in my head and not spoken. The next thing, and that's just something personal, is that I don't ask anybody else to pray for me. If someone wants to pray for me and ask me, sure, I tell them. Peace and love to all of you!
I was a Protestant and then I convert to Catholicism I still struggle with this doctrine. If I don’t say the Rosary? Am I not saved ? I have faith in my L-rd, Yeshua only. Is that not good enough ?
You are saved if you believe Jesus is our Savior, he was crucified for our sins, died and rose again from the dead then ascended into heaven. The Rosary isn't a necessity for salvation.
@@David77757 It can be yes, but it's not required. I never said one growing up Catholic because my family never did so. I was never required to do so in Catholic school either.
@@m_d1905 It's still recommended that Catholics pray it; yes, it's not required, but it's a great way to invoke Mary's intercession and meditate on the mysteries of Christ.
@@hmmhmm7029 Oh definitely. I understand it can make some converts uncomfortable because of all they had been told about how "bad" it is before. It takes a while to completely let go of some things like that. I don't pray the Rosary as much as I should, but I read my great grandmother's old prayer book. It has the rites for Mass, many daily prayers, the Creeds, etc.
When I have struggled with how “The Church” loved me , I always looked to Jesus and the love of The Virgin. God chose her specifically. Her lineage , her goodness , her religion , her heritage…. Jesus is the Lord and Mary is his “humanity.” Without her , Jesus would not be corporeal. Im
Colossians 2:8 KJV "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men (RCC traditions), after the rudiments of the world, and not after CHRIST (forgiven of all sin by GOD's grace through faith). 9 For in HIM dwells all the fulness of the GODHEAD BODILY. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, HE has quickened (made alive) together with HIM, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to HIS cross; 20 Wherefore if you be dead with CHRIST from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances, 21 touch not; taste not; handle not; 22 which all are to perish with the using; after the commandments and doctrines of men (RCC traditions)?
@@m_d1905 And this is what CHRIST said about them: Mark 7:9 KJV "And HE said unto them, Full well you reject the commandment of GOD, that you may keep your own tradition. 13 making the Word of GOD of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things you do."
@@jacktracy8356 You realize that those putting forth these traditions came from the early church fathers and the ecumenical councils they called to debate and settle the traditions you dispise? Why are so many Protestants so dogmatic and legalistic? Jesus never was that legalistic.
@@ereinei Are you saying Holy Scriptures inspired by GOD to be written are traditions??? Even the RCC calls them Holy Scriptures and says they are an authority of the RCC.
As a lifelong Catholic, I'd never heard this question and never considered it. I'd think not, though, because if there was ever a baby whose birth would not hurt their mother, Jesus would be it.
@@hipchik30 Early church fathers I believe. If I recall correctly it was a tradition that was added to over time. It's been nearly 40 years since my Church History class in HS. So I'm a bit vague on the particulars. It is a very old tradition though.
So, this may come off as flippant as text does not convey tone, I'm a Protestant who grew up in Utah and I'm trying to understand, is this sorta like running to "Mom" when stuff is going bad because running to Dad is harder? I'm kinda guessing on that part as well as I grew up mostly in a single parent household. I know our language will always fail, I'm trying to wrap my mind fully around as I didn't mean a practicing Catholic in the flesh, to my knowledge, till I was late 20s. 😅😊🤗
It’s a reasonable question, but the answer is that it’s not like running to Mom because Dad is harder. The rosary includes the Lord Prayer and Hail Mary, so explicitly praying to the Father is expected. Additionally, “prayer” is often interpreted differently by Protestants which leads to confusion. All it means is to ask - knowing what is asked of Mary vs the Father of Jesus may be helpful. The Our Father is a request for specific actions - forgive us our sins, give us our daily bread, lead us not into temptation. The Hail Mary starts with two verses from the Bible (Luke 1:28 & 1:42). Then the request portion is “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen”. It’s a request for prayers on our behalf, much like you might ask a friend to pray for you. Not a direct action. Why ask Mary for prayers? I’ll give an example as an analogy from my career. I was managing a manufacturing site in New York State when Covid hit. We knew some businesses were going to be required to close, but that we might qualify as a critical business that could remain in operation. We went through the formal request process the state required (a “prayer”, if you will). However, we also had an executive who had gone to law school with the governor - so we asked him to directly ask the governor if we could get a waiver to stay running (in other words, we asked the executive to “pray” for us). That allowed a much quicker channel for information flow, and we got an OK to stay running almost immediately. Why do Catholics pray to Mary? It never hurts to have influential advocates, either on earth as in the case of the executive who was friendly with the governor - or in heaven when we ask Mary to advocate for us. But we still need to go through more official channels - either by filing out the appropriate paperwork or by praying directly to the Father (or Jesus).
I wouldn't say it's "preferring to go to Mom instead of Dad," but more like "going to Dad with Mom as backup." If you have ever asked another person to pray for you, or if you have ever offered to pray for someone, that is what praying to Mary should be like. If another asked you to pray for them, and you viewed prayer as an inherent act of worship, you could just as easily respond with a challenge that they somehow couldn't pray by themselves. But we are instructed to pray for each other. It stands to reason that we were obviously not being called to worship each other instead of God.
+++ Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb. For you have borne for us the Salvation of our souls. Amen. +++
If Mary is our mother, is Abraham our father because Saint Paul calls him our father because of righteousness? So does this apply to Mary also go in the same direction?
Mary has brought more people to the church than even Jesus. . That's simply historical fact. . I've personally not been to church in months, but still pray the rosary each day. . She is the one entity of Catholicism I will never turn on
You said she's mentioned in the gospels, but not in the rest of the New Testament. Acts 1:14 says that "Mary the mother of Jesus" was with Apostles, devoted in Prayer, but maybe that's a different Mary, mother of a different Jesus 😅
So… I admit I’m unconvinced, but that’s not really my major problem. If Catholics just believed these things, that’d be all very well, but what we’re told is that you *have* to believe these things to be properly a member of the Church. That’s what a dogma means, right? And you said it yourself, none of the scriptural passages are proofs of anything, and the ‘tradition’ is… well, it’s there, but most of the saints’ writings you’ve quoted are either legends or assertions rather than proofs. It shows that a fair few Christians believed it, sure, but it still leaves a lot of other Christians who don’t believe it and aren’t necessarily any the less Christian for it (including but not limited to modern Protestants.) I guess that would be my follow up: say we don’t find these arguments convincing and read the scripture and don’t see the implication of an immaculate conception or perpetual virginity - well, so what? I get that the Catholic Church doesn’t teach sola scriptura, but not every belief that appears in tradition is dogmatised, so why this one?
The prophet Isaiah foretold of the Messiah being born of a virgin. Mary is also considered to be "the new Eve", and the "Ark of the Covenant" because within her body she held Jesus, the Bread of Life. Her body remained inviolate because of her role in our Salvation. That's why its important. The Fathers of the Church wrote about all of this if you want to explore it further, and all of this information (with references to the original sources) is contained in the Catechism.
Why do you hold the Bible as true but the writings of the Saints as "assertions"? If a belief can reasonably be traced back to the Early Church, it's a possible teaching by the Apostles. The Bible is only known to be true by the tewchings of the Apostles, there is no other way to arrive at the doctrines about those books that you believe in.
Well the writings of the saints aren’t inherently just assertions. Saints’ writings can prove things, but in this case, the ones quoted only seemed to be stating the doctrine rather than demonstrating it. All these ones prove on this issue is ‘some people believed these things.’ That’s also the distinction between them and the New Testament: the reason why certain books are the New Testament and others aren’t, ultimately, is that they do have that apostolic authority. If something like the Proto-Gospel of James had that authority, it would be in the New Testament. The thing is, you hit the nail on the head: ‘it’s reasonable to believe it’s an apostolic teaching.’ I agree, it is reasonable. I don’t necessarily believe it, but it’s perfectly reasonable for someone to look at the evidence and think ‘yes, that’s plausible, I can believe that.’ But a similarly reasonable person could also say ‘actually this doesn’t sound apostolic, it sounds like something that gained currency for some other reason.’ Or even just ‘this could be apostolic in origin, but there isn’t really enough evidence to be sure.’ Problem is, that’s not enough. These things are now dogmas of the Catholic Church: you *have* to believe them to be in full communion with the Church, at least officially. And I just don’t see anything that even came close to establishing them that strongly.
@@De-Nigma that's the role of the church though, to point to the correct interpretation out of the reasonable ones. I believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is for sure *reasonably* inferred from the Bible, but it's not unreasonable to harmonize the relevant text otherwise. (The most valid alternatives in my opinion are modalism and arianism). So I'm glad we agree the witness of the saints raises the marian doctrines of the church from "possible" to "reasonable", I don't think strictly speaking you can do better than that
I'm not sure why Justin Martyr and St. Irenaeus would think Mary gave birth without labor pains when Revelation 12:2 says "She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.” Just doesn't make sense to me.
Are you saying that Mary is God? Because that's what a Divine Incarnation is. And if that is what you are saying then I urge you to be very careful because that idea is not only unscriptural, but is literally blasphemy and idolatry. And it's not even what the Catholic church teaches!
I have a question as a non-denominational Christian, if God created Mary without original sin why doesn’t he do that with everyone? And why does she need a savior if she is in this state without sin? Obviously I think Mary just like everyone else needs a savior and I am fine with accepting some authority of church fathers but this bit seems to conflict with other core beliefs of Christianity
she needed a savior to preserve her from committing sin in the first place. she can never do it alone but only through God's grace, that is why she is called "full of grace". she has to be sinless because of her vocation, she was called to be Holy Mother of God, the Holy Word of God Incarnate will be in her womb so she must be pure and clean, if you are God, are you gonna choose a defiled person? she is perpetual virgin because she was prevented from being defiled by a man, she can do it because she obviously surrender her life to God. i hope this helps, if you are open to more explanations, you can try listening to Catholic Answers. ✝️🙏
She carried God in her womb. Only one person has ever done that and only one person has ever been referred to as full of grace. Also note she probably took a temple vow of virginity when she was very young (see Exodus, Numbers, 1 Samuel, 1 Maccabees, Josephus, and the Mishnah for details of this vow). The law said a man could abrogate that vow during the betrothal period. But if he didn’t abrogate it by the marriage ceremony then it remained in force and she would remain a virgin. They would have a continent marriage. Joseph didn’t abrogate the vow.
It appears everyone is missing the point here. Sin is a creation of the church primarily for control. Remove “sin” from the church voids all its power & authority. Everyone is made of the image & likeness of God. No one has any greater spirits or graces than anyone else. God only creates perfection. Nothing more, nothing less, otherwise Unity in the one body of God wouldn’t be possible. 🙏
@@catherinesarah5831 Sin is all around us, you see it every day. You can’t intellectualize it away. The idea that the Church created sin is laughable. Pride and greed and lust predate the coming of Christ, and they are in every culture and nation regardless of religion.
@@catherinesarah5831 Sin was a creation of man when he fell in the Garden of Eden. It's in Genesis 1-3. Remove sin and Jesus (and his church) would never have been needed and we'd all be in Eden in perfect union with God as we started.
Great video, Father. This would be a wonderful homily. I've read the Protoevangelium of James. It is a wonderful read. The description of Jesus's birth seems like something out of Star Trek. As Joseph and the midwife approached the cave, there was a bright flash of light. Transporter? This is totally tongue-in-cheek. While it's not mentioned in the Bible, Mary must've been with Elizabeth at the time of John's birth. Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was six months pregnant. When Mary went to visit, it is stated that she stayed there for three months.
The Protestant view on Mary is blasphemy. It’s also not rooted in scripture at all whatsoever. Martin Luther would agree, to the surprise of many Protestants.
Assuming that god is allmighty and omniscient, the most important fact of Mary is: Jesus is sole child in the world who was able to choose his mother. Even if nobody except Jesus is able to answer that question neutrally, given the close relationship of human beings to the own mother, what woman would an allmighty and omniscient person choose as mother among all women on the world? Can we say anything more elevating about a human being?
I’m a recent revert and I’m overwhelmed with the Marian worship. It never dawned on me as a kid but now I say over 80 Hail Marys a day, and less than ten our Fathers (which is how we are taught to pray in the Bible). I’m really upset by this
You don't have to say that many Hail Mary's in a day. There is no prescribed amount. I recite it usually once daily, usually one Our Father and spontaneous prayer throughout the day. Devotion to Mary is efficacious when it draws us closer to her son (to Jesus through Mary). Look at your heart posture. If Mary draws you closer to her son, then that is good. If you find the Hail Mary's detracting, slow down a bit. Don't abandon our mother but realize she is there to magnify the Lord.
And why on Earth do you Say so many Hail Mary? No Catholic is requested to do so. You have to revere Mary and you CAN pray to her, but it's not mandatory. I for example never had such a devotion, though I believe in her immaculate conception, her virginal and divine pregnancy and in her assumptions, and also in her power of intercession to Jesus/God. These are truths of Faith, the rosary and other Marian devotion are not.
The Rosary is a vocal AND meditative prayer. You aren’t supposed to just recite the words of the prayers; you’re supposed to meditate on the mysteries (aka The Life of Jesus) as well. Do you meditate on the life of Christ while you go through the Hail Mary prayers? I’ve found the Rosary to be especially fruitful when I can look at an image or statue of Jesus or of Jesus and Mary together, because it helps me envision what it would be like to be in her position and what it was like for Jesus. I’ve been able to intellectually and emotionally feel closer to them through the Rosary
“……. left out of the Bible because of heresy” Or was it more Constantine’s need for utter control & power. Please list the heresies you claim were in these books to justify their non-inclusion. For a person in your position it is extremely poor form to use such a broad brush stroke sweeping everything that doesn’t conform to your biased analogy under the heresy carpet. You’re sounding more like a Jesuit every day 🙏
@@BreakingInTheHabit your more recent posts have been brilliant. Loved the flight post there is always a nun in the departure room… sorry. Sie I’m from another basis, but your recent posts have been ecumenical.
Mother of God Immaculate Conception of Mary Never ever had this ever happened before Mary s husband Joseph was obedient to God the author of life Assumed into Heaven
Hi, Father Casey. Pray for my family. After YEARS, I finally convinced my wife to attend a Catholic Mass with me.
I will keep you both in prayer
Awesome!!🎉❤✝️📿🔥
That's awesome.
Never worry about loving Mary too much because you will never love her as much as Jesus.
Isn’t that logic true of anyone though? For example, “you can never love (fill in the blank) as much as Jesus loves them”
I’m just arguing that we CAN love someone or something other than God too much or above God.
Beautiful St. Maximilian Kolbe Quote
@@Michelle071 Yes, it is. That's why no one should worry about loving someone too much that it becomes idolatry. You can love anyone deeply without seeing them as a deity because God himself loves us more deeply than any human can love him back.
Protestants are the ones always "worrying" about her 🤭 we know she's ok so no worries at all
I’m 36 years old this year. When Covid hit 2020, I was at one of my lowest point in my life. I started saying the rosary in July 2020 and have said it to my utmost knowledge, every single day since.
It’s ingrained in me now. I used to say it on and off when I was younger but now I find comfort and peace in reciting the rosary every single day and even on the stressful and tired days. I’m very grateful no matter what.
Some days I say it fast, some days I take my time but whatever it is, I make sure my intent is always there.
As an evangelical minister who frequently defends Catholics against false charges of idol worship, I appreciated this video. As followers of Christ, we should never distort anyone's position in order to win arguments. One need not agree with the position of the Catholic Church on any issue in order to accurately and fairly represent it.
BTW, most of the protestant reformers, as well as John Wesley, also held to the perpetual virginity of Mary.
I'm pretty sure all the reformers held her in very high regard. Even today, many high church protestants still do. Just not as the way us Catholics and the Orthodox do. Seeing an evangelical minister like yourself defend us against false charges like that is very nice to see. God bless you and your family.
@@SeanO9924 Even though our worship style is very different than found in high churches, Wesleyan evangelicals like myself are strongly influenced by them, as well as our Catholic roots. One thing is very clear: I have much more in common with a Catholic who believes in the Deity of Christ, His sacrificial death upon the cross, His resurrection, His certain and literal return, and the inspiration and authority of Scripture; than I do with a Protestant who does not believe one or more of these things. Sadly too many in both our camps have abandoned these bedrock truths 😢😢😢😢
I have to say that as a former protestant, who is now Catholic, I was extraordinarily impressed by your comment. I threw a tremendous amount of hateful Catholic rhetoric around as a protestant, and I am not proud of that. But your enlightened view, willingness to stick to facts and discuss issues that protestants and Catholics disagree on is extraordinarily unique and appreciated!! God bless you, seriously!! ✝️🙏
@@rdrun51660 Thank you for your kind words!
Love the simple explanation! Salve Regina!
In North Idaho where i am from the wheat harvest is a little late, in mid August. And on the 15th the combines are parked, and the dirty service trucks are in the parking lot of Our Lady of the Assumption in Ferdinand Idaho. This commitment and devotion of my cousins and uncles taking time that they very much do not have as much as anything else is that I honor when i think of the blessed mother.
My favorite thing about the wedding at Cana-THERE ARE MANY-is that when Jesus pushes back against his mother, he insists "my hour has not yet come." She knows exactly who he is, and she seems to know the Scriptures well enough to have a pretty good idea of how this ends. He is giving her a chance to say, 'no, not yet. give me another year with my son." and she still says yes. Mary's radical conformity to the will of God is such a wonder.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
Luke also records that she was at Pentecost!
So whatever cool associations you have with the apostles and Pentecost, add that to Mary too! And how amazing is it that all of those folks were experiencing the fulness of the Spirit for the first time, and Mary’s there going, “Hello again, dear friend!”
She listed near the bottom of the list of disciples, after the women regularly having followed Jesus, and just before her previously unbelieving sons.
I'm doing the RCIA programme right now, and as a mother I find it very hard to cope with and process what Mary went through. I cant imagine the pain of watching my son be tortured and left to die for a cheering crowd. Ive asked Monsignor how she was able to bear it, how did she not try and rip him down from the cross. Monsignor says she had divine help, and John. The fact that she was human, and so young yet so faithful and strong is incredible. She is awe inspiring. My only hope is that she was reunited with her son very quickly, I couldn't live with out either of mine.
She is not named as among the women at the empty Sepulchre in the Resurrection narratives. A pious belief is that this was because Jesus naturally appeared first to the one person who has been with Him even until that point: His Mother.
As someone from an Asian context, I also understand this to be an expression of Christ’s filial piety towards His grieving Mother. The first person we still present ourselves to after an absence is our parents.
Mary was extraordinary. She was about sixteen years old when Jesus was born. The moment she said an unconditional yes to God, she was surrounded and protected by hordes of angels. She was completely free from sin of any kind her entire life. She was the strongest, most blessed woman that has ever walked the face of the earth ❤
My protestant brain has struggled with this for years (Mary raptured body + soul into heaven) yet I don’t question the same for Elijah in the Old Testament… surely if God was willing to take him he would be willing to take the blessed mother of our savior. Another point to the Catholics - every day I get closer to making the jump over
Protestant here.
With regards to the Catholic dogmas:
1. Mary is the mother of God. Everyone agrees with that, in the sense that Mary did not originate God. Everyone agrees except John MacArthur lol
2. I find the case for perpetual virginity stronger and stronger. The fact that Irenaeus and Polycarp believed this (with Polycarp having known John himself), it seems fairly likely.
3 and 4 is where trouble comes.
3. I mean the assumption/dormition is all well and good. I’m not saying it didn’t or couldn’t have happened, but it is not a fundamental of the faith. It shouldn’t be in any catechesis, and it isn’t so provable. The evidence that exists for it is dubious, far more dubious than the gospels or even the perpetual virginity. Or put in another way, if this didn’t happen to Mary, is the faith any different than before? And the answer is no. Very different than say questioning the resurrection.
4. The immaculate conception is just wild. This seems like hagiography. Why then if God preserved Mary from original sin couldn’t He have just preserved everybody? I mean everybody isn’t going to be as great as Mary, but surely it would help us right? I never understand this one. I get that the ideas go back further, but it became dogma less than 100 years ago. And also, if Mary is sinless, why does she need a savior? This one is kinda nuts.
Should note that the Orthodox don’t believe in the immaculate conception, because they believe in ancestral sin vs original sin.
Mary did have a savior, Jesus. Imagine this, a man falls into a pit (sin ) A savior pulls him out . In the same way the savior may warn the man of the pit before he falls into it , also saving him. This is how Mary is, Jesus saved her by his grace too before and keeping her from sin. Adam and Eve God created without sin , God can do it again and did with the mother of his son. She is Gods master piece, what He intended all of us to be.
As a Protestant seriously considering converting to Catholicism, Mary has often been one of my biggest points of doubt. Thanks for the video; I do like learning more and getting a better understanding
Im a recent convert from protestantism, I know it can be bewildering and feel alien.
Im still getting used to her, in daily mass however it's all about Christ, I do the rosary and slowly get to know her.
My point is: don't let the holy virgin be an obstacle because in her words: through her will the Lord be magnified.
She adds to His glory, not detracts.
@SJ-up9zq Because it is false. It is impossible not really hard.
For what it's worth, I'm a lifelong Catholic that accepts the doctrines
of Mary and she is very important. However, i understand people being cautious as there are some who can give the wrong impression focusing more on Mary than on the Trinity. But this was a good video accurately explaining what I always understood to be true. Praying God guide you to the truth.
Nothing is impossible with God.
Can I ask, what is so objectionable about Mary being preserved from all sin from the first moment of her conception in view of the merits of Christ, for instance? You think that to be impossible?
Protestant here. I do not venerate or ask for intercession from Mary or the saints but I will defend the Catholics that do. Jesus himself said that whoever is not against him is for him and Mary, as far as it seems, always leads back to Christ.
This is one of your best videos!
Mary, mother of God, please send aid to Father Casey to give him patience and wisdom in his efforts to reveal the Gospel to a new generation -needing your son Jesus like never before. Amen.
Hail Holy Queen Mother of mercy!
"Let those who think that the Church pays too much attention to Mary give heed to the fact that Our Blessed Lord Himself gave ten times as much of His life to her as He gave to His Apostles."-Ven. Fulton Sheen
Hail Theotokos ❤
Proverbs 3:5-6 EasyEnglish Bible
5 Trust in the Lord completely. Do not think that you understand things well enough for yourself. 6 Whatever you are doing, remember that the Lord is with you. Then he will show you the right way to go.
I'm joining LCMS
@@br.mwhat is LCMS
Fun fact about the Greek of “full of grace,” this is actually not precisely used for Jesus and St Stephen. For the latter two, the Greek is “pleres charitos” which is literally “full of grace” in an adjectival sense. However for Mary (and only one other place in Ephesians 1:6) the Greek “charis” is used in the verb form “charitoo,” in Mary’s case it’s “kecharitomene” which itself is a unique word not found anywhere else in the Bible or Greek literature, a special word for a special person. It’s a feminine present passive participle, which means “you who have been graced,” and since it’s such a grammatically rich word, it falls short without being translated “fully graced” rather than just “graced.”
Fully graced would mean the same as full of grace.
It means "one who has always been full of grace"
Hi there! I'm a Protestant who is watching some of these videos to better understand the Catholic view on some things, and while I disagree on a lot of your points, I'm grateful for the clear ways you explain things, and can tell that you have a genuine faith in Christ, which is great!
I do have a few questions/challenges for you though:
1. What do you take from Luke 11:27-28? In my eyes, Jesus seems to warn us against with the notion of raising Mary up too highly, and of focusing on her and her 'blessedness' too much, when our intention should be that of following God and His ways. (a similar notion is made in Mark 3:31-35) I appreciate that you said that the Catholic doctrine is not that of worship or idolisation towards Mary, but to me at least, many things about modern Catholicism (naming MANY churches after her, the obsession with her iconography, prayers to her, etc) seem scarily close to that, and can at times become idolatry in the lives of some who call themselves Catholic, and it worries me that the church almost seems to endorse that.
2. Isn't the doctrine that Mary never sinned in contrast to Romans 3:23, and doesn't it fly in the face of the fall of humanity, and the whole point of Jesus' death on the cross? You admit yourself that even Mary needed Christ Jesus as her saviour, but how could that be if she had never sinned & thus never been separated from the glory of God? I don't follow the logic there. Even to entertain the idea that God miraculously chose to restore Mary's fallen state so that she could never sin I simply ask the question of why would he do that for her but make any others sinless in a separate way through Jesus? Am I understanding correctly that in Catholicism the idea is that Jesus had to be born of someone sinless so that He would be sinless too? Because if so then it would follow that Mary's parents had to be sinless too, etc, which obviously doesn't make sense.
3. I find it worrying how much weight is placed in creating doctrine out of things that are not scripture in the Catholic church. I did a quick Google search on the Protoevangelium of James, and granted, Wikipedia isn't a great source, but it seems to me that that document was rejected my many in the church in its own time, including a Pope and a council, and it seems likely to have been a later apocryphal writing not traced to any actual eyewitness. Is that really the best source for the development and justification for doctrine? I will say that I'm not wholly opposed to the idea of Mary being a perpetual virgin and the 'brothers' of Jesus actually being cousins or the like (it definitely seems plausible), but I just don't see a convincing reason to hold that to be true.
With all this said, I do pray and hope the best for you and am grateful for your partnership in the Christian faith and for the good you do in sharing the message of Christ to people! May God bless you and I hope you continue to grow closer in knowledge of and relationship with Him. Amen!
Excellent summary. A lot packed into a short video. Thank you!
Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis! 💙
Father 🙏 what a great and simple explanation. You have a true calling of being a priest . God bless u
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus.
Nunc et in hora morris nostræ. Amen.
Maria madre della Chiesa intercedi per noi 🙏 grazie padre Casey catechesi perfetta
Regarding the angel Gabriel's greeting to Mary, "full of grace" is just one of the common translations into English, but the original Greek word in Luke 1:28 is κεχαριτωμένη (~kecharitomene). It is a 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘹 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘯 (i.e. a word that appears only once in the entire scripture) - so it is a rare and unique word - a perfective passive participle used as an adjective (in feminine form) - a more literal translation would be "has been fully graced" - it is 𝘯𝘰𝘵 the same word that is used in other New Testament occurrences of "full of grace" - it seems to describe only Mary. This fact in itself is one piece of Biblical evidence in support of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
Blessed mother please help me be obedient to God as you were.
The Apostolic Church presented a straightforward, realistic, and very human picture of Mary. Saintly, but not extraordinarily so, when compared to those having walked alongside Jesus throughout His ministry.
In John, Mary is mentioned in the inglorious request she made of Jesus at a wedding. His brothers clearly disbelieve Him. And Jesus tells John that she may be his responsibility at the darkest of times, during and following His crucifixion. Hence, the spiritual sword Jesus had explicitly mentioned bringing into the world through His ministry had divided even His own household.
For example, in Matthew 10:34-36 we read Jesus saying: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household."
Thus, as a new spiritual family called the Church was emerging amidst such conflicts, Jesus compassionately spoke to an immediate concern. However, from the beginning, Mary held and would have no special status or role....
Matthew 12:46-50: "While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Luke 11:27-28: "As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and blessed are the breasts that nursed You. But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Acts 1:12-14: "Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers."
Notice that in the above list of earliest Disciples, Mary was mentioned only after the women who regularly followed Jesus and just before His previously unbelieving brothers.
Therefore, it doesn't appear as though Mary was ever considered or presented as an extraordinary role model or guide when compared to any of Jesus's closest followers. Nor does she appear otherwise in writings from the earliest Fathers of the Church.
Nevertheless, if anyone can provide explicit Scriptural statements demonstrating the contrary position, please do so. As someone having been on a long spiritual journey, I am committed to finding Truth. And, apart from such revelation, all pertinent evidence suggests that worldly sentiment led to abstract eisegesis and over reaching in theological discourse. From these forces a grand and glossy but ultimately unwarranted and undesirable tradition has arisen within Christ's Holy Church.
Indeed, the first demon Jesus ever encountered was in a synagogue. That is, amidst the devout liturgical gatherings of God's own people. And the "Divine Mother" and "Queen of Heaven" motifs were commonplace in demonic ancient religion, including within Biblically and theologically compromised Israel itself (Jer. 44).
Moreover, prior to medieval Christian claims in regards to the Apostles, the Pharisees had already developed dogma based an alleged oral tradition having passed down alongside Scripture from Moses. A principle condemned by none other than Jesus: "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!"
Hence, all such historical realities clearly and intentionally warn us of the very subtle, yet powerful, ways in which "doctrines of demons" have been and can be introduced as if delivered by a Moses or the Apostles themselves.
Finally, let's hear from recognized authorities on the matter of Scripture vs developing Church Traditions in matters of theology....
Clement of Alexandria (d. ca. 216) said, “But those who are ready to toil in the most excellent pursuits, will not desist from the search after truth, till they get the information from the Scriptures themselves” (Stromata 7:16).
Hippolytus of Rome (d. 235) said, “There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures and no other source” (Against the Heresy of One Noetus 9).
St. Athanasius (d. 375) said, “The Holy Scriptures, given by inspiration of God, are of themselves sufficient toward the discovery of truth. (Orat. adv. Gent., ad cap.) “The holy Scripture is of all things most sufficient for us” (To the Bishops of Egypt 1:4)." "The Catholic Christians will neither speak nor endure to hear anything in religion that is a stranger to Scripture; it being an evil heart of immodesty to speak those things which are not written,” (Exhort. ad Monachas). “Vainly then do they run about with the pretext that they have demanded Councils for the faith’s sake; for divine Scripture is sufficient above all things; but if a Council be needed on the point, there are the proceedings of the Fathers, for the Nicene Bishops did not neglect this matter, but stated the doctrine so exactly, that persons reading their words honestly, cannot but be reminded by them of the religion towards Christ announced in divine Scripture.” (De Synodis, 6).
St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386) said, "We ought not to deliver even the most casual remark without the Holy Scriptures: nor be drawn aside by mere probabilities and the artifices of argument. Do not then believe me because I tell thee these things, unless thou receive from the Holy Scriptures the proof of what is set forth: for this salvation, which is of our faith, is not by ingenious reasonings, but by proof from the Holy Scriptures...Let us then speak nothing concerning the Holy Ghost but what is written; and if anything be not written, let us not busy ourselves about it. The Holy Ghost Himself spoke the Scriptures; He has also spoken concerning Himself as much as He pleased, or as much as we could receive. Be those things therefore spoken, which He has said; for whatsoever He has not said, we dare not say" (Catechetical Lectures, 4.17ff).
St. Gregory of Nyssa (d. 394) said, "What then is our reply? We do not think that it is right to make their prevailing custom the law and rule of sound doctrine. For if custom is to avail for proof of soundness, we too, surely, may advance our prevailing custom; and if they reject this, we are surely not bound to follow theirs. Let the inspired Scripture, then, be our umpire, and the vote of truth will surely be given to those whose dogmas are found to agree with the Divine words (Dogmatic Treatises, Book 12. On the Trinity, To Eustathius).
St. Ambrose (d. 396) said, “How can we use those things which we do not find in the Holy Scriptures?” (Ambr. Offic., 1:23).
St. Augustine (d. 430) said, "For the reasonings of any men whatsoever, even though they be [true Christians], and of high reputation, are not to be treated by us in the same way as the canonical Scriptures are treated. We are at liberty, without doing any violence to the respect which these men deserve, to condemn and reject anything in their writings, if perchance we shall find that they have entertained opinions differing from that which others or we ourselves have, by the divine help, discovered to be the truth. I deal thus with the writings of others, and I wish my intelligent readers to deal thus with mine (Letters, 148.15).
Holy mary mother of GOD pray for us sinners that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. 🙏🏽🙏🏽
Ave, gratia plena, Dominus tecum.
Salve. mater Dei!
The Hail Mary is one of my favourite prayers. Very powerful prayer
I read others that aren't Catholic sharing that the topic of Mary has stopped them.. It's ironic that as a Catholic, I went back because no one else honored her and the Rosary is a powerful prayer
What an amazing video. Another hit by friar Casey!
For scriptural references, there is also the Magnificat. The canticle of the Virgin Mary.
I wanna get better at praying can you give me some tips
Hi, Fr Casey, I'm confused about something re: timestamp 4:41. If Mary was really born without original sin, why would she still need a savior? Is it because she still had the potential to choose sin? Just trying to understand that particular doctrine.
Jesus opened the gates of heaven.
Just being without sin does not warrant someone heaven. This is a heresy called Pelagianism. All need a savior, sin or not.
Mary could not have been born with original sin, otherwise Jesus would have had it too.
Mary needing a saviour is often a protestant talkingpoint that somehow shows how it wouldnt make sense.
If you're interested explore the concepts of Mary as the ark, or the new Eve.
It should clarify things. :-)
an old adage to explain this is someone falling into a pit (sin). A savior (Jesus) comes along and pulls him out of the pit (the crucifixion). Another person (Mary) comes walking along and a savior (Jesus) grabs her (grace) before falling into the pit. In both examples, the person is saved from the pit by Jesus. One reactively and the other proactively.
By your logic Mary's parents couldn't have had original sin or else Mary would have had it too @@lebell79
Yes, there is a verse about Mary's assumption, "Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might." (Psalm 132:8)
As someone who is going through formation the devotion to Mary still gets to me. While there are passages to referencing reverence to his mother there church allows itself a lot of assumptions in this regard. I believe that all the eastern and western Catholic Churches hold truest to the form of the early church but it is Christianity and not Marianity this is to say that none of the other saints are venerated in this way and hardly any mention of Joseph’s role in this. There has to be better explanations that make direct connections to the assumption and the dogma that she was born without original sin. I love that we have a connection with our heavenly family and that they are continuously remembered and thought of just the elevation of Mary and truthfully the over veneration makes it easy for Protestants to say that the Chruch has strayed away from Christ and towards Mary.
We shouldn’t do things because of how others will perceive them, we should do things because they are good, true, and beautiful.
Look up the cult of the black Madonna. There has been some pagan worship blended in to Catholicism.
Mary is great, and Mary is wonderful. But ultimately Jesus is our only intercessor. We can approach him directly, with no intermediary. Mary I’m sure prays for us in heaven, but that’s not for us to know about.
But we need to spend time with Jesus. If you pray the rosary, you spend 10x the amount of time with Mary that you do with Jesus. Let that one boggle your mind a little bit.
I really don’t understand why it would matter to anyone if Mary was a perpetual virgin or not, if she had other children after Jesus or if she ascended directly into heaven. She is Jesus’ mother and that’s enough for me. She trusted completely in God’s will and that makes her someone to look up to.
It's a good start in life.
As humans we are naturally inclined to love and venerate our mothers.
Jesus was fully God and fully human. Jesus the child, the teenager, and the man loved and venerated his mother during his earthly lifetime.
He tells John from the cross "Here is your mother" which reinforces His earlier message to "Love, how I have loved"
And more simply, as living disciples of Christ we are called to follow his teachings and, within the limits of our imperfection, to emulate Him.
Jesus venerated His mother so we Catholics venerate her by His example.
As a protestant, I'll make the concerns I think most of us hold with these sort of views. The Bible tells us not to add or take away from the scripture. Why would we deny the scripture to go ahead and add to it things that may or may not be true? Whether it is proper to pray to Mary is irrelevant, the question is, does the Bible tell us we should. Who does the Bible say we should pray to? We may pray WITH other people, but we don't pray to mankind.
Some thoughts, respectfully.
We do not pray to Mary, we ask her to pray with us and for us to God almighty. Not worship, devotion. Do people (catholics) sometimes overshoot and end up focussing more on Mary than on Christ? Believing in practice that it's Mary who grants a prayer or works a miracle, not God through her intercession? They do. They're human. They're fallible. But it's not the church's teaching.
'Sola scriptura' is not in the Bible. Read that again, please. Discerning tradition as a legitimate source of faith (as the catholic church does) does not equal adding to or denying scripture. Ironically, 'sola scriptura' does precisely what you criticise here: advocating a manmade view inspired (according to protestants) by scripture.
God bless.
I always find it interesting when Protestants hold strong to the idea that we should not add or take away from the Bible, after taking away all the books of the Old Testament that supported theology they disliked.
I would say that remembering the things that have happened to Christian’s after the Bible’s narrative ends (assumption of Mary) is not adding to the Bible. That would be silly, is remembering the Protestant reformation or the crusades adding to the Bible? When some of those things that we remember are miracles, they have theological significance.
I would also say that studying how the earliest Christian’s organized, worshiped, and believed is not adding to the Bible, it is having the humility to accept that our first impressions and conclusions when we read the Bible may not be correct, and going closer to the source to see how the people taught by the apostles and disciples interpreted the same passages, and how they lived those out.
@@Christiaan-w8p To be completely fair, there are a few places where the bible does directly say "do not add or take away". Most are very clearly referring to their specific contexts, like Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18-19 - the former is in reference to the laws given in the surrounding text, the latter is for the book of Revelation.
HOWEVER, there are further unqualified examples that could be interpreted as applying to the bible as a whole, like Proverbs 30:5-6. It becomes a question of how to interpret the phrase "Every word of God", and whether this actually describes the Bible or is meant to refer to the "word of God" as the truth the Bible aspires to communicate, to use phrasing from other videos on this channel. 1 Corinthians 4:6 is somewhere between these two camps; it uses the phrase "do not go beyond what is written" to warn against placing your personal preferences/opinion above the scripture, but yet again there's a lot of nuance - Catholic discernment of tradition, the various councils with their rigor and scope, don't seem to fit the description of preference/opinion.
All of this said, the reason I ran into trouble being raised Lutheran was that the idea of "sola scriptura" relies on there being one universally agreed upon Bible as an unchallenged object and objective fact, which doesn't exist - the books vary between Catholicism, Orthodoxy (and even between Orthodox churches) and Protestants. As the Bible doesn't describe how to put the Bible together, sola scriptura is literally impossible: the question of what qualifies as scripture can never be resolved using its own method.
Thank you Fr... Can you point to the council that declared Mary's perpetual virginity as a dogma?
The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 A. D. and the Lateran Synod of 649.
The reasoning for belief in the Christian Mary as mother of God is as comprehensive as it can be, but these reasons always seem outweighed by the force of our universal instinct, our need for, and experience of, maternal love. ‘Mary' is the remnant in our mind of that moment all our mothers first gazed at us, unconditionally, bringing us into the world in an act of giving, in love, alone. The Christian Mary is that remnant transformed into Mythos. Powerful, mysterious, worth praying to, but with little to do with a carpenter’s wife who brought up her children in a humble village in Galilee.
Hello Fr Casey, as catechumen and newbie to christianity (I've yet to read the whole new testament) would you recommend I include devotion to Mary? Some would argue it'd derail from the main focus a relationship with Christ...
Any catholics reading this would love your advice too. I must say at time I resonate more with protestants...
according to the catholic church I could only be baptised in 2026 :/
Thanks in advance
The short answer: read and pray on the gospels first and foremost. Mary is also in there, but the focus is and should always be Christ. Get familiar with Christ's life and words, and especially his sacrifice. Everything else is commentary, respectfully.
Some thoughts to help you along (from my own experience).
Mary is no more and no less than a pathway to Christ (per Mariam ad Christum, through Mary to Christ). Any devotion you spend on Mary should point the way to Christ, not to Mary herself. She does not save, she guides you to He who saves. Feel free to (not) spend time with her, though as a catholic I do recommend it, if and only if she does not become the focus and goal of your devotion and prayer. It helps to realise, for example , that the rosary (intuitively seen as a devotional practice centred on Mary) is actually a meditation on the life and sacrifice of Christ, not on Mary. We pray to her to pray with us and for us, not to 'do' anything for us.
Also: I hope you're not in a hurry to be baptised. Fervour is great, but patience is much more valuable spiritually. Don't be tempted by any type of 'short track' in these matters. Quite the opposite: trust mainly those guides who tell you to take time for your relationship with Christ to unfold. Faith (= trust) does not come quickly.
Also: ask yourself why you 'resonate' with one or the other. Figuring that out will tell you a lot about yourself, your motivation, your hope, your trust.
Above all: pray. If nothing else (as a newbie), pray the Lord's Prayer every day, over and over again. It's all in there. It's a perfect starting point.
Hope you're going to mass regulary as well! The eucharist is what it's all about!
God bless.
Humanity was passed down from Adam and Eve...through so and so, and so and so, including Mary and then Jesus crucified that dead in sin FLESH! Including the dead in sin flesh of Mary!❤ PRAISE GOD!!!
Excellent explanation. Thanks again
I have very strong love as my patron supporter. I follow those beliefs from knights templar
7:25
The Chaldean Catholic Church, interestingly traditionally holds the view that Mary died and than was ascended to heaven.
What happened to the America’s Got Talent video? Been reading a LOT about it on the internet.
Idk, man. If, on one hand, you're saying that, "this is the church set up by Jesus the Christ, and all scripture is breathed by God," and then have to reference extra-scriptural texts to "prove" Mary "had no labor pains and was thus not subject to the punishment of Eve," then one of the two statements is wrong.
Scripture is correct, and the Catholic church is practicing idolatry. Mary is *literally* the mother of God, but not on par with Him.
Nowhere is she said to be free from original sin. If she were, she would be blameless, the same as our savior. She would literally be God. "Woman perfected."
That's not at all what the Canon-that you created and claim to be the literal word of God-says.
There’s a lot to talk about there, but I’ll just address one point. You said that if she was blameless than she would literally be God. That conclusion is not logical at all. Were Adam or Eve literally God? Are you literally God now that you have been baptized and original sin was washed away? Having original sin is an unnatural state for humans brought about by the mistakes of Adam and Eve, it’s not what separates us from being God.
She’s also at Pentecost
@BreakingInTheHabit, is it possible that like Jesus, Mother Mary is capable of being with us in spirit?
Thank you. 🙏
Thank you Father! 🙏🏼
The conversation about what exactly we believe about the Mother of Jesus is quite the story...and the conversation about her title "Mother of God" is quite the ne-story.
"You’re very clever, young man, very clever. But it’s turtles all the way down."
Mary is mentioned in Acts 1:14
So my "problem" with praying to Mary, or any other saint for that matter, is that they are not omnipresent like God is. And they can't hear my thoughts like God can because 90% of my prayers are in my head and not spoken.
The next thing, and that's just something personal, is that I don't ask anybody else to pray for me. If someone wants to pray for me and ask me, sure, I tell them.
Peace and love to all of you!
One last dogma remains to be defined which is “Mary as perpetual mother”
Isn’t she also mentioned in Acts when the apostles and others went into the upper room?
yes
I was a Protestant and then I convert to Catholicism
I still struggle with this doctrine.
If I don’t say the Rosary? Am I not saved ?
I have faith in my L-rd, Yeshua only. Is that not good enough ?
You are saved if you believe Jesus is our Savior, he was crucified for our sins, died and rose again from the dead then ascended into heaven. The Rosary isn't a necessity for salvation.
The Rosary is not a necessity for salvation. But is an extremely powerful weapon against any difficulties
@@David77757 It can be yes, but it's not required. I never said one growing up Catholic because my family never did so. I was never required to do so in Catholic school either.
@@m_d1905 It's still recommended that Catholics pray it; yes, it's not required, but it's a great way to invoke Mary's intercession and meditate on the mysteries of Christ.
@@hmmhmm7029 Oh definitely. I understand it can make some converts uncomfortable because of all they had been told about how "bad" it is before. It takes a while to completely let go of some things like that. I don't pray the Rosary as much as I should, but I read my great grandmother's old prayer book. It has the rites for Mass, many daily prayers, the Creeds, etc.
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Amen 🙏🙏🙏
When I have struggled with how “The Church” loved me , I always looked to Jesus and the love of The Virgin. God chose her specifically. Her lineage , her goodness , her religion , her heritage…. Jesus is the Lord and Mary is his “humanity.” Without her , Jesus would not be corporeal. Im
Colossians 2:8 KJV "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men (RCC traditions), after the rudiments of the world, and not after CHRIST (forgiven of all sin by GOD's grace through faith). 9 For in HIM dwells all the fulness of the GODHEAD BODILY.
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, HE has quickened (made alive) together with HIM, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to HIS cross;
20 Wherefore if you be dead with CHRIST from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances, 21 touch not; taste not; handle not; 22 which all are to perish with the using; after the commandments and doctrines of men (RCC traditions)?
There were several Traditions in place before the scriptural canon was decided. So Tradition isn't evil for goodness sake.
@@m_d1905 And this is what CHRIST said about them:
Mark 7:9 KJV "And HE said unto them, Full well you reject the commandment of GOD, that you may keep your own tradition.
13 making the Word of GOD of none effect through your tradition, which you have delivered: and many such like things you do."
Ironically your entire argument is from your tradition.
@@jacktracy8356 You realize that those putting forth these traditions came from the early church fathers and the ecumenical councils they called to debate and settle the traditions you dispise? Why are so many Protestants so dogmatic and legalistic? Jesus never was that legalistic.
@@ereinei Are you saying Holy Scriptures inspired by GOD to be written are traditions??? Even the RCC calls them Holy Scriptures and says they are an authority of the RCC.
Do Catholics believe Mary experienced pain in childbirth?
@SJ-up9zqNot necessarily. It's not a dogma and you can believe it or not without any problem.
As a lifelong Catholic, I'd never heard this question and never considered it. I'd think not, though, because if there was ever a baby whose birth would not hurt their mother, Jesus would be it.
No they don't. However that belief isn't a salvic one. If you don't agree, it doesn't affect salvation.
Edit: Typo
@@m_d1905 I just wonder where that belief comes from. We’re not told anything about that in scripture
@@hipchik30 Early church fathers I believe. If I recall correctly it was a tradition that was added to over time. It's been nearly 40 years since my Church History class in HS. So I'm a bit vague on the particulars. It is a very old tradition though.
Mariology & Josephology help us see better Christology!
So, this may come off as flippant as text does not convey tone, I'm a Protestant who grew up in Utah and I'm trying to understand, is this sorta like running to "Mom" when stuff is going bad because running to Dad is harder? I'm kinda guessing on that part as well as I grew up mostly in a single parent household. I know our language will always fail, I'm trying to wrap my mind fully around as I didn't mean a practicing Catholic in the flesh, to my knowledge, till I was late 20s. 😅😊🤗
No it is a throwback to pre-Christian ways... Backsliding. It appeals to young feminists, alluring and lonely old men. Hope this helps..
@@br.mNo, It doesn't help at all. It's false and not what the real Catholic devotion for Mary is. Ho away.
It’s a reasonable question, but the answer is that it’s not like running to Mom because Dad is harder. The rosary includes the Lord Prayer and Hail Mary, so explicitly praying to the Father is expected. Additionally, “prayer” is often interpreted differently by Protestants which leads to confusion. All it means is to ask - knowing what is asked of Mary vs the Father of Jesus may be helpful.
The Our Father is a request for specific actions - forgive us our sins, give us our daily bread, lead us not into temptation. The Hail Mary starts with two verses from the Bible (Luke 1:28 & 1:42). Then the request portion is “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen”. It’s a request for prayers on our behalf, much like you might ask a friend to pray for you. Not a direct action.
Why ask Mary for prayers? I’ll give an example as an analogy from my career. I was managing a manufacturing site in New York State when Covid hit. We knew some businesses were going to be required to close, but that we might qualify as a critical business that could remain in operation. We went through the formal request process the state required (a “prayer”, if you will). However, we also had an executive who had gone to law school with the governor - so we asked him to directly ask the governor if we could get a waiver to stay running (in other words, we asked the executive to “pray” for us). That allowed a much quicker channel for information flow, and we got an OK to stay running almost immediately.
Why do Catholics pray to Mary? It never hurts to have influential advocates, either on earth as in the case of the executive who was friendly with the governor - or in heaven when we ask Mary to advocate for us. But we still need to go through more official channels - either by filing out the appropriate paperwork or by praying directly to the Father (or Jesus).
I wouldn't say it's "preferring to go to Mom instead of Dad," but more like "going to Dad with Mom as backup." If you have ever asked another person to pray for you, or if you have ever offered to pray for someone, that is what praying to Mary should be like. If another asked you to pray for them, and you viewed prayer as an inherent act of worship, you could just as easily respond with a challenge that they somehow couldn't pray by themselves. But we are instructed to pray for each other. It stands to reason that we were obviously not being called to worship each other instead of God.
Asking the queen to intercede for us with the King who is her son. That pattern is described in the OT. The King respected his mother.
Did the BVM ask for the dogma of Mother of God?
Please please react to the Hunchback of Notre dame-or at least the song The Bells of Notre Dame!
+++ Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb. For you have borne for us the Salvation of our souls. Amen. +++
If Mary is our mother, is Abraham our father because Saint Paul calls him our father because of righteousness? So does this apply to Mary also go in the same direction?
And if one wants to be a catholic, he (or she) MUST believe all four marian dogmas.
Ave Maria gratia plena! ⚜️🤔
Mary has brought more people to the church than even Jesus. . That's simply historical fact. . I've personally not been to church in months, but still pray the rosary each day. . She is the one entity of Catholicism I will never turn on
Did Jesus the Saviour told you to worship or pray to Mary??
Every seed must die to bring forth good fruits so yes in my humble opinion I think she died before been assumed into heaven.
You said she's mentioned in the gospels, but not in the rest of the New Testament. Acts 1:14 says that "Mary the mother of Jesus" was with Apostles, devoted in Prayer, but maybe that's a different Mary, mother of a different Jesus 😅
6:41 Hebrew family structures included first cousins as brothers.
So… I admit I’m unconvinced, but that’s not really my major problem. If Catholics just believed these things, that’d be all very well, but what we’re told is that you *have* to believe these things to be properly a member of the Church. That’s what a dogma means, right? And you said it yourself, none of the scriptural passages are proofs of anything, and the ‘tradition’ is… well, it’s there, but most of the saints’ writings you’ve quoted are either legends or assertions rather than proofs. It shows that a fair few Christians believed it, sure, but it still leaves a lot of other Christians who don’t believe it and aren’t necessarily any the less Christian for it (including but not limited to modern Protestants.)
I guess that would be my follow up: say we don’t find these arguments convincing and read the scripture and don’t see the implication of an immaculate conception or perpetual virginity - well, so what? I get that the Catholic Church doesn’t teach sola scriptura, but not every belief that appears in tradition is dogmatised, so why this one?
The prophet Isaiah foretold of the Messiah being born of a virgin. Mary is also considered to be "the new Eve", and the "Ark of the Covenant" because within her body she held Jesus, the Bread of Life. Her body remained inviolate because of her role in our Salvation. That's why its important. The Fathers of the Church wrote about all of this if you want to explore it further, and all of this information (with references to the original sources) is contained in the Catechism.
Why do you hold the Bible as true but the writings of the Saints as "assertions"?
If a belief can reasonably be traced back to the Early Church, it's a possible teaching by the Apostles. The Bible is only known to be true by the tewchings of the Apostles, there is no other way to arrive at the doctrines about those books that you believe in.
Well the writings of the saints aren’t inherently just assertions. Saints’ writings can prove things, but in this case, the ones quoted only seemed to be stating the doctrine rather than demonstrating it. All these ones prove on this issue is ‘some people believed these things.’
That’s also the distinction between them and the New Testament: the reason why certain books are the New Testament and others aren’t, ultimately, is that they do have that apostolic authority. If something like the Proto-Gospel of James had that authority, it would be in the New Testament.
The thing is, you hit the nail on the head: ‘it’s reasonable to believe it’s an apostolic teaching.’ I agree, it is reasonable. I don’t necessarily believe it, but it’s perfectly reasonable for someone to look at the evidence and think ‘yes, that’s plausible, I can believe that.’ But a similarly reasonable person could also say ‘actually this doesn’t sound apostolic, it sounds like something that gained currency for some other reason.’ Or even just ‘this could be apostolic in origin, but there isn’t really enough evidence to be sure.’
Problem is, that’s not enough. These things are now dogmas of the Catholic Church: you *have* to believe them to be in full communion with the Church, at least officially. And I just don’t see anything that even came close to establishing them that strongly.
@@De-Nigma that's the role of the church though, to point to the correct interpretation out of the reasonable ones. I believe that the doctrine of the Trinity is for sure *reasonably* inferred from the Bible, but it's not unreasonable to harmonize the relevant text otherwise. (The most valid alternatives in my opinion are modalism and arianism).
So I'm glad we agree the witness of the saints raises the marian doctrines of the church from "possible" to "reasonable", I don't think strictly speaking you can do better than that
Never been this early before
What about Jesus’ brothers?
I'm not sure why Justin Martyr and St. Irenaeus would think Mary gave birth without labor pains when Revelation 12:2 says "She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.”
Just doesn't make sense to me.
Pay attention to the Blessed Mother: She will always point the way to her Son
Thanks.
Public comment was added to the comment section of this video.
You can’t love Jesus more than Mary and Joseph did and do!
Of course Mary was a Divine Incarnation, just as Jesus. Both played very important roles in the Divine drama.
Are you saying that Mary is God? Because that's what a Divine Incarnation is. And if that is what you are saying then I urge you to be very careful because that idea is not only unscriptural, but is literally blasphemy and idolatry. And it's not even what the Catholic church teaches!
@@m1chacha yes that is exactly what I mean.
I have a question as a non-denominational Christian, if God created Mary without original sin why doesn’t he do that with everyone? And why does she need a savior if she is in this state without sin? Obviously I think Mary just like everyone else needs a savior and I am fine with accepting some authority of church fathers but this bit seems to conflict with other core beliefs of Christianity
she needed a savior to preserve her from committing sin in the first place. she can never do it alone but only through God's grace, that is why she is called "full of grace".
she has to be sinless because of her vocation, she was called to be Holy Mother of God, the Holy Word of God Incarnate will be in her womb so she must be pure and clean, if you are God, are you gonna choose a defiled person?
she is perpetual virgin because she was prevented from being defiled by a man, she can do it because she obviously surrender her life to God.
i hope this helps, if you are open to more explanations, you can try listening to Catholic Answers. ✝️🙏
She carried God in her womb. Only one person has ever done that and only one person has ever been referred to as full of grace.
Also note she probably took a temple vow of virginity when she was very young (see Exodus, Numbers, 1 Samuel, 1 Maccabees, Josephus, and the Mishnah for details of this vow). The law said a man could abrogate that vow during the betrothal period. But if he didn’t abrogate it by the marriage ceremony then it remained in force and she would remain a virgin. They would have a continent marriage.
Joseph didn’t abrogate the vow.
It appears everyone is missing the point here. Sin is a creation of the church primarily for control. Remove “sin” from the church voids all its power & authority.
Everyone is made of the image & likeness of God. No one has any greater spirits or graces than anyone else. God only creates perfection. Nothing more, nothing less, otherwise Unity in the one body of God wouldn’t be possible. 🙏
@@catherinesarah5831
Sin is all around us, you see it every day. You can’t intellectualize it away. The idea that the Church created sin is laughable. Pride and greed and lust predate the coming of Christ, and they are in every culture and nation regardless of religion.
@@catherinesarah5831 Sin was a creation of man when he fell in the Garden of Eden. It's in Genesis 1-3. Remove sin and Jesus (and his church) would never have been needed and we'd all be in Eden in perfect union with God as we started.
There would be so much less anti-Semitism in the world, I believe, if Christians recognized Mary as the Jewish woman, which she was.
The Bible forbids to praying to the dead
Great video, Father. This would be a wonderful homily. I've read the Protoevangelium of James. It is a wonderful read. The description of Jesus's birth seems like something out of Star Trek. As Joseph and the midwife approached the cave, there was a bright flash of light. Transporter? This is totally tongue-in-cheek.
While it's not mentioned in the Bible, Mary must've been with Elizabeth at the time of John's birth. Gabriel told Mary that Elizabeth was six months pregnant. When Mary went to visit, it is stated that she stayed there for three months.
Thanks! Now do one on the 4 Josephite doctrines please! 💪👍
Title should be: The truth about Mary
The Protestant view on Mary is blasphemy. It’s also not rooted in scripture at all whatsoever. Martin Luther would agree, to the surprise of many Protestants.
Assuming that god is allmighty and omniscient, the most important fact of Mary is: Jesus is sole child in the world who was able to choose his mother. Even if nobody except Jesus is able to answer that question neutrally, given the close relationship of human beings to the own mother, what woman would an allmighty and omniscient person choose as mother among all women on the world? Can we say anything more elevating about a human being?
I’m a recent revert and I’m overwhelmed with the Marian worship. It never dawned on me as a kid but now I say over 80 Hail Marys a day, and less than ten our Fathers (which is how we are taught to pray in the Bible). I’m really upset by this
80? How on earth are you managing that? That's wild
Yes! I think watching 4 hrs of TV or playing games is much more useful to our souls. NOT!!!
You don't have to say that many Hail Mary's in a day. There is no prescribed amount. I recite it usually once daily, usually one Our Father and spontaneous prayer throughout the day. Devotion to Mary is efficacious when it draws us closer to her son (to Jesus through Mary). Look at your heart posture. If Mary draws you closer to her son, then that is good. If you find the Hail Mary's detracting, slow down a bit. Don't abandon our mother but realize she is there to magnify the Lord.
And why on Earth do you Say so many Hail Mary? No Catholic is requested to do so. You have to revere Mary and you CAN pray to her, but it's not mandatory. I for example never had such a devotion, though I believe in her immaculate conception, her virginal and divine pregnancy and in her assumptions, and also in her power of intercession to Jesus/God. These are truths of Faith, the rosary and other Marian devotion are not.
The Rosary is a vocal AND meditative prayer. You aren’t supposed to just recite the words of the prayers; you’re supposed to meditate on the mysteries (aka The Life of Jesus) as well. Do you meditate on the life of Christ while you go through the Hail Mary prayers? I’ve found the Rosary to be especially fruitful when I can look at an image or statue of Jesus or of Jesus and Mary together, because it helps me envision what it would be like to be in her position and what it was like for Jesus. I’ve been able to intellectually and emotionally feel closer to them through the Rosary
Pax et Bonum
Are we not allowed to talk about JC’s earlier performances, cos I favor a pigeon pie.
Probably not good to put too much trust in books that the early Christians specifically left out of the Bible because of heresy.
@@BreakingInTheHabit oh those pesky Sýnodos tês Nikaías
@@BreakingInTheHabit like the Protoevangelium of James? 😝
“……. left out of the Bible because of heresy” Or was it more Constantine’s need for utter control & power. Please list the heresies you claim were in these books to justify their non-inclusion. For a person in your position it is extremely poor form to use such a broad brush stroke sweeping everything that doesn’t conform to your biased analogy under the heresy carpet. You’re sounding more like a Jesuit every day 🙏
@@BreakingInTheHabit your more recent posts have been brilliant. Loved the flight post there is always a nun in the departure room… sorry. Sie I’m from another basis, but your recent posts have been ecumenical.
Her official title is. Saint Mary the Virgin.
Mother of God
Immaculate Conception of Mary
Never ever had this ever happened before
Mary s husband Joseph was obedient to God the author of life
Assumed into Heaven