The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubiroux, in Notre-Dame de Lourdes on 11th February, 1858. Since then, many miraculous cures, both spiritual and physical, have taken place. In 1907, Pope Pius X extended the celebration of this feast to the whole Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is blessed with a caring Mother who intercedes for her children in times of difficulties. Catholics should live up their faith and take care of the well being of all mankind. Tonight, in our Fundamental Theology class, there was a lively exchange over the four Marian dogmas. How appropriate it has been!
Fr. Peter Choy was making a point about the hierarchy of truth. He took the four Marian dogmas as an example.
The Christian faith is handed down through a deposit of revelation. The Bible and the teachings of the Church are the vehicles. The Bible is not self-explanatory. Interpretation is needed and thus teachings of the Church arise. When controversies arise and are settled, they become dogmas. In the early centuries, there were persecutions and Christians did not have the energy and the time to reflect on their faith. Time and situation change and new articulations of faith are demanded. When peace came at last to the Church some three hundred years after Christ, the witnesses of the apostles were insufficient to satisfy the new situation. The Church adopted Greek philosophy to explain her belief to the world. For the next few centuries, the Church had to struggle with how the divinity and humanity of Christ worked together. Many heresies arose either because they stressed too much on Jesus' divinity or too much on Jesus' humanity.
Mary is the mother of Jesus who is truly God and man. Thus, many Church Fathers have written about the BVM as the Mother of God. The issue was raised when Nestorius denied Mary the title of the Mother of God. A third ecumenical council was held in Ephesus in 431. Among the many issues discussed, the Council proclaims the BVM to be Theotokos, the Mother of God. This is the first Marian dogma.
The Christian faith is handed down through a deposit of revelation. The Bible and the teachings of the Church are the vehicles. The Bible is not self-explanatory. Interpretation is needed and thus teachings of the Church arise. When controversies arise and are settled, they become dogmas. In the early centuries, there were persecutions and Christians did not have the energy and the time to reflect on their faith. Time and situation change and new articulations of faith are demanded. When peace came at last to the Church some three hundred years after Christ, the witnesses of the apostles were insufficient to satisfy the new situation. The Church adopted Greek philosophy to explain her belief to the world. For the next few centuries, the Church had to struggle with how the divinity and humanity of Christ worked together. Many heresies arose either because they stressed too much on Jesus' divinity or too much on Jesus' humanity.
Mary is the mother of Jesus who is truly God and man. Thus, many Church Fathers have written about the BVM as the Mother of God. The issue was raised when Nestorius denied Mary the title of the Mother of God. A third ecumenical council was held in Ephesus in 431. Among the many issues discussed, the Council proclaims the BVM to be Theotokos, the Mother of God. This is the first Marian dogma.
Later, the virgin birth of Christ was questioned. In 649, the Church defended this in the Lateran Council which teaches that the Blessed Mother of Jesus Christ was a virgin before, during and after the conception and birth of her divine son. This becomes the second Marian dogma which teaches the perpetual virginity of the BVM.
In 1854, Pope Pius IX settled once and for all the controversy among theologians throughout generations over the Immaculate Conception of the BVM. By a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Saviour of human race, the BVM was preserved exempt from the stain of Original Sin the first moment of her conception. This is the third Marian dogma which defines the Immaculate Conception of the BVM.
In 1950, Pope Pius XII, exercising his infallibility authority in matters of faith and moral, proclaimed the corporeal assumption of the BVM as a dogma. This becomes the fourth Marian dogma in the Catholic faith. We should keep in mind that these Marian dogmas are meant to defend our faith in Jesus. They are not simply pious devotion towards his mother.
The nature of dogmas is rather defensive. They try to stamp out negatively misinterpretations rather than defining positively the contents of Catholic faith. Moreover, they are historically conditioned. Therefore, they should be understood in the historical context. On the positive side, dogmas are symbols rather than hard cast texts. They point to the direction towards which we should lead our life and practise our faith. Had Jesus been God and not man, we would not have enjoyed the freedom of believing him or rejecting him. We would not have been able to freely love him and our love of God would not have merited anything.
This morning, I met Susanna, my tutor and we shared our ups and downs. Her observation is sharp. She brings to my attention my frequent self descriptions as being extreme. Susanna told me that she had also gone through such a stage in her civil service career. Now that she has been through, she wishes that I will also do the same. I confessed that I had been rather diffident due to my upbringing but she saw otherwise. It is illuminating and very encouraging indeed. Thanks Susanna.
Dear Lord, I thank You for Your generosity in making the BVM our mother while You were still hanging on the cross. Let us lead a humble life after the model Your Blessed Mother has set before us. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment