LETTER 83: ANOTHER DENIAL: STATUS OF MARY OUTDOOR GOSPEL WORKERS BROOKLYN, N. Y. Sirs: For lack of right-reasoning, in the name of reason, the bunch of leaflets you sent to the Catholic Campaigners For Christ, of which I am Director, deserves a booby prize. Let's look at one of them, a sample of the others, the one entitled "No Mother," which is an assault upon Catholics for honoring the Mother of the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. "Come now friend," say ye, "let us REASON together (emphasizing the word reason): God has no mother: God always existed. Since a mother must exist BEFORE her child, if you speak of a 'mother of God' you are therefore putting someone before God." Poor REASON! How many are the inane concepts uttered in her name by "Bible Christians"! Your Outdoor Gospel Crew ought to attend a Catholic Sunday School. Therein they might be brought to the realization that the declaration, "God has no mother: God always existed" applies not to "the WORD MADE FLESH WHO DWELT AMONG US," as Christ in His humanity is designated by St. John in the first part of his Gospel.   The Catholic Sunday School instructor would teach you, from the Bible, your only rule of faith, that it is not "blasphemous gibberish" to claim that "Dear Mary, blessed Mary, holy Mary" is "the mother of God"; that is the Mother of Jesus, Who is One Person with two natures, human and Divine that were united in the womb of Mary, hence she is truly the Mother of God. Each of our mothers is the mother of the whole man, that is of his soul as well as his body; yet the body only came from the mother, the soul was infused by God. Moses foretold that the Messiah (the Christ) would come from the "seed" of a "woman" (Gen. 3:15); and Isaiah said He would be "the Emmanuel, God with us" (7:14); "God the Mighty" (9:6), hence the "woman" would be the Mother of God. It is simply amazing to see circulated in print, by an assumed-to-be Christian group, the declaration that it is "blasphemous gibberish" to designate Mary, who is the Mother of our Redeemer, the "Mother of God"; that "Mary would weep broken-heartedly" if so designated during her sojourn on earth. I say amazed, though I ought not to be amazed considering that the Protestant principle of the Bible, privately interpreted as the only rule of faith, has led to all kinds of false and sometimes absurd concepts, even to causing some folk to indulge in the "custom of masticating a page of the Bible as a cure for ailments" (N. Y. Times, Nov. 25, 1948). Evidently your hostility to Catholic honoring of the Blessed Virgin Mary, beclouded your realization of the Biblical historical fact that the Angel Gabriel said that "the Holy One (Jesus) to be born (of Mary) shall be called the Son of God," Son with a big S (St. Luke 1:36). Also the Biblical historical fact that Mary heard herself called "the Mother of my Lord" by her cousin Elizabeth. And instead of weeping or being broken-hearted, the God-child in Mary's womb leapt with joy at the salutation, as St. Luke tells us; and Mary was so ecstatically joyful that she gave voice to the Magnificat (St. Luke 1:46-55). In it Mary stands forth as the Second Eve, whose "soul did magnify the Lord"; in contrast to the First Eve, who demagnified God through disobedience to His command.   Catholics are proud to honor Mary; to bestow honor upon her second to the honor they bestow upon her Divine Son, Jesus, primarily because she is the Mother of Our Lord. Yet Catholics honor Mary for her personal virtues as well. She is, and ever will be the ideal maiden, virgin, mother and widow. Rich has Israel been in the women she gave to the world. Among them was Rebecca, the beautiful bride, who gave the world Jacob, father of the twelve sons from whom came the twelve tribes of Israel; Miriam the prophetess, the savior of the life of Moses, her brother; Deborah, the heroic judge of Israel: Esther, the defender of her people; as well as the valiant Mother of the Maccabees. Yet none of these women were of the spiritual stature and import of the Jewish maiden Mary, the Virgin of Virgins, whom Isaiah said, seven centuries before the Christian era, would "conceive and bear a Son, ... and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God the Mighty, Father of the world to come, Prince of Peace" (7:14; 9:6).   Catholics honor Mary, who was given to mankind by her Son as its Spiritual Mother during his suffering and dying hours (St. John 19:27). It was through Mary's intercession with her Divine Son that the host at the marriage feast in Cana was saved from embarrassment, and the joy of the guests enhanced. And Mary continues to intercede for those who appeal to her. Catholics believe, and they have evidence to sustain the belief, that no request made by Mary of her Son is ever denied.   Mary was present praying with the Apostles in the Cenacle, the Jerusalem Catholic Cathedral, the mother of all Christian churches, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Hierarchial Twelve who formed the beginning of the Catholic Church; and Mary has never left, nor will she ever leave that Church. Mary proclaimed in the Magnificat that "future generations will call me blessed" (St. Luke 1:46-55), and Catholics are proud to be of those, generations, as were their forbears for over nineteen centuries. Considering that God The Father honored Mary, by selecting her to be the mother of His Son, is it not proper, aye, are we not obligated to honor her? The answer of Catholics is expressed in bestowing upon Mary the highest possible honor that can be bestowed upon a human person. May the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary with her Son, Jesus Christ, bring you forgiveness for your offensive Outdoor Gospel Work. Sincerely in the Lord and His Blessed Mother, David Goldstein. Contact Us HOME------------TRADITION www.catholictradition.org/Tradition/goldstein83.htm