|
Faith Alive! ----------------------------------------------------------- Mary and the world's divided Christians Time magazine's cover March 21, 2005, was an image of the Virgin Mary accompanied by the words "Hail Mary: Catholics Have Long Revered Her, But Now Protestants Are Finding Their Own Reasons to Celebrate the Mother of Jesus." Actually, the Virgin Mary never was absent from the Anglican tradition: Marian references were present in its feasts, prayers and hymns. But in May 2005, the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission released a document titled "Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ," the result of five years of preparatory meetings that reviewed the place of Mary in the Scriptures, in Christian tradition and in the life of the church. The document begins with areas of agreement between Anglicans and Catholics: Christ was "conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary." Mary received the unique vocation to be the mother of God incarnate. Mary is related to the doctrines on Christ and the church. Mary is a model of holiness, obedience and faith. The ecumenical document says that Mary's spiritual motherhood was manifest on Calvary: "Mary is seen as the personification of Israel, now giving birth to the Christian community just as she had given birth earlier to the Messiah." The document also notes the areas of disagreement. Anglicans have difficulty with the doctrines of the immaculate conception, defined in 1854, and the assumption, defined in 1950, because "they do not consider that the precise definitions given by these dogmas are sufficiently supported by the Scripture." (The dogmatic definitions of 1854 and 1950 gave scriptural references, but the principal witnesses were the church's tradition, the liturgy and the sense of the faithful.) Rather than reply with specific scriptural proof texts, the Catholic response given in the document was that the Marian doctrines formulate a faith "consonant" with Scripture. In relating Mary to Christ and the church, Vatican Council II placed the immaculate conception and the assumption within a scriptural and ecclesial context. The Marian doctrines are "gift" and "blessing" illustrating the mystery of Christ and the church. God willed the assent of "this predestined mother," and through "the gift of sublime grace" Mary was formed by the Holy Spirit as the "new creation." She is the image of the church, which aspires to be, in St. Paul's words, "without sin and stain" (Ephesians 5:27). The Anglican-Roman Catholic document continues this approach, relying on the epistles of St. Paul to show that the Marian doctrines are consonant with and illustrate the great scriptural themes: God's election and predestination; Christ as the new Adam and the beginning of the new creation; the final resurrection. Mary is both the personification of the people of Israel and the first to enter into the new creation. St. Paul, the ecumenical document points out, speaks of the future retrospectively when he says that "those whom God predestined he also called; those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified" (Romans 8:30). St. Paul also said that God's saving promise given in Christ includes the gentiles: "All Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26). This pattern of grace and hope, foreshadowed in Mary, will be fulfilled in the new creation in Christ when "all of us ... are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18). God was at work in Mary from her earliest beginnings, preparing her for the unique vocation of giving birth to the new Adam "in whom all things in heaven and earth hold together" (Colossians 1:17). The ecumenical document says it can be said of Mary, both personally and as a representative figure, that she is "God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God has prepared in advance" (Ephesians 2:10). The document concludes that "in Christ, Mary is already a new creation." This perspective, it says, "illuminates our understanding of Mary's person and calling. In view of her vocation to be the mother of the Holy One (Luke 1:35), we can affirm together that Christ's redeeming work reached 'back' in Mary to the depths of her being and to her earliest beginnings. This is not contrary to the teaching of Scripture and can only be understood in the light of Scripture" (No. 59). In the assumption, the document explains, we see in Mary "the final destiny of God's people to share in Christ's victory over the powers of evil and death" (No. 30). "Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ" outlines a trajectory of Christ's saving grace operative within a daughter of Adam from her earliest moments to her final glorification, a daughter who freely consented to God's word. Vatican II called Mary a "sign of hope" to Christ's people, who see in her what the church and its members one day hope to be. The Anglican-Catholic document is proposed for our study, discussion and prayer. Although not an authoritative agreement between the two churches, the text appears on the Vatican Web site () of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Marianist Father Thompson is director of the Marian Library at the University of Dayton, Ohio. Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service/U.S Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service. http://www.catholic-courier.com |