There's Something About Mary...

[MissyP89]

And I just don't get it.

The whole mediatrix thing.

The saints say she's our mediator before Jesus. [i]Ad Jesum per Miriam..[/i]and to God through Jesus.

But then there are folks like Ignatius and Kolbe and Montfort that say we should never approach Jesus. She should be the sole mediatrix between us and Jesus. Their work received Imprimaturs and Nihil Obstats,

...How?

What about Paul?

What about the whole "no mediator" bit in 1 Timothy?

I understand the concept of intercession, and am very comfortable asking the saints for their aid and prayers, especially those of my Mother.

But this mediatrix business just makes me squirm.

Somebody talk to me. I want to understand.

Edited September 30, 2012 by MissyP89

[Egidio]

I will get back to you with references later, but I have to go to Mass soon, so I will leave you with this thought for now.

The entire life of Mary is directed towards Jesus; He is Her sole reason for existing, and yet it was through Her the HE came into existence as man. The Immaculate was the Mediatrix, through which Jesus came into the world. Once God, by His decree established that Mary was to be the Gate for His 'entrance' into the world' (She is the 'Gate of Heaven ' after all), God 'decided' that this would be the way things remain, that is, that Mary would always be the Mediatrix of Jesus for the world!

This does not mean that we can not go to Jesus directly, for he remains the sole mediator between God and man (because He [i][u]is[/u][/i] God and man), but by God's Holy Will, every grace we receive from Jesus, comes through the hands of Mary, as She is the Mediatrix between Jesus and the world.

This mediation is not necessary in the absolute sense (i.e. that God couldn't do it in another way), but it becomes absolutely necessary because God Wills it!

Hope this makes it clearer.

[font=comic sans ms,cursive][size=5][color=#000080]AVE MARIA!![/color][/size][/font]

[AnneLine]

Edigio, you said that beautifully - thank you.

Missy.... Ok, this is a silly image, but it works for me.... to say roughly the same thing....

Think of the story of the Wizard of Oz. (Yes, I really did say that....)

Think of Dorothy, the Tin Woodman, The Lion and the Scarecrow. Each one NEEDS to go to see the wizard, each is very aware of his or her own deficiencies, and each needs help from the others to have the courage and generosity to go to the wizard, yes? Yes, each could have gone to see the wizard of Oz by his or herself, but it just is EASIER to have someone to go with you... and if there was one who had already been tehr, done, that, and would be empathetic to our needs and able to help us to do it... well, why WOULDN'T we get help from that person?

Well, as I see it, that is Mary's role - she's a human, we can relate to her and go to her and she is more than willing to hold our hands (or yank our tails if needed--right cowardly lion?!) and together she helps us to approach our Lord.

Mary's entire be-ing, her reason for be-ing, is to help us go to Jesus and the Father through the overshadowing of the Spirit... Christ is the mediator between us and the Father, and she is is in that sense our mediator (the female verson, 'mediatrix') between us humans, Jesus and the father.

At least that is how I see it....

[i]....but I ain't no church scholar, so go ahead and correct me..... or clean up my analogy as necessary.....[/i]

[sixpence]

yeh it is tough to really understand. My limited understand is this:: Nothing is stopping us from going to directly to Jesus (nothing is "wrong" with it). But it is an exercise in humility to go through Mary, who will take our prayer and surely make it more presentable in the eyes of God. A very silly analogy might be that you are requesting something or giving something to some superior and his wife is willing to look it over for you and make it the best it can be (having a much more intimate relationship with the person that you, she knows what is effective and appropriate). Is there ANY reason to turn down their offer?

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='MissyP89' timestamp='1349045613' post='2488560']
But then there are folks like Ignatius and Kolbe and Montfort that say we should never approach Jesus. She should be the sole mediatrix between us and Jesus. Their work received Imprimaturs and Nihil Obstats,[/quote]

Keep in mind that Imprimaturs and Nihil Obstats don't necessary mean everything written within is spot on correct. Of the authors you mention, the only one I have read is Montfort's "True Devotion to Mary." I didn't take from this book that we should never approach Jesus. Quite the opposite: we should cling as close to Jesus as humanly possible.

My take is this: What he says about Mary is we best follow in the footsteps of Jesus by holding close to His Mother. Think of our lives as a longly-extended Stations of the Cross. What was the first thing Jesus did in the flesh? He gave his flesh completely to Mary's care. And every step along the way, Mary shows the way to follow Christ and love Him completely.

[quote name='MissyP89' timestamp='1349045613' post='2488560']
What about the whole "no mediator" bit in 1 Timothy?
[/quote]

Christ is our Mediator in that He alone is both human and divine, and as Priest He sacrificed His flesh in order to reconcile the human race to God. Mary is unique in that she is only human and not divine. Her role is to show us how to follow Christ in our humanity. She is a mediator in the human sense, more like in the way any of us might lead another to Christ. And while there is a difference in that she is perfect and we are filled with sin, what we have in common is that none of us (especially Mary) finds Christ or leads another to Christ outside of the completely free gift of God's grace.

Perhaps the distinction in more apparent between the Ascension and the Assumption. In the Ascension, Jesus rose to Heaven by His own authority and power. He is God. In the Assumption, Mary was taken up to Heaven. She could not go to Heaven on her own, so Jesus took her up.

Edited October 2, 2012 by LouisvilleFan