prose Posted March 12, 2007 Share Posted March 12, 2007 In my class last week we were discussing Mary as archetype of the Church. Now, one of the parts of the lecture was about Mary being a perfect example of what humanity can and should live up to. How can we live up to Mary when she was born without any sin? I just don't get that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkwright Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 [quote name='prose' post='1212628' date='Mar 12 2007, 03:33 PM']In my class last week we were discussing Mary as archetype of the Church. Now, one of the parts of the lecture was about Mary being a perfect example of what humanity can and should live up to. How can we live up to Mary when she was born without any sin? I just don't get that.[/quote] Just because she didn't have sin doesn't mean she wasn't tempted. The fact that she never did sin is what we should do our best to emulate. She was 100% human and not devine (as opposed to Jesus) so for some its a more realistic model to go for. Concupiscence doesn't make us sin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jswranch Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 [quote name='prose' post='1212628' date='Mar 12 2007, 03:33 PM']How can we live up to Mary when she was born without any sin?[/quote] Continue to participate in God's grace. As long as we follow Christ, He will eventually change us to conform to all her way, in this life or the next. Through your baptism, you have been born again without any stain of sin either. The difference is that we need to learn to die to our sinful urges and learn His ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resurrexi Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 [quote name='rkwright' post='1212721' date='Mar 12 2007, 06:09 PM']Just because she didn't have sin doesn't mean she wasn't tempted. The fact that she never did sin is what we should do our best to emulate. She was 100% human and not devine (as opposed to Jesus) so for some its a more realistic model to go for. Concupiscence doesn't make us sin.[/quote] Mary was free from all moments of concupiscence... [quote][b]Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by L. Ott:[/b] From her conception Mary was free from all motions of concupiscence. (Sent. communis.)[/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prose Posted March 13, 2007 Author Share Posted March 13, 2007 I can understand why she needed to be sinless to carry Christ. I get that. I even get her level of holiness. What I don't get is how we, stained with original sin, can possibly rise to the level of a purely holy and completely sinless person. Does God's grace wipe away all of these stains in this life if we let Him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jswranch Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 [quote name='prose' post='1213043' date='Mar 13 2007, 11:30 AM']I can understand why she needed to be sinless to carry Christ. I get that. I even get her level of holiness. What I don't get is how we, stained with original sin, can possibly rise to the level of a purely holy and completely sinless person. Does God's grace wipe away all of these stains in this life if we let Him?[/quote] First, remember that we do not rise, but are risen. We just participate with the grace that scoops us up. Second, yes God does wipe away the sins at every valid confesssion. Temporal punishment is another matter. Third, God is and will raise us up to her level over time. We just have to stay on the hay-wagon on the way from baptism to heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffpugh Posted March 17, 2007 Share Posted March 17, 2007 I remember at our diocesan youth festival last year we had Chris Padgett from Steubenville come and give talks and he said if we want to get close to Christ we have to be like Mary... Purity is important... she can help us be like her! Also... It's interesting how we say Mary is 100% human, and Jesus is 100% human and 100% divine. How many people realize the emphasis on the percentage of human though? We as sinners become less human when we give into temptation... in fact the best example of what can happen to us is Gollum from Lord of the Rings. He is an ex-hobbit because he let the temptation of the ring control his being... just some thoughts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkwright Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 [quote name='StThomasMore' post='1212814' date='Mar 12 2007, 09:49 PM']Mary was free from all moments of concupiscence...[/quote] Careful, you're putting words in my mouth and making assumptions I don't... I never said Mary had any moments of concupiscence. I said concupiscence doesn't make us sin. Meaning = Even though we have concupiscence and Mary did not, it does not make us sin, therefore we can be more like Mary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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