{"id":16133,"date":"2013-04-08T07:00:57","date_gmt":"2013-04-08T14:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/?p=16133"},"modified":"2015-02-02T16:10:33","modified_gmt":"2015-02-02T23:10:33","slug":"where-does-mary-fit-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/2013\/04\/08\/where-does-mary-fit-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Where does Mary fit in?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since today is the Feast of the Annunication, I thought I’d post a quick response to a recent question asked by a non-Catholic:<\/p>\n

“1 Timothy 2:5 says ‘For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus’. How does Mary fit into this?”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Other Mediators<\/h2>\n

Initially, my friend’s objection seems quite valid. However, in it there lies a faulty assumption. He assumes that 1 Timothy 2:5 asserts the\u00a0absolute,\u00a0total\u00a0and\u00a0exclusive<\/span>\u00a0mediation of Jesus alone<\/span>.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0I have no doubt that, in times of trouble, he asks for the prayers of his friends, family and pastor. Now, when he does this, he is asking for them to stand in between him and God. In other words, he is asking for mediation. So the question isn’t so much how Mary<\/span>\u00a0fits in with this passage, but how his friends, family and pastor fit in!<\/p>\n

Now, of course, this chap’s\u00a0friends and family take nothing away from the mediation of Christ. Pope Leo explained it thus:<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly the name and attributes<\/span> of the absolute Mediator<\/span> belong to no other than to Christ<\/span>, for….\u00a0He restored the human race to the favor of the Heavenly Father\u2026 And yet, as the Angelic Doctor teaches, \u2018there is no reason why certain others<\/span> should not be called in a certain way<\/span> mediators between God and man, that is to say, insofar as they cooperate<\/span> by predisposing and ministering in the union of man with God<\/span>\u2019 (Summa, p. III, q. xxvi., articles 1, 2)<\/em> – Pope Leo XIII, Fidentem piumque animum<\/em><\/a> 3<\/span><\/p>\n

By quoting St. Thomas Aquinas,\u00a0Pope Leo tells us that nothing can replace Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. In that sense, Jesus’ mediation is unique. However, His mediation is not<\/span> to the complete exclusion of all<\/span> others.<\/p>\n

The will of God<\/h2>\n

If we go back a few verses and look at the beginning of the chapter we find Paul saying the following:<\/p>\n

\u00a0I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people<\/span>\u00a0\u2014 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.<\/em>
\n– 1 Timothy 2:1<\/span><\/p>\n

Here Paul urges that intercession be made for “all people”<\/em><\/span>, especially for rulers. He’s asking Timothy and the local congregation to intercede for others. But wait, isn’t there only one<\/span> mediator between God and men?<\/p>\n

Clearly Paul doesn’t think that what he’s saying conflicts with the mediation of Christ. Neither does asking for the intercession of those who stand before the throne of God in Heaven.\u00a0We are a family.\u00a0We pray for one another.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since today is the Feast of the Annunication, I thought I’d post a quick response to a recent question asked by a non-Catholic: “1 Timothy 2:5 says ‘For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus’. How does Mary fit into this?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,17],"tags":[2969,925,20,1865,1864],"class_list":["post-16133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apologetics","category-faith","tag-featured","tag-intercession","tag-mary-the-saints","tag-mediation","tag-our-lady-of-guadalupe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16133"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86642,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16133\/revisions\/86642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}