There are five dogmas of the Blessed Mother Mary proclaimed by the Catholic Church. Okay, some would say that dogma could not save us but love. However, dogma helps us get to know God who is Love and the source of love. It also shapes our relationship with God.
In 431 AD was “Mary, Mother of God”. It is often known as the Theotokos. The belief in polytheism was still pervasive at that time. Even the Arians could not accept the divinity of Jesus. To them, Jesus was a lesser god, an intermediary between God, the Cause and humanity.
Mary as the Mother of God was quite difficult to conceive because Mary isn’t a goddess; And if she isn’t a goddess but a human, how could she possibly be the Mother of God.
Like all dogma, the focus must be on the truths of God. This dogma affirms that Jesus is God and in His humility and love took Flesh and became Man. So, Mary is the mother of the Man Jesus, but then, Jesus is not half man and half God. He is fully human and fully divine. Jesus is God and there is a seamless nature in Him. And so, Mary is the Mother of God.
All Christians are awed by this love of God who had reached out to us – to redeem us. Jesus entered the human family so we, in turn, can enter the family of God.
“Mary was ever Virgin” was proclaimed in 649. Again, this points out to Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament’s promise of a Messiah. Mary was ever Virgin affirms the divinity of Jesus Christ. How? If Jesus is truly God, then, no one in humanity can share the same womb that God had occupied. He had already in His humility chosen to take abode in the womb of a woman. He couldn’t possibly have half-brothers who would be half-gods.
In our relationship with God, Jesus came as Son so we could be adopted children of God. It is an invitation to become heirs and heiresses to His Kingdom.
On December 8, 1854 was the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. It states that Mary was free from original sin. Of course, it makes sense that Jesus would take abode in a womb that had no sin. Jesus is God and sin is contrary to His nature, He couldn’t possibly make His first earthly Home be stained with sin. Tabernacles of the Jewish and Christian Traditions guard the tabernacle from impurity and Mary was definitely the first tabernacle.
We are reminded that our relationship with God requires a choice – to keep away from sin. It is purity and sanctity that is our ultimate goal and that is love.
Pope Pius XII declared the dogma of the Assumption of Mary on November 1, 1950. Mary, needed to be assumed body and soul, not through her efforts but by God’s power. God had promised a resurrection – a new Jerusalem in His Second Coming. The assumption of Mary affirms God’s promise as true.
This dogma helps us to focus not just on our earthly life but also on our eternal life. Amidst the travails of this world, there is always that hope for a place where only love exists.
On November 21, 1964, Paul VI proclaimed Mary as Mother of the Church. Again, we are reminded of the familyhood that God had established Jesus is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride. The wedding feast prefigures the feast of being a part of our Eternal Home in the Kingdom of God.
We are family- brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. It also stresses that the sense of family must never be lost in our earthly pilgrimage. As God had gathered us all into one humanity created by One and the Same God, we are also given a mother. We are never orphaned.
It’s a time for Mary as Co-redemptrix with the Redeemer. Jesus ALONE saves but we need to be reminded that everyone has a role in salvation history. We affirm Jesus as the Messiah and as a response to Him, we must do our part in the salvific plan of God just as Mary did. We are co-workers in Truth and it is not “Jesus and me” is enough, we have a responsibility and a connection with other people, too.
In our world, where there is much division and isolationism, the dogma of Mary as Co-redemptrix will remind us of the participatory role of each one in God’s plan. And in a world of broken families, broken traditions, broken friendships, broken marriages, broken people, and broken lives, it is a time for co-redemption.
Divided we fall, united we stand a chance for love and salvation.
