The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 71: Mary’s Virginity (2024)

Episode Date: March 11, 2024

The Catechism tackles a few important issues regarding Mary, the mother of God—her motherhood, her virginal conception of Jesus, and her perpetual virginity. Fr. Mike reminds us that, regardless of the opinions of translators and modern theologians, our Faith steers us towards a correct understanding of our Blessed Mother. Today's readings are Catechism paragraphs 495-501. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plant of sheer goodness for us, revealed in Scripture and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in a Year is brought to you by ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. It is days 71. My goodness, we're reading paragraphs 495 to 501 as always. I am using the Ascension Edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Also,

you can download your Catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash c-i-y. and you can also click follow or subscribe in your podcast app to receive daily updates and daily notifications. As I said, it's day 71 reading paragraphs 495 to 501. We are deep now in this section that talks about what the Lord has done, how the Lord came to us through the Blessed Virgin Mary. So yesterday we talked about the fact that Jesus was truly born of the Blessed Virgin Mary and that God had called forth Mary.

He had a plan for her, a mission for her, and he gave her everything that she needed to accomplish that mission, including the fact that she was immaculately conceived. She was preserved from all stain of original sin by the merits of her son's future life, death, and resurrection. And so that's this key thing we had. And then her humble submission, her humble yes to God, which is what we're called to do. Now, today we're going to launch into three other kind of notes. One is Mary's divine motherhood that we've already mentioned this before, but she is the Theotokos, right? She is the mother of God in a real way. Also, that Mary was a virgin, that Jesus was conceived virginally by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary.

So there's no human father in Jesus' life, and that conception happened in a miraculous way. And thirdly, that Mary remained ever virgin, and that's a really key thing. So all of those things are very, very important. First the motherhood of Mary, that she's God's mom, the mother of God here in the second person of the Trinity, conceived in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. That conception happened in a virginal way and the Mary remained ever virgin. Now there's going to be some thoughts of like, wait a second, I understand that the being,

the person in the womb of Mary is the divine person of the second person of the Trinity. I get it with a human nature and a divine nature. So yes, you can say that Mary is the mother of God. I get it. I also get that very clearly says in Scripture that the Holy Spirit will overshadow you, Andrew Gabriel, right? Talking to Mary, the power of the Most High will come upon you, therefore the child to be born will be called Holy the Son of God. I get it. There's no human father in part of that conception, I mean. Of course, we have Joseph, his foster father, but no biological father. I get that too. Sometimes when people get hung up

is on the reality that Mary was ever virgin, right? That she did not enter into the sexual embrace over the course of her life. Now, the reason why people would have an issue about this is because there is an objection that says, well, the Bible sometimes mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. What do you do about that? Great question, camper. We're going to talk about that today. All three of those things. The motherhood of Mary, the Mary's virginity, and her being ever virgin. But as we launch into that, let's open up with a prayer. Father in heaven, we praise you and give you glory. We thank you so much for bringing us to this day. We thank you for continuing to just illumine our minds and open up a path before us. We know, Lord God, that your word is a lamp into our step

and light into our path. We know that your word is in sacred scripture. And also your word is that second person of the Trinity, the word become one of us. We know that our Lord God, you Lord God, light our way. In the midst of darkness, whether that be darkness of not understanding, darkness of confusion, darkness of difficulty, darkness of suffering and grief, oh God, you continue to light our way.

Walk with us today and guide us today. Be the lamp unto our feet today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Also, as we get started, I want to say thank you so much once again. Just man, here we are in day 71. I don't know if you thought, okay, you know, when it comes to the Bible, I can totally do that. Maybe get lost a little bit, but the Catechism, if you made it to day 71, if you made it to today, that's no small feat. That is pretty amazing. Those are big feet.

So great work. I'm really proud of you as we launch into day 71, paragraphs 495-501. Mary's Divine Motherhood. Called in the Gospels, the Mother of Jesus, Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son as, the Mother of my Lord. In fact, the one whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence, the Church confesses that Mary is truly Mother of God.

Theotokos. Mary's virginity. From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit without human seed. The Father's sea in the Virginal Conception, the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came in a humanity like our own.

Thus, St. Ignatius of Antioch at the beginning of the second century says, You are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin. He was truly nailed to a tree for us in his flesh under Pontius Pilate. He truly suffered, as he is also truly risen. The Gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility. That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, said the angel to Joseph about Mary his fiance. The church sees here the fulfillment of the

divine promise given to the prophet Isaiah. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. People are sometimes troubled by the silence of Saint Mark's gospel and the New Testament epistles about Jesus' virginal conception. Some might wonder if we were merely dealing with legends or theological constructs not claiming to be history. To this, we must respond. Faith in the virginal conception of Jesus met with the lively opposition, mockery, or incomprehension of non-believers, Jews and pagans alike. So it could hardly have been motivated by pagan mythology or by some adaptation to the ideas of the age. The meaning of this event is accessible only to faith, which understands in it the connection of these mysteries with one another in the totality of Christ's mysteries, from his

incarnation to his Passover. Saint Ignatius of Antioch already bears witness to this connection, stating, "...Murys virginity and giving birth, and even the Lord's death, escaped the notice of the Prince of this world. These three mysteries were the of proclamation, were accomplished in God's silence. Mary, Ever Virgin. The deepening of faith in the Virginal motherhood

led the church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity, even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it. And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Iparthenus, the ever-virgin. Against this doctrine, the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the

Virgin Mary. In fact, James and Joseph, brothers of Jesus, are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls the other Mary. There are close relations of Jesus according to an Old Testament expression. Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save. Lumin gensium states, The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the firstborn among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formulation she cooperates with a mother's love.

Okay, so there we go with Those three articles. I mean, there's more things that are said here, but the three kind of pieces or three hinges of today's teaching have to do with Mary's Divine Motherhood, with Mary's virginity and with Mary being ever virgin or perpetually a virgin. Now, Mary's Divine Motherhood, we already covered this a couple of times, but I love that here is paragraph 495 which highlights St. Luke's Gospel, right? That as Mary visits Elizabeth before the birth of her son, Jesus is newly conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary and already Elizabeth says, who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? So she recognizes that the one who is the Lord, Elizabeth recognizes in this incipient way, like very small beginning of understanding way, that the one who is here is the Lord and

this woman is the mother of my Lord. In fact, paragraph 495 says, In fact, the one whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her son according to the flesh was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. So again, we have already covered that but it's worth highlighting and worth remembering. The next part is that Mary was a virgin so that there was no natural conception of Jesus. It was completely supernatural conception of Jesus. In fact, paragraph 496 highlights this, that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit without

human seed. Now it goes on to say this quote from Saint Ignatius of Antioch, which is remarkable at the beginning of the second century. So in the 100s, it says, you are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David, according to the flesh, son of God, according to the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin." Now this is so critical that Jesus truly is conceived of the Holy Spirit, the overshadowing the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary. As paragraph 497 states, the gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility. Yes, like this is completely a new thing. And in

light of, you know, paragraph 498, I love some of these paragraphs that address the objection. And even that people are sometimes troubled. For example, 498 highlights, well, you know, well, Mark's gospel doesn't doesn't really emphasize the conception of Jesus. So that's kind of troubling. Why wouldn't Mark also include the fact that Jesus was conceived miraculously, this virginal conception? And some would wonder if we're dealing with legends or theological constructs not claiming to be history. And I love this because the church addresses this, doesn't hide from it, but responds and I love the response. The response is that from the very

beginning, faith in the virginal conception of Jesus met with lively opposition, mockery and incomprehension of nonbelievers, Jews and pagans alike. So it wasn't what a situation were like, oh, yeah, that of course that always happens. And it was recounted by the apostles. It was recounted by the gospel writers. Like the first Christians, it was passed on not because it was a more convincing argument, but because it was true. That's the only reason and that's the remarkable thing. The only reason why the church ever believed this. It's not because it would win more converts,

because it wouldn't. In fact, it made things harder to believe. The only reason they passed it on is because it was true. And I love what St. Ignatius, remember St. Ignatius of Antioch who already had the previous quote. He has another quote here at the end of paragraph 498, which is just remarkable. He says these three things, Mary's virginity and giving birth and even the Lord's death. Now think of those three things, Mary's virginity and

the birth of Jesus, so Christmas. And even the Lord's death, these really big moments, conception, the birth, nativity, and the passion, escaped the notice of the prince of this world. These three mysteries, worldly of proclamation, were accomplished in God's silence. And think about these, these are the, maybe you'd say like the three greatest events that have ever happened in the history of humanity, that the conception of Jesus, miraculously,

that here is the second person of the Trinity, become flesh. The birth of Jesus, that is entry into the world, and then the passion and death of Jesus, that are worthy of proclamation, but they were accomplished in God's silence. They're accomplished in mystery, which is just remarkable. Now, going on, this last and kind of third article that Mary is perpetually a virgin that paragraph 499 highlights, the deepening of

faith in the virginal motherhood led the church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth, so that Christ's birth did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it. And so the liturgy of the church calls Mary, ipathanos, which is the word or term ever virgin. Now, some times mentioned that like, well, there's what about the brothers of Jesus? What about the brothers and sisters of Jesus? And if you read paragraph 500, which we literally just did,

you'll remember that the church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact, James and Joseph, the quote-unquote brothers of Jesus, are the sons of another Mary that Matthew significantly calls the other Mary. Their close relations to Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression, the Old Testament expression would be Adelfoi, right? Adelfos is brother and Adelfoi is brothers or brothers and sisters. It can mean siblings.

It could also mean cousins. It can mean uncles and nephews. just close relations. It simply can mean relatives. And so what the Church has always taught is that, yeah, these quote-unquote brothers and sisters of Jesus are not siblings of Jesus, but simply close relations. Now, it's interesting, I remember reading a story about Saint Jerome. At one point Saint Jerome is translating the Bible, you know, from Hebrew and Greek into Latin so that all people could hear and understand the Bible. And some of his friends were saying, hey, there's this guy who's come along and here's my paraphrase of the story. This guy's come

along and he is claiming that Jesus had brothers and sisters, that Mary had other children other than Jesus. And Jerome, you need to write an article denouncing this. You need to write an article denouncing this. You need to write an article proving that this is not true. This highlights how no one thought this. Jerome said, basically, I don't need to write an article about this. I don't need to write a defense about this. No one in the history of Christianity has ever believed that. No one's ever believed that, even from day one. No one's ever believed that Mary had other children other than Jesus. And he's writing here in the 300, 400s and you realize that he's pretty close to ground zero when it comes to this. Now ultimately people said, we have a Jerome, if you don't write

anything, then people will think you don't have an answer. And so you need to write something. So then he ultimately did write a defense of Mary's being perpetually a virgin. But I think it's worth noting that yes, while the scriptures say Adelfoi, that the relatives, maybe I'd say a better translation, the relatives of Jesus, the Adelfoi of Jesus, while scripture says that, the Church has always maintained that that means Adelfoi relatives, not Adelfoi siblings, which is very, very important. At the same time, paragraph 501, yes, Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spirit to motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save. And we recognize that, again, as we said before, and we'll say tomorrow again, that

from the cross, Jesus entrusted us to his mother and entrusted his mother to us. Therefore, Mary is truly, yes, in some ways, spiritually speaking, she has more than one child because she has everyone whom Jesus Christ has redeemed, everyone whom Jesus has saved, everyone for whom Jesus died. He also entrusted to Mary as their mother, which is incredible that he shares his mom with us. And so here in the family of God, here in the church, we get to rejoice and just be so grateful. Thank you, Jesus, for sharing your mom with us. Wow. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.