The Hail Mary is broken up into two parts: 1. Who Mary is. 2. Our prayer to Mary. The first half of the Hail Mary (rows 1-5) is contained in Luke 1. The second half (rows 5-6) come from Luke 1, James 5 and various other Biblical texts. Below the Hail Mary is examined line by line: Read more
Month: July 2011
The Bible says that Mary had other children. Why does the Catholic Church teach that she only had Jesus and no other children?
Matthew 13: 55-56 states “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? And are not all his sisters with us?” Reading this through 21st century American glasses would imply that Jesus did have brothers and sisters. To really understand what this meant you would have to put on your 1st century Jewish glasses. Jesus didn’t speak English or Spanish or Italian; Jesus spoke Aramaic and in Aramaic there is no word for cousins. The word for brother and sister was also used when referring to cousins. This would explain the above passage and several other passages in the Gospels referring to Jesus’ brothers and sisters.
Holy Communion (The Eucharist/Lord’s Supper)
First I would like to go through the Gospel of John Chapter 6, the bread of life discourse. In John 6:4 right before Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves, John states that the Jewish Passover was near, so we know around what religious festival this was taking place. After Jesus fed the 5,000 men (plus women and children), in John 6:30-33 the disciples ask Jesus what miraculous sign will he perform and they make a literal reference to when Moses fed their ancestors with the manna (the bread that fell from heaven). In Jn 6:32-35 Jesus says that his father gives true bread from heaven; the Jews ask Jesus to give them this bread and Jesus responds saying that he is the bread of life and that it is not Moses who gives them the bread but his father in heaven. Read more
Should we refer to God as Father or Mother?
Faith in God as the “Father” is known in many religions of the world. In Israel, God is called “Father” inasmuch as he is the Creator of the universe. Even more, God is Father because of the covenant and the gift of law to Israel, “his first-born son”. God is also called the Father of the king of Israel. In a very special way, he is “the Father of poor”, of the orphaned and the widowed, who are embraced by his loving care. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “by calling God “Father, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children”. God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood that emphasizes God’s intimacy between Creator and creature. However, this experience also teaches us that human parents are fallible and can therefore disfigure the face of the fatherhood and motherhood. While people tend to make distinctions between the sexes, God transcends such distinction. In other words, he is neither man nor woman: he is God. Read more