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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Mary as Advocate /Mother of all humanity	Philo	Saturday, July 31, 2010
Question: Have been reading about the potential blessings from declaring the 5th Dogma ; esp. like the part of Bl. Mother being declared as Mother of all humanity - hoping that this would give her the righful authority over all of humanity , to destroy the hold of the evil one . Yet , couple of bible verses seem troubling and this has to do with the possibilty that persons can be children of the evil one - this, in reference to the passage when our Lord tell some , in John 8:44 , how they are children of the evil one and also there is the parable of the wheat and the weeds - a difficult one since it seems no apparent room is given for conversion ! Thus the question - if Bl.Mother is to be given honor of being Mother of all humanity , is it an apparent contradiction to the above or is there more to the above biblical passages , such as how the claim of fatherhood of the evil one can be broken through repentance and mercy ; still ,there is the 'weed' problem , unless the weeds could actually be in reference to just ideologies planted by the evil one and not real persons ! Thank you for the answers !
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Philo: The "5th Marian Dogma" to make our Blessed Mother the mother of all humanity is not necessary. She was made the mother of all humanity by Jesus when he was on the Cross. Jesus said: (John 19:26-27) When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. The Blessed Mother is the mother of all human beings -- even the evil ones. In John 8:44 Jesus is speaking. He tells the people he is talking to, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires." This phraseology is a language convention referring to the "father" (the source) of the ways they were thinking and acting --the devil. The devil is the father (the source) of all lies. Whenever we lie we act as the devil's child. Jesus continues the rebuke in verse 44 by explaining, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." All human beings are the children of God. But, we can choose to adopt a different parent if we wish to. There are many teenagers who run away from home, run away from their real parents, and may adopt someone else as a father or mother figure, and begin to behave according to their counsel. That is what we do when we live in sin, when we reject God -- we run away from our Father's home and adopt the devil as our father and act according to the devil's counsel. This does not have to be a permanent situation. Just as did the Prodigal Son, we can come to our senses, repent, and come home to our Heavenly Father anytime we want. God is always our Father, and our Blessed Mother will always be our mother -- even if we end up in hell. A child lost, is still a child of his parents (as was the Prodigal when he was lost to his father). The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30) is about the Last Judgment when those who remained in God's friendship (the wheat) will be gathered up into the Father's barn (heaven). Those who rejected God (the weeds) will be cut down and thrown into hell to be burned up. This parable has relevance during our lives, too. If we reject God then we are the tares (weeds). If we remain "weeds" upon our death, then we go to hell. But, we can repent from being a weed, and become the wheat that God intends us to be. There is no sin that cannot be forgiven, except the sin of rejecting God at our death. God does not force us to love Him. We can choose. God offers us forgiveness, but we must accept it. If we do accept it and die in God's friendship then heaven is our eternal destiny. Even if we live our entire lives as weeds, as children of the devil, if we repent on our death bed, one nanosecond before death, then God embraces us as did the Prodigal's father and the angels rejoice and we will be forever in heaven with our real Father and Mother. God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Mary as Advocate /Mother of all humanity

Philo

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Question:

Have been reading about the potential blessings from declaring the 5th Dogma ; esp. like the part of Bl. Mother being declared as Mother of all humanity - hoping that this would give her the righful authority over all of humanity , to destroy the hold of the evil one .

Yet , couple of bible verses seem troubling and this has to do with the possibilty that persons can be children of the evil one - this, in reference to the passage when our Lord tell some , in John 8:44 , how they are children of the evil one and also there is the parable of the wheat and the weeds - a difficult one since it seems no apparent room is given for conversion !

Thus the question - if Bl.Mother is to be given honor of being Mother of all humanity , is it an apparent contradiction to the above or is there more to the above biblical passages , such as how the claim of fatherhood of the evil one can be broken through repentance and mercy ; still ,there is the 'weed' problem , unless the weeds could actually be in reference to just ideologies planted by the evil one and not real persons !

Thank you for the answers !

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Philo:

The "5th Marian Dogma" to make our Blessed Mother the mother of all humanity is not necessary. She was made the mother of all humanity by Jesus when he was on the Cross. Jesus said:

(John 19:26-27) When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

The Blessed Mother is the mother of all human beings -- even the evil ones.

In John 8:44 Jesus is speaking. He tells the people he is talking to, "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires."

This phraseology is a language convention referring to the "father" (the source) of the ways they were thinking and acting --the devil. The devil is the father (the source) of all lies. Whenever we lie we act as the devil's child. Jesus continues the rebuke in verse 44 by explaining, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

All human beings are the children of God. But, we can choose to adopt a different parent if we wish to. There are many teenagers who run away from home, run away from their real parents, and may adopt someone else as a father or mother figure, and begin to behave according to their counsel. That is what we do when we live in sin, when we reject God -- we run away from our Father's home and adopt the devil as our father and act according to the devil's counsel.

This does not have to be a permanent situation. Just as did the Prodigal Son, we can come to our senses, repent, and come home to our Heavenly Father anytime we want.

God is always our Father, and our Blessed Mother will always be our mother -- even if we end up in hell. A child lost, is still a child of his parents (as was the Prodigal when he was lost to his father).

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30) is about the Last Judgment when those who remained in God's friendship (the wheat) will be gathered up into the Father's barn (heaven). Those who rejected God (the weeds) will be cut down and thrown into hell to be burned up.

This parable has relevance during our lives, too. If we reject God then we are the tares (weeds). If we remain "weeds" upon our death, then we go to hell. But, we can repent from being a weed, and become the wheat that God intends us to be.

There is no sin that cannot be forgiven, except the sin of rejecting God at our death. God does not force us to love Him. We can choose. God offers us forgiveness, but we must accept it. If we do accept it and die in God's friendship then heaven is our eternal destiny. Even if we live our entire lives as weeds, as children of the devil, if we repent on our death bed, one nanosecond before death, then God embraces us as did the Prodigal's father and the angels rejoice and we will be forever in heaven with our real Father and Mother.

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum