A Celebration of Women  

We are Celebrating the Life of the Matriarch to all of Christianity, the Blessed Virgin, Mary. She is honored in many religions as the Mother of Jesus Christ and also named Mary of Nazareth. Her life is a true example of Faith in Action, and our Tribute will focus on the Woman, her trials and tribulations. Believed by many to have been impregnated as a Virgin, while engaged to Joseph, over 2000 years ago, this Woman married afterwards and cared for her child through many struggles, to the end when she had to witness the crucifixion of her own son.

She is a pure example for  Women of Courage, Devotion, Faith, Honor and Perseverence;

 in living her Purpose in Life faithfully.

  

 

 

WOMAN of ACTION

   

 Mary of Nazareth was a Jewish peasant girl.  

She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.

 

  

 

Mary would have spoken Aramaic, a language with a strong poetic tradition. Her society valued the oral transmission of tradition, ideas, stories and news. Being able to talk well was a valued skill in the ancient world.

She would have known the Jewish Scriptures, especially the stories and prayers in them, and been aware of the women in these stories, many of them favourite role models.

Mary, the earth mother of Jesus, was a descendant of a long line of unique ancestors embracing many of the most remarkable women in the racial history of Urantia. Although Mary was an average woman of her day and generation, possessing a fairly normal temperament, she reckoned among her ancestors such well-known women as Annon, Tamar, Ruth, Bathsheba, Ansie, Cloa, Eve, Enta, and Ratta. No Jewish woman of that day had a more illustrious lineage of common progenitors or one extending back to more auspicious beginnings. Mary’s ancestry, like Joseph’s, was characterized by the predominance of strong but average individuals, relieved now and then by numerous outstanding personalities in the march of civilization and the progressive evolution of religion. Racially considered, it is hardly proper to regard Mary as a Jewess. In culture and belief she was a Jew, but in hereditary endowment she was more a composite of Syrian, Hittite, Phoenician, Greek, and Egyptian stocks, her racial inheritance being more general than that of Joseph.

Mary probably knew the stories and prayers by heart, rather than by reading them. Reading was a specialized skill, necessary for men so that they could read the Torah, but not necessary for women, who were concerned with developing more practical skills.

Scriptural stories were not just ‘religious’ to Mary. They were entertainment as well. People told the stories and acted them out for pure enjoyment.

There were three main social levels in Mary’s world: the rich, who were usually landowners and/or entrepreneurs; the poor, who worked on the land or at a variety of trades; and the destitute, who had neither land nor job, and who survived by begging. Mary and her family belonged to the middle group.

 

Christians believe that she conceived her son, Jesus Christ, miraculously by the agency of the Holy Spirit. This took place when she was already betrothed (engaged) to Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of Jewish marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony.

 

 The New Testament begins its account of Mary’s life with the Annunciation, where angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be mother of Jesus. Church tradition and early non-biblical writings state that her parents were an elderly couple named Joachim and Anne. The Bible records Mary’s role in key events of the life of Jesus from his virgin birth to his crucifixion. Other apocryphal writings tell of her subsequent death and bodily assumption into heaven.

In Islam Mary is regarded as the virgin mother of the prophet Jesus.

 

She is described in the Qur’an, in the Sura Maryam (Arabic: سورة مريم‎).

 

Mary’s Family Life:

The Bible does not tell us how long they were there, but it may have been for several years. Jesus was no longer a baby but quite a boy, playing in the sun and getting brown and strong. After the wicked king died, an angel came to Joseph again and told him that it was safe to go back to their land. So the little family took the long journey back to the land of Palestine. They settled in the town of Nazareth where they had lived before.

The home in Nazareth was a poor one in which everyone helped. We know that brothers and sisters were born into the family (Mark 6:3) though there was a difference. The brothers and sisters had the same mother, Mary, but there father was Joseph. Both Mary and Joseph knew and could not forget that Jesus was the Son of God and sent for a special purpose.

There were at least four brothers and two sisters, so it was a large family. Jesus was the big Brother, and no doubt He spent many hours looking after the little ones in the home. There were schools connected with the synagogues in which the boys were taught the Old Testament Scriptures. On the Sabbath day they went to the synagogue to worship and have classes, something like our Sunday school today.

 

Joseph was a carpenter, and Jesus must have spent many hours in the carpenter’s shop learning to work with His hands. When He was a grown man, people sometimes called Him a carpenter, Mark 6:3. So you see His life as He was growing up was made up of the same things as ours – family, school, friends, work, play, church. The Bible tells us very little about these growing up years, but it helps us to know that Jesus grew up as other boys grow, only with this difference, Luke 2:40 says “And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.”

The ROMAN CATHOLIC Doctrines   

Born to St. Joachim and St. Anne

 

Born unknown; celebrated 8 September Mary of Nazareth (September 8, 20 BC? – August 15, 45 AD?) Aramaic, Hebrew: מרים, Maryām Miriam; Arabic:مريم, Maryam was a Jewish Woman of Nazareth in Galilee. She is identified in the New Testament as the mother of Jesus Christ through Divine Intervention. 

She lived in a world in which about 70% of people were peasant farmers. She worked hard at a range of tasks, and she loved and looked after her family. The small, conservative town of Nazareth had a population of no more than 400. Mary probably knew everyone in the town, especially the women with whom she worked and lived. Women have been involved in agriculture and food production since prehistoric times, and she and other women in her family group had the responsibility of farming any land that the family owned, whether it was fields, orchards or vineyards (olives were the largest crop produced in Galilee at this time).    

The historical Mary was probably physically robust, strong-minded, practical, respectful of tradition and loyal to her family – all characteristics of scriptural women in general.  

The New Testament describes Mary as a virgin (Greek παρθένος, parthénos).   

  

MARY’S WORLD

 

          

 Blessed Virgin Mary: Primary Doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church

Blessed Virgin Mary: The Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception teaches that the Blessed Virgin Mary was born without original sin. She was a virgin when she conceived Christ, impregnated through the power of the Holy Spirit. In 1854, four years before the apparitions of Mary at Lourdes, Pope Pius IX defined the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception which stated that “the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of Original Sin.” The Bible teaches that only Jesus Christ, the last Adam, was born without original sin, and all other men and women are born into original sin, inherited from Adam (Romans 5:12).

Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that Mary was a virgin during her entire lifetime. Yet Matthew, a Jew writing to Jews, calls Jesus “her firstborn son” (Matthew 1:25), an expression used by Jews only if other children were born after the first one; otherwise, “only son” would have been used. Scholars believe Matthew wrote his gospel about 35 years after the birth of Christ and he evidently knew that Mary had children after Jesus was born. The Bible specifically says that Jesus had brothers and Matthew even tells us their names: “Isn’t Mary known to be his mother, and James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? Aren’t his sisters our neighbors?” (Matthew 13:55-56). Roman Catholic scholars claim that Matthew, Luke and Paul (1 Corinthians 9:5) didn’t mean brother when they said brother, but meant cousin. This view is based on the Greek word “adelphos,” which can be translated “brother” or “cousin.” However, the Jews compared Jesus to His ordinary brothers in an attempt to question the validity of His ministry; it would have been much less compelling to compare Jesus with His cousins.

Blessed Virgin Mary:

The Doctrine of Mary as Co-mediatrix with Jesus Christ

The most disturbing doctrine affords the Blessed Virgin Mary a place positionally as co-mediatrix with Jesus Christ. In the words of Pope John Paul II: “In union with Christ and in submission to him, she collaborated in obtaining the grace of salvation for all humanity…In God’s plan, Mary is the ‘woman’ (cf. John 2:4; John 19:26), the New Eve, united to the New Adam in restoring humanity to its original dignity. Her cooperation with her Son continues for all time in the universal motherhood, which she enjoys in the order of grace. Trusting in this maternal cooperation, let us turn to Mary, imploring her help in all our needs.” 

There is no scriptural basis for placing Mary in a position as co-mediatrix for the church on earth. Christ’s words were also very clear on this point: “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). The doctrine of Mary as co-mediatrix has never been declared by any pope while speaking “ex cathedra,” or under the cloak of infallibility. There is currently some pressure within Catholicism for the Holy See to issue such a statement. However, the outcry from Protestantism would shake the foundations of Christianity around the globe, and would be tantamount to the Vatican launching a missile strike against the Ecumenical (Christian unity) movement.

Blessed Virgin Mary: The Doctrine of the Assumption

The Assumption is a doctrine that teaches that the Blessed Virgin Mary had been taken up, body and soul, into heaven. This process is called “translation” in the Bible and there are two notable examples in the scripture, Enoch (Hebrews 11:5) and Elijah (2 Kings 2:11). At the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451, when bishops from throughout the Mediterranean met in Constantinople, Emperor Marcian asked the Patriarch of Jerusalem to bring the relics of Mary to Constantinople to be enshrined in the capitol. The patriarch explained to the emperor that there were no relics of Mary in Jerusalem, that “Mary had died in the presence of the apostles; but her tomb, when opened later . . . was found empty and so the apostles concluded that the body was taken up into heaven.” There is no scriptural evidence to support or deny this doctrine as applied to Mary.

 

Blessed Virgin Mary:

‘ Model for Faith, Not Idol for Worship’

If the admiration of the Blessed Virgin Mary becomes anything more than using her as a model of faith in God the Father, Roman Catholics delve into dangerous theological territory. The tendency to elevate her to a position of divine status is alarming. Mary can be a model (like Paul or Peter) for our faith, but she is not divine nor is she able to provide for our salvation. Jesus Christ alone is God and is the only person capable of enabling the salvation of all mankind. The Word of God is explicit on this subject.

Most Christian traditions believe that Mary, as mother of Jesus, is the Mother of God (Μήτηρ Θεοῦ) and the Theotokos, literally, Birthgiver of God. Mary has been an object of veneration in the Christian church since the apostolic age. Throughout the ages she has been a favorite subject in Christian art, music, and literature.

Parts of this article, thanks to: http://www.womeninthebible.net.

 

The Blessed Virgin Mary was the mother of Jesus Christ. In addition to her Biblical biography, there are three primary doctrines that the Roman Catholic Church teaches about Mary:

(1) The Immaculate Conception,

 (2) Mary as co-mediatrix with Jesus Christ, and

 (3) The Assumption.

  

She survives the Death of Her Son, Jesus…..

 

                       

 

Ave Maria 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

A Great Question….

“Could you imagine being in Mary’s place?”

I’m sure she knew that allowing God to use her in order to bring about the savior of the whole human race would indeed lead her to experience many difficulties and hardships—and probably much ridicule. She had to be wondering what others would think of her. How would Joseph respond, knowing he was not the father? How would her family react? Would they believe her story, or would they believe she had had sex outside of wedlock? Would the rest of the people in her village believe her? And what about the future? All eyes would now be upon her son, and obviously on her, being the mother of the Savior. Mary had to have great trust in the Lord in order to willingly offer herself to Him in such a manner. Just think, she could have refused! She could have told the angel Gabriel, “I will not have this child. It would ruin me!” But Mary did no such thing. She simply agreed to let the Lord use her for His own purposes. That is exceptional trust and faith on her part in the Lord. This showed her love for God, over a love for herself. She would have this child, she would name him Jesus, and she would raise him and love him with all of her heart. She did as the Lord had asked of her.”

Excerpt: http://www-afterthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/12/trust-of-mary-and-joseph-and-george.html   

 

 

A Celebration of Women  

offers this Tribute of Faith and Gratitude.  

 

Amen, Maria of Nazareth!