YOUCAT Question n. 80 - Part VIII. Why is Mary a Virgin?
(Youcat
answer - repeated) God willed that Jesus Christ should have a true human mother
but only God himself as his Father, because he wanted to make a new beginning
that could be credited to him alone and not to earthly forces.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 499)
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 (Cf. DS 291; 294; 427; 442; 503; 571; 1880). In fact, Christ's
birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified
it" (LG 57) and so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the
"Ever-virgin" (Cf. LG 52).
Reflecting and meditating
(Youcat comment) Mary’s
virginity is not some outdated mythological notion but rather fundamental to
the life of Jesus. He was born of a woman but had no human father. Jesus Christ
is a new beginning in the world that has been instituted from on high. In the
Gospel of Luke, Mary asks the angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband?”
( do not sleep with a man, Lk 1:34); the angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will
come upon you” (Lk 1:35). Although the Church from the earliest days was mocked
on account of her belief in Mary’s virginity, she has always believed that her
virginity is real and not merely symbolic.
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 500)
Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions
brothers and sisters of Jesus (Cf. Mk 3:31-35; 6:3; 1 Cor 9:5; Gal 1:19). 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" (Mt 13:55; 28:1; cf. Mt 27:56).
They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression
(Cf. Gen 13:8; 14:16; 29:15; etc.).
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