Youcat commented through CCC - Question n. 84 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 84 - Part I. Was Mary only an instrument of God?

(Youcat answer) Mary was more than a merely passive instrument of God. The Incarnation of God took place through her active consent as well.       

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 508) From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace", Mary is "the most excellent fruit of redemption" (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life. 508

Reflecting and meditating   

(Youcat comment) When the angel told her that she would bear “the Son of God”, Mary replied, “Let it be to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). The redemption of mankind by Jesus Christ thus begins with a request by God and the free consent of a human being—and a pregnancy before Mary was married to Joseph. By such an unusual path Mary became for us the “Gate of Salvation”.   

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 493) The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature" (LG 56). By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long. (CCC 509) Mary is truly "Mother of God" since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.    

(This question: Was Mary only an instrument of God? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC - Question n. 83 - Part III.

YOUCAT Question n. 83 - Part III. What does the “Immaculate Conception of Mary” mean?

(Youcat answer - repeated) The Church believes that “the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin” (dogma of 1854).       

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 492) The "splendour of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son" (LG 53, 56). The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love" (Cf. Eph 1:3-4). (CCC 69) God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicating his own mystery in deeds and in words. (CCC 68) By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has thus provided the definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that man asks himself about the meaning and purpose of his life.        

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Belief in the Immaculate Conception has existed since the beginning of the Church. The expression is misunderstood today. It is saying that God preserved Mary from original sin from the very beginning. It says nothing about the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb. By no means is it a devaluation of sexuality in Christianity, as though a husband and wife would be “stained” if they conceived a child.   

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 508) From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace", Mary is "the most excellent fruit of redemption" (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.  

(The next question is: Was Mary only an instrument of God?)

Youcat commented through CCC - Question n. 83 - Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 83 - Part II. What does the “Immaculate Conception of Mary” mean?

(Youcat answer - repeated) The Church believes that “the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin” (dogma of 1854).    

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 489b) Against all human expectation God chooses those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other women (Cf. 1 Cor 1:17; 1 Sam 1). Mary "stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established"(LG 55). (CCC 491) Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God  (Lk 1:28), was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin (Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, 1854: DS 2803).   

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Belief in the Immaculate Conception has existed since the beginning of the Church. The expression is misunderstood today. It is saying that God preserved Mary from original sin from the very beginning. It says nothing about the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb. By no means is it a devaluation of sexuality in Christianity, as though a husband and wife would be “stained” if they conceived a child.   

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 490) To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role" (LG 56). The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace" (Lk 1:28). In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.   

(This question: What does the “Immaculate Conception of Mary” mean? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC - Question n. 83 - Part I.

YOUCAT Question n. 83 - Part I. What does the “Immaculate Conception of Mary” mean?

(Youcat answer) The Church believes that “the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin” (dogma of 1854).     

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 488) "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him (Gal 4:4;  Heb 10:5), he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, "a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary" (Lk 1:26-27): The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life (LG 56; cf. LG 61).   

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) Belief in the Immaculate Conception has existed since the beginning of the Church. The expression is misunderstood today. It is saying that God preserved Mary from original sin from the very beginning. It says nothing about the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb. By no means is it a devaluation of sexuality in Christianity, as though a husband and wife would be “stained” if they conceived a child.    

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 487) What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ. (CCC 489 a) Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living (Cf. Gen 3:15, 20). By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a son in spite of her old age (Cf. Gen 18:10-14; 21:1-2).     

(This question: What does the “Immaculate Conception of Mary” mean? is continued)

Youcat commented through CCC - YOUCAT Question n. 82.

YOUCAT Question n. 82 - Isn’t it improper to call Mary the “Mother” of God?

(Youcat answer) No. Anyone who calls Mary the Mother of God thereby professes that her Son is God.    

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 495) 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"(Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.). 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" (Theo-tokos) (Council of Ephesus (431): DS 251).   

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) As early Christianity was debating who Jesus was, the title Theotokos (“God-bearer”) became the hallmark for the orthodox interpretation of Sacred Scripture: Mary did not give birth merely to a man who then after his birth “became” God; rather, even in her womb her child is the true Son of God.This debate is not about Mary in the first place; rather, it is again the question of whether Jesus is true man and true God at the same time.

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 509) Mary is truly "Mother of God" since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself.    

 (The next question is: What does the “Immaculate Conception of Mary” mean?)