Let me get down this paper by inquiring a inquiry that Deacon Carl Macero posed to us during our first semester of formation, “ Is this necessary to my redemption? ”
When sing the ageless virginity of the Blessed Virgin, rational honestness requires us to reply that our redemption is non dependent upon the Mother of God being ever-virgin.
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Though the ageless virginity of Mary is considered a de fide dogmatic edict, we should be able to explicate some footing for a personal belief, particularly as we ‘ve admitted it is n’t cardinal to the economic system of redemption.
Sing the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred vas, incorporating the tablets incorporating the Ten Commandments as grounds of God ‘s compact with the people if Israel. The Ark was consecrated by Moses and given into the attention of the Kohathites from the folk of Levi as God commanded.
Even though the Kohathites were charged for caring for the Ark, they were non permitted to touch it or any of the sacred objects within it or even look upon them. The punishment for making so was decease.
In 2 Samuel, Chapter 6, we read the narrative of Uzzah who died after touching the Ark. Uzzah had the best of purposes. He feared for Ark when the Oxen drawing the cart on which the Ark rested had stumbled, “ for the cattle were doing it tip. ” He reached out to maintain the Ark from falling and “ died there in God ‘s presence, because he had laid his manus on the Ark. ”
The Ark of the Covenant has been lost in history for about 2600 old ages. Even since the Babylonian imperium, led by Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the first Temple, the Ark has remained concealed or possibly destroyed. Despite legion fables, the whereabouts of the Ark remains a enigma.
It is n’t hard to visualize Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant contained three sacred objects: the gold jar incorporating the manna, the staff of Aaron that had sprouted, and the tablets of the compact.
Equally sanctum as these points were to Israel, Jesus surpassed each of them in his ain individual. Jesus taught that while manna was the staff of life from Eden which sustained the Israelites in the desert, that he is “ the staff of life of life ; whoever comes to me will ne’er hunger ” .
In the Book of Numbers, God chooses Aaron as his High Priest. Aaron ‘s staff “ sprouted and put Forth non merely shoots, but flowers ” as cogent evidence that God had chosen Aaron and the folk of Levi as God ‘s priests, “ I give you the priesthood as a gift. ”
On the Day of Atonement, the people of Israel came together to be reconciled to God. It was the high priest ‘s duty to take the blood of the forfeit into the Holy of Holies on behalf of all God ‘s people, for forgiveness of their wickednesss.
As the new high priest, Jesus offered himself as the perfect offering for the forgiveness of wickednesss. As both High Priest and forfeit, Jesus has surpassed Aaron and his dead persons.
The tablets of the compact contained within the Ark were the word of God given to the Israelites to teach them, “ Hear, O Israel, the legislative acts and edicts which I proclaim in your hearing this twenty-four hours, that you may larn them and take attention to detect them. ” Through these commandments, God entered into his compact with Israel, “ The LORD, our God, made a compact with us at Horeb ” .
Through Jesus, we have entered into a new compact, complete with a new commandment:
“ I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you besides should love one another. This is how all will cognize that you are my adherents, if you have love for one another. ”
We profess this new compact during the establishment narration of our Eucharistic Prayers:
“ Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and ageless compact. It will be shed for you and for all so that wickednesss may be forgiven. ”
This covenantal declaration besides ends with a commandment, “ Do this in memory of me. ”
From this point of view, we have the Word of God made flesh, learning us straight alternatively of through tablets and come ining into a new compact through which wickedness is forgiven, non avoided. Jesus surpasses even the tablets of the compact.
I ‘ve spent a great trade of this paper, the subject of which is Mary ‘s ageless virginity, composing about Jesus, non Mary. This should n’t come as a surprise since the distinction of Mary among the faithful is due wholly to her relation with Jesus.
Similarly, now that we ‘ve established a symbolic analogue between Jesus and the contents of the Ark, the relationship between Jesus and Mary allow us to see the symbolic analogue between the Ark and Mary.
The intent of the Ark was to manifest God on Earth to his chosen people. It was holy by virtuousness of what it was to incorporate. Likewise, it was through the uterus of Mary, that God became manifest to his people in flesh and blood. Mary was free of wickedness by virtuousness of her decree to God and the kid to which she would give birth.
The glorification of God overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant, the brooding topographic point of the Lord. Likewise, we have the announcement of Gabriel to Mary, “ The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will dominate you. Therefore the kid to be born will be called sanctum, the Son of God. ” In each instance, the glorification of God overshadows his dwelling topographic point.
If so Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, this supports all Marian tenet ) , non merely ageless virginity.
However, with regard to the tenet of ageless virginity, it makes perfect sense that the Ark of the New Covenant would be at least as sanctum and protected as the Ark of the Covenant. If no 1 could touch the Ark, so it would follow that no adult male would cognize Mary either. As we see from the narrative of Uzzah, purposes would non hold mattered.
I believe the maternity of Mary is besides something of a enigma. I think the Mother of God is non merely is a province of ageless virginity, but besides in a ageless province of giving birth. She gave birth to Jesus is a actual sense, but there is another manner to see this. At the pes of the cross, Mary was give as female parent to the Church, which is the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God is now, but non to the full. It has non reached its comprehensiveness. It is like a babe whose caput has crowned, but has non been to the full delivered. It is the function of Mary as the Mother of the Church to give birth to the comprehensiveness of the Church, the mystical Body of Christ. In that sense, Mary continues in the hurting of childbearing. Being still “ with kid ” , she is unable to gestate another.
