Last Tuesday, May 31, was the Feast of the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. If you're unfamiliar with the story, it's found in the first chapter of Luke's Gospel, specifically in verses 26-56. The short version is this: Elizabeth is Mary's cousin (though some translations say aunt, while others simply say "relative"... suffice it so say, they were kin.), and much too old to bear children. Yet, in her old age, she and her husband find that they are expecting. Six months later, the archangel Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her that she is also going to have a child, even though she is a virgin. Not only that, but this child is going to be the Son of God (Luke 1:35). And... her relative, that everyone knew to be barren, had conceived and was six months along. Shortly after receiving the news, Mary rushes to Elizabeth, who greets her as "blessed among all women", as the baby within her lept at the sound of Mary's greeting. Mary then stays with her for the last three months of her pregnancy.
As it turns out, Elizabeth gives birth to John the Baptist (See his story in Luke 1:59-80 and chapter 3) who, as a man, preaches that a Messiah is coming and that people should turn from their evil ways and back to God, and Mary gives birth to Jesus Christ. That's the climax of the story, really: Jesus Christ is born, who we as Christians believe to be God in human form, and ultimately offers himself as the ultimate sacrifice to atone the sins of all men and women.
So, why on Earth would we have a celebration of the fact that a lady went and visited her pregnant relative?
There is a lot of really beautiful subtlety in what goes on with this visit. Back in 2013, Pope Francis offered a great lesson on it during his general audience. For instance, one of Mary's very first acts upon learning she will bear God's Son is to...literally...carry Him to others. As Pope Francis points out during the general audience I mentioned, that is our job as Christians. Mary is our earliest example of someone carrying the love of Christ to others:
"Our Lady also wants to bring the great gift of Jesus to us, to us all; and with him she brings us his love, his peace, and his joy. In this, the Church is like Mary: the Church is not a shop, she is not a humanitarian agency, the Church is not an NGO. The Church is sent to bring Christ and his Gospel to all. She does not bring herself — whether small or great, strong or weak, the Church carries Jesus and should be like Mary when she went to visit Elizabeth. What did Mary take to her? Jesus. The Church brings Jesus: this is the centre of the Church, to carry Jesus! If, as a hypothesis, the Church were not to bring Jesus, she would be a dead Church. The Church must bring Jesus, the love of Jesus, the charity of Jesus."- General Audience, 23 October 2013
As beautiful a celebration as it is, I'd like to take this time, while I have your attention, to offer a few thoughts on a more general topic: worship. I commonly hear claims from non-Catholic Christians that Catholics worship Mary. And the Marian feasts and celebrations certainly add fodder to the story.
Catholics, like all Christians, are expressly forbidden to worship anyone or anything besides the true God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Mirriam-Webster defines worship as "the act of showing respect and love for a god especially by praying with other people who believe in the same god : the act of worshipping God or a god". The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us "...To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve,' says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy. (Luke 4:8, Deut. 6:13)"
In other words, worship involves acknowledging someone or something as God. Christians believe in only one God, though in the three persons of the Trinity. To acknowledge anyone or anything besides the true God as a god constitutes idolatry: "Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God. ...Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, emphasis mine.)
We as Catholics do honor Mary. We revere her. We do so also for other people of faith, both living and deceased. But we are forbidden from doing so in place of God. No one is or has been equal to God, and we commit a grave sin to express otherwise.
But wait, some will say! The Catholics kneel before statues, they place flowers at statues, they recite prayers to Mary. How is this not worship??
Those are very good questions. We do kneel and talk to Mary and other saints. Kneeling, in and of itself, however, is not worship. Men kneel before their girlfriends when they ask for their hands in marriage. People routinely kneel before royalty. Is this worship? Of course not. This is an outward act of reverence to someone.
We also have statues and images of Mary, and other saints. Just as in my home I keep pictures of my friends and family, in many Catholic churches you will see artwork depicting much-loved saints. We are to use them as icons, not idols. Icons are symbols of something, used as an aid to bring you closer to that which it symbolizes. Consider a photograph you may keep of a friend or relative who has passed on. Do you not keep it because it helps you remember that person? Perhaps it helps you feel closer to that person? Idols, on the other hand, are objects that are themselves worshiped or revered. You will often see flowers or trinkets placed around these icons. This is done with the same level of respect with which we place flowers and other objects at graves and memorials of our loved ones. Not to recognize them as gods, but to show our love for them.
But then there's that big issue: Catholics pray to saints, including Mary. (FYI: "saint" with a lower-case "s" refers to any believer who has died, while "Saint" with a capital "S" is an actual title, referring to the saints who have been canonized. I'll talk about that another time.) Prayer is worship, isn't it?? Well, not really. You certainly can worship using prayer, and often when we worship God it is through prayer. But remember that worship is recognizing someone as God. Prayer is really just having a conversation. When we pray to Mary, we are forbidden from using prayer to worship her. We may tell her we love her, we may honor her, but really we're simply talking to her. We as Catholics believe that we can ask anyone, living or dead, to pray for us to God and to help us grow in our faith in God. How do we ask someone who has passed away to pray for us? We simply talk to them and ask them to.
The most famous Marian prayer is likely the Hail Mary. If you've never heard it, here it is:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with you.
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
This is certainly a prayer in which we are honoring Mary. But, if you go back and read that first chapter of Luke I mentioned earlier, you'll notice that the Catholics didn't exactly invent it. It's really a commemoration of the announcement that Christ is coming to earth. "Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you!" was Gabriel's greeting (Luke 1:28). "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!" was Elizabeth's greeting when Mary arrived at her home (Luke 1:42). After this, we ask Mary to please pray for us. Some folks will take objection to calling Mary "holy". I'll write about that later on, as well, but remember that all of us are called to be holy (See Hebrews 12:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7; Ephesians 5:5, for example.)
So then, here's the real question: What is worship? I remember being asked by Sunday School teachers as a child how we worship God, and dutifully responding that we worship by praying, by singing hymns, by telling others about Him, etc. These are certainly ways we express worship, but really, none of those actions in and of themselves are worship. Worship happens within. "To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the 'nothingness of the creature' who would not exist but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name (Luke 1:46-49). The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on oneself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world."-Catechism of the Catholic Church. When we worship God, we empty ourselves before Him and acknowledge that we exist only because of and for His glory. Sometimes, that internal acknowledgment expresses itself through singing, raised hands, dancing and clapping. Sometimes, it expresses itself through quiet, sincere prayer on bent knees. Everyone expresses worship differently. But it is the worship within that brings forth the outward actions; the actions themselves, without the inner submission, do not constitute worship.
Having said all this, are there Catholics out there who idolize Mary? Undoubtedly. There are also Christians of several denominations who, if they are being completely honest, idolize political figures or parties, jobs, school, sports figures or teams, even their own church or church leaders. All such worship is contrary to our Christian faith, whether you are Catholic or Protestant.
In closing, I'd like to go back to the story of the visitation of Mary and Elizabeth. After they chat for awhile, Mary, full of joy, breaks into song. This is what we refer to as the Magnificat, and it is found in Luke 1:46-55. Enjoy, and for a beautiful musical rendition of it, check out Chris Brunelle singing David Haas' rendition.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
As it turns out, Elizabeth gives birth to John the Baptist (See his story in Luke 1:59-80 and chapter 3) who, as a man, preaches that a Messiah is coming and that people should turn from their evil ways and back to God, and Mary gives birth to Jesus Christ. That's the climax of the story, really: Jesus Christ is born, who we as Christians believe to be God in human form, and ultimately offers himself as the ultimate sacrifice to atone the sins of all men and women.
So, why on Earth would we have a celebration of the fact that a lady went and visited her pregnant relative?
There is a lot of really beautiful subtlety in what goes on with this visit. Back in 2013, Pope Francis offered a great lesson on it during his general audience. For instance, one of Mary's very first acts upon learning she will bear God's Son is to...literally...carry Him to others. As Pope Francis points out during the general audience I mentioned, that is our job as Christians. Mary is our earliest example of someone carrying the love of Christ to others:
"Our Lady also wants to bring the great gift of Jesus to us, to us all; and with him she brings us his love, his peace, and his joy. In this, the Church is like Mary: the Church is not a shop, she is not a humanitarian agency, the Church is not an NGO. The Church is sent to bring Christ and his Gospel to all. She does not bring herself — whether small or great, strong or weak, the Church carries Jesus and should be like Mary when she went to visit Elizabeth. What did Mary take to her? Jesus. The Church brings Jesus: this is the centre of the Church, to carry Jesus! If, as a hypothesis, the Church were not to bring Jesus, she would be a dead Church. The Church must bring Jesus, the love of Jesus, the charity of Jesus."- General Audience, 23 October 2013
As beautiful a celebration as it is, I'd like to take this time, while I have your attention, to offer a few thoughts on a more general topic: worship. I commonly hear claims from non-Catholic Christians that Catholics worship Mary. And the Marian feasts and celebrations certainly add fodder to the story.
Catholics, like all Christians, are expressly forbidden to worship anyone or anything besides the true God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Mirriam-Webster defines worship as "the act of showing respect and love for a god especially by praying with other people who believe in the same god : the act of worshipping God or a god". The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us "...To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as the Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve,' says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy. (Luke 4:8, Deut. 6:13)"
In other words, worship involves acknowledging someone or something as God. Christians believe in only one God, though in the three persons of the Trinity. To acknowledge anyone or anything besides the true God as a god constitutes idolatry: "Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God. ...Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, emphasis mine.)
We as Catholics do honor Mary. We revere her. We do so also for other people of faith, both living and deceased. But we are forbidden from doing so in place of God. No one is or has been equal to God, and we commit a grave sin to express otherwise.
But wait, some will say! The Catholics kneel before statues, they place flowers at statues, they recite prayers to Mary. How is this not worship??
Those are very good questions. We do kneel and talk to Mary and other saints. Kneeling, in and of itself, however, is not worship. Men kneel before their girlfriends when they ask for their hands in marriage. People routinely kneel before royalty. Is this worship? Of course not. This is an outward act of reverence to someone.
We also have statues and images of Mary, and other saints. Just as in my home I keep pictures of my friends and family, in many Catholic churches you will see artwork depicting much-loved saints. We are to use them as icons, not idols. Icons are symbols of something, used as an aid to bring you closer to that which it symbolizes. Consider a photograph you may keep of a friend or relative who has passed on. Do you not keep it because it helps you remember that person? Perhaps it helps you feel closer to that person? Idols, on the other hand, are objects that are themselves worshiped or revered. You will often see flowers or trinkets placed around these icons. This is done with the same level of respect with which we place flowers and other objects at graves and memorials of our loved ones. Not to recognize them as gods, but to show our love for them.
But then there's that big issue: Catholics pray to saints, including Mary. (FYI: "saint" with a lower-case "s" refers to any believer who has died, while "Saint" with a capital "S" is an actual title, referring to the saints who have been canonized. I'll talk about that another time.) Prayer is worship, isn't it?? Well, not really. You certainly can worship using prayer, and often when we worship God it is through prayer. But remember that worship is recognizing someone as God. Prayer is really just having a conversation. When we pray to Mary, we are forbidden from using prayer to worship her. We may tell her we love her, we may honor her, but really we're simply talking to her. We as Catholics believe that we can ask anyone, living or dead, to pray for us to God and to help us grow in our faith in God. How do we ask someone who has passed away to pray for us? We simply talk to them and ask them to.
The most famous Marian prayer is likely the Hail Mary. If you've never heard it, here it is:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with you.
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
This is certainly a prayer in which we are honoring Mary. But, if you go back and read that first chapter of Luke I mentioned earlier, you'll notice that the Catholics didn't exactly invent it. It's really a commemoration of the announcement that Christ is coming to earth. "Hail Mary, full of grace! The Lord is with you!" was Gabriel's greeting (Luke 1:28). "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb!" was Elizabeth's greeting when Mary arrived at her home (Luke 1:42). After this, we ask Mary to please pray for us. Some folks will take objection to calling Mary "holy". I'll write about that later on, as well, but remember that all of us are called to be holy (See Hebrews 12:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7; Ephesians 5:5, for example.)
So then, here's the real question: What is worship? I remember being asked by Sunday School teachers as a child how we worship God, and dutifully responding that we worship by praying, by singing hymns, by telling others about Him, etc. These are certainly ways we express worship, but really, none of those actions in and of themselves are worship. Worship happens within. "To adore God is to acknowledge, in respect and absolute submission, the 'nothingness of the creature' who would not exist but for God. To adore God is to praise and exalt him and to humble oneself, as Mary did in the Magnificat, confessing with gratitude that he has done great things and holy is his name (Luke 1:46-49). The worship of the one God sets man free from turning in on oneself, from the slavery of sin and the idolatry of the world."-Catechism of the Catholic Church. When we worship God, we empty ourselves before Him and acknowledge that we exist only because of and for His glory. Sometimes, that internal acknowledgment expresses itself through singing, raised hands, dancing and clapping. Sometimes, it expresses itself through quiet, sincere prayer on bent knees. Everyone expresses worship differently. But it is the worship within that brings forth the outward actions; the actions themselves, without the inner submission, do not constitute worship.
Having said all this, are there Catholics out there who idolize Mary? Undoubtedly. There are also Christians of several denominations who, if they are being completely honest, idolize political figures or parties, jobs, school, sports figures or teams, even their own church or church leaders. All such worship is contrary to our Christian faith, whether you are Catholic or Protestant.
In closing, I'd like to go back to the story of the visitation of Mary and Elizabeth. After they chat for awhile, Mary, full of joy, breaks into song. This is what we refer to as the Magnificat, and it is found in Luke 1:46-55. Enjoy, and for a beautiful musical rendition of it, check out Chris Brunelle singing David Haas' rendition.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.