Catholic Replies
Q. When St. Peter died, did God give him a special place in Heaven? — J.B., California.
A. We don’t know, of course, but we would think so. After all, he was specifically chosen by Jesus as the first leader of the Church, even though he would subsequently deny Jesus three times. Nevertheless, Peter, who shed copious tears after his denials in the early morning hours of Good Friday, would pledge his love three times to Jesus after the Resurrection.
Peter would then go on to lead the Church courageously for three decades before he was crucified in Rome around the years 65-67. A longstanding tradition in the Church says that Peter was crucified upside down, at his own request, because he did not feel worthy to die in the same manner as the Lord whom he denied three times. We are confident that Jesus enthusiastically welcomed Peter home to Heaven at the end of the apostle’s life.
Q. Most Protestants do not believe Mary was conceived without original sin, was perpetually a virgin, and was taken body and soul into Heaven because there are no specific scriptural references. In other words, Protestants believe that the Catholic Church made the whole thing up, and there is no good reason for being devoted to the Blessed Mother. Please comment. — J.D.H., California.
A. First of all, just because something is not specifically mentioned in Scripture doesn’t mean it’s not true. For example, the word “Purgatory” does not appear in the Bible, but the notion of praying for departed souls does (cf. 2 Macc. 12:43-46; Wisdom 3:1-9; Matt. 12:31-32; 1 Cor. 3:14-15).
Furthermore, Catholics base their beliefs not just on what appears in Scripture, but also on divine Tradition, that is, on teachings handed down by the Church through saints, Popes, and councils over the centuries. Remember, too, that Jesus gave the Church the authority to pronounce on doctrinal matters (cf. Matt. 16:19 and 18:18), and St. Paul called the Church the “pillar and foundation of truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).
Having said that, it must be pointed out that the beliefs about Mary that many Protestants question are at least implicitly mentioned in the Bible. Let’s look at the three you mentioned.
Mary’s sinlessness — Catholics call this her Immaculate Conception, which means that, from the moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, St. Anne, she was free from original sin. Why do we believe this? Because the Angel Gabriel greeted Mary with the words, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee” (Luke 1:28). If Mary was full of grace at the time of the angel’s visit, then she was full of God’s divine life and entirely free from sin, including original sin.
But didn’t Mary call God “my Savior” (Luke 1:47), implying that she was not sinless if she needed a Savior? As a descendant of Adam, the Blessed Virgin did require a savior since she could have contracted original sin. But God preserved her from this plague of humanity by preventing her from being stained with original sin. She was redeemed by the Blood of Christ, not through Baptism but by anticipation.
In the thirteenth century, John Duns Scotus explained the doctrine of “preservative redemption” by using the analogy of a deep hole with the words “original sin” written on the muddy bottom. All members of the human race, except Mary, fall into that pit and are contaminated by original sin and need the grace of Baptism to have it washed away. But Jesus applied His grace to Mary before she could topple into the pit.
Mary’s Perpetual Virginity — Interestingly, the founders of Protestantism — Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli — all taught that Mary was a virgin all her life. For example, Martin Luther said that “Christ our Savior was the real and natural fruit of Mary’s virginal womb….This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that.” Ulrich Zwingli said that “I firmly believe according to the words of the Gospel that a pure virgin brought forth for us the Son of God and remained a virgin pure and intact in childbirth and also after the birth, for all eternity.”
Modern-day Protestants raise two objections to Mary’s perpetual virginity. They cite Matthew’s statement (1:25) that Joseph “had no relations with her until she bore a son,” implying that he did have relations with Mary afterward. But in the Bible the word “until” means only that something had not happened up to that point in time. It does not imply, as it does today, that some action did happen later. Take, for example, the statement in 2 Samuel 6:23, that “Saul’s daughter Michal was childless to [until] the day of her death.” Does this mean that she had children after her death? Of course not.
Then there is the reference to the “brothers” of Jesus. The explanation is that in Hebrew and Aramaic, the languages spoken by Jesus and His followers, there was no word for “cousin,” so the word “brother” was used for brother, cousin, or other relatives. We know, for example, that the James and Joseph mentioned as Jesus’ brothers in Matt. 13:55 were in fact the sons of another Mary, the wife of Clopas (cf. Matt. 27:56). Since the Gospels also tell us that Mary of Clopas was the Blessed Virgin’s “sister” (John 19:25), that would make her Jesus’ aunt and her children Christ’s cousins.
Mary’s Assumption into Heaven — That Mary was taken body and soul into Heaven at the end of her life is a corollary to her Immaculate Conception. The reasoning behind this dogma is that, since Mary was free from original sin, and the corruption of the grave is a consequence of that sin, she did not suffer the decay of the grave. It is easy to believe that Jesus would have wanted His Mother to share in His bodily glorification since it was her body that sheltered Him for nine months.
Publicly stated belief in the Assumption can be traced back at least to the sixth century (a thousand years before the coming of Protestantism), when St. Gregory of Tours wrote that the Lord Jesus came to Earth at the end of Mary’s life and commanded that her holy body “be taken in a cloud into Paradise, where now, rejoined to the soul, it rejoices with the Lord’s chosen ones, and is in the enjoyment of the good of an eternity that will never end.”
There is also a negative proof for her Assumption in that neither her tomb nor her remains were ever found. It was commonplace in the early Church to venerate the bones and resting places of the saints, but there is no historical record of such veneration of the Virgin Mary. That is because there were no bodily remains to venerate, and the faithful knew this from the earliest days of the Church.
Q. It bothers me when I hear people refer to abortion as a “sacrament.” Why on earth would they do that? — T.C., via e-mail.
A. They are probably trying to portray this abominable action as some kind of a sacred ritual in order to justify its continuation. But consider the definition of a sacrament to see how far-fetched, if not sacrilegious, is this attempt. A sacrament, according to the Baltimore Catechism, is an outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace. Now apply that definition to abortion.
Outward sign — No, abortion is not a visible sign. It is cloaked in darkness and hidden from view. If people were able to see clearly what abortion does to an unborn child, they would be far less likely to support it.
Instituted by Christ — Hardly. Would the Author of life institute a procedure that destroys life? Would the Author of the Commandment that says, “You shall not kill,” approve the killing of some 42 million of His creatures worldwide last year? Isn’t it more likely that Christ would say to the abortionists, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me,” and then dispatch the unrepentant baby-killers “into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:40-41)?
To give grace — Grace is a share in God’s divine life. How can murder give grace to the murderer? Abortion is demonic, straight from Satan, who Jesus said was a murderer and a liar from the beginning (cf. John 8:44). Call abortion the premeditated slaughter of the least of God’s creatures, but don’t call it a sacrament.
