Episode Transcript  

One

Why Is Mary Such a Big Deal?

Why do Catholics make such a big deal about Mary? Why do we erect statues, multiply titles, declare dogmas, name our churches, and pray the Rosary, all in her honor? Why is Mary such a big deal? 

Well, there are different ways to answer that question. But one of the clearest ways is to explain that Mary is the New Eve. Sin and death entered the world through the first man, Ada,m and the first woman, Eve. Christ, who came to replace sin and death with righteousness and eternal life, is the new Adam. The one who substituted His humble obedience for Adam’s prideful disobedience. But what we forget is that just as Adam wasn’t working alone to bring about our downfall, so Jesus wasn’t working alone to bring about our salvation. 

A woman cooperated with the first man, and a woman cooperated with the new man. That woman was Mary.

Two

Mary as the New Eve

Just look at the parallels between Mary and Eve in the Scriptures: A bad angel comes to the first Eve and says, “If you want, you can make man to be like God.” A good angel comes to the new Eve and says, “If you want, you can make God to be like man.” The first Eve says yes to the bad angel, and she gives the forbidden fruit, the instrument of damnation, to the first Adam. The New Eve says yes to the good angel, and she gives human flesh, the instrument of salvation, to the New Adam.

Jesus at Cana and then again at Calvary, calls Mary “Woman,” because God had said to the Serpent, in front of Eve, “I will put enmity between you and the woman.” The first woman was the partner of the first man. The new woman, Mary, was the partner of the new man in salvation. The first Eve miraculously came from the body of the first Adam without sexual intercourse; the new Adam miraculously came from the body of the New Eve without sexual intercourse.

St. Paul even seems to say that woman’s sin will be overcome through woman. He says, “Through childbearing, women will be saved.” This doesn’t mean that the only way a woman can get to heaven is if she bears children. What it probably means is that there was one woman who accepted God’s plan, the way Eve rejected it, and that salvation, in the form of the New Adam, came into the world through her giving birth.

In other words, if Adam and Eve are both in some way responsible for our fall, then Jesus and Mary, the New Adam and the New Eve, are both in some way responsible for our salvation.

Three

Marian Dogmas

When you understand Mary’s mission as the New Eve, working with the New Adam, it helps make sense of everything else the Church teaches about Mary.

Mary is the Mother of God – just as Eve cooperated in Adam’s sin by giving him the forbidden fruit she had first, so does Mary cooperate in Christ’s saving work by giving Him the humanity she had first. Mary is a Perpetual Virgin – again, just as Eve came from Adam without sexual intercourse, so did Christ come from Mary without sexual intercourse.

Mary is Immaculately Conceived. The first Eve began her existence perfectly; so did the New Eve. And just as the New Adam, Christ, had to be sinless so that His suffering could be salvific, so did the New Eve, Mary, have to be sinless, so that her compassionate suffering beneath the Cross could be meritorious with and under Her suffering Son.

Mary is assumed into Heaven, just as Adam and Eve were physically banished from paradise because of their sin, so does Mary and Jesus’ victory mean that they are the first to physically enter Heaven because of their sinlessness. Finally, just as Eve is the mother of all of us on the natural level, Mary, the New Eve, is the mother of us all on the Spiritual level. And she continues to carry out her mother’s role in her care and help throughout this life and into the next.

Four

Mary and the Holy Spirit

Just as Mary, the New Eve, cooperates with Christ, the New Adam. So does God the Holy Spirit cooperate in all things with God the Son. The Son and the Holy Spirit have a joint mission, that means that God the Father sends them both into the world, to work together to bring all things to fulfillment. The mission of the Son is manifest in Jesus, and the mission of the Spirit is manifest in Mary. And since Mary is not the Incarnation of the Spirit, she must be the perfect human expression of the Spirit. 

Mary is not the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit, who cooperates with the Word, is the one who works through Mary and allows her to fulfill her role of cooperating with Christ. The Holy Spirit overshadows Mary to make her the Mother of God while remaining a Virgin. The Holy Spirit fills Mary with Grace and Holiness from the first moment of her conception. The Holy Spirit keeps Mary pure and holy until the end of her earthly life, when the Holy Spirit brings her body and soul into heavenly glory. 

And it is the Holy Spirit, the one of whom we are reborn in Baptism, who empowers Mary to be the Mother of all Christians. Mary is the supreme saint, the privileged cooperator with Christ, the Queen of Heaven and Earth, and everything she has and everything she is, she receives from the Holy Spirit of Power.

Five

Mary and Us

So why is Mary a big deal? Because she is the New Eve, which means she cooperates with Christ by being receptive to the Holy Spirit. And in that, she is the model for every Christian, who is called to do the same thing. All of us are called to be co-workers with Christ in the vineyard. And all of us receive the grace to do that prudently, courageously, and effectively, by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Blessed Mother, New Eve, help us to be your true children and follow your example until we reach our homeland with you in Paradise.

Suggested Resolutions:

Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you. 

• Consecrate yourself to Mary. Consider following along with a 33-day consecration like the one by Saint Louis de Montfort.

• If you don’t already, commit to praying the Rosary every day, placing yourself in the care of Our Blessed Mother.

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