Q&A: To Jesus through Mary: Is That Biblically Accurate?
I noticed that your logo is “To Jesus through Mary.” I am very uncomfortable with it and did not think it was biblical at all. Sure enough I noticed in John 6:44 Our Lord states, “No one can come to me except the Father who sent me draws him”. It seems unmistakably clear that Jesus is saying it is the work of God the Father to draw people to Christ. How then can you simply say Mary has any part in that? That is adding to the word of God which is forbidden (note Revelation 22:18).
Father Gaffney, SMM
Question submitted by a member from Tempe, AZ.
To Jesus Through Mary
We’re not adding to the word of God; rather, you are subtracting! There is no doubt that the Father draws us to Jesus. Without God, we can do nothing, we are nothing. On that point, there is no discussion.
God does use “missionaries,” “mediators” in his work of extending his reign. The one and only Mediator, the man Christ Jesus (cf 1 Tim 2:5) does use his “brothers and sisters” – the baptized – as his spokespersons, his “other self’ in drawing all people to respond to the Truth (cf the Great Mandate: Mt 28: 18-20, etc.) This does not contradict that there is only one Mediator between God and man; we are not mediators of ourselves, but only IN and THROUGH the one Mediator, Jesus.
Mary, in a unique way as the faith-filled Mother of the Lord, is one of these mediators. It is only through her faith-consent (cf Luke 1:38) that the Eternal Word of the Father is enfleshed, and thereby becomes the man Jesus Christ, the one and only Mediator. She is so “highly favored” (cf Lk 1:28) that she is the most remarkable missionary of Jesus Christ. Her influence upon us is according to her personality, as it is for all of us. Her personality is a total and loving “Yes” to God, for as Jesus tells ‘us, she “hears the word of God and keeps it” (Lk 11:27-28).
Therefore she can only influence us by inspiring us to surrender all to Jesus in the power of the Spirit for the glory of the Father. In a special way, therefore, through her influence we come to a deeper response to the Father’s call, the Father’s drawing us to Christ. “To Jesus through Mary” is, then, an expression in conformity to the scriptures. To deny it is to subtract from the word of God.
Therefore she can only influence us by inspiring us to surrender all to Jesus in the power of the Spirit for the glory of the Father. In a special way, therefore, through her influence we come to a deeper response to the Father’s call, the Father’s drawing us to Christ. “To Jesus through Mary” is, then, an expression in conformity to the scriptures. To deny it is to subtract from the word of God.
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