While We’re At It
Many Protestants object to the veneration of Our Lady, wrongly arguing, “Catholics worship Mary.”
In my opinion, mainline Protestant theological tradition fails to give sufficient attention to the problem faced by every Christian after Baptism, namely the tendency to fall away from Christ at times - to sin against Him. It takes nothing away from Christ being the sole Mediator of mankind, to ask the assistance of the Blessed Virgin Mary, especially when one considers that Our Lord gave her to us from the cross - that time when His disciples were separated from Him by their own doing. “Behold your mother,” He said to John. Not my mother. John received her, himself, but so did the other disciples, the ones who had abandoned Christ out of fear - the same reason we do at times. It’s never been easy to follow Christ to the cross. Those who did that Friday did so by staying close to Our Lady. In that sense, Mary helps the Holy Spirit to accomplish the mission for which He was sent to the Church, to be Advocate, assistance, in helping us to remain with Jesus in all things. This is why we see Our Lady next in the Upper Room with the Apostles and disciples, awaiting the descent of the Holy Spirit. She made her way to them to comfort them and to embolden them in their waiting, “overshadowing” them with her mantle, just as the Holy Spirit came to her aid in her waiting for Christ’s first coming. Peter best exemplifies this need to be restored to Christ after denying Him - something we all experience at times - and for some intercessor to make that possible. If the Protestant objects that Peter was reconciled to Christ on the shore without the aid of any intercession (as if he went “straight to Jesus” as Protestants like to say they do), I would argue he did not. It was Saint John who said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” We do not worship Mary, but we do greatly benefit from her help.
It was a great deal harder to be anonymous.
I’ve been thinking about one of the similarities between driving on the roads and navigating the social media landscape. Driving can feel anonymous, in the same way that we post or comment using an avatar or alias. The result is that both become occasions of saying or doing things from our emotional response, with little involvement at all from our I, which alone can keep the passions in check. For the last few years I’ve hidden behind vague bios and screen names when posting online with the intention of making it easier for me, but it’s only made me more anxious “behind the wheel” of my social media presence, whereas finding new courage to bring my I online I now believe it was a great deal harder to be anonymous.
Pope Leo XIV is, in this way, the embodiment of hope.
It should come as no surprise that the Catholic Church is getting smaller and losing influence. Well before the abuse scandal, Vatican II called for reform in the 1960's. So whatever started brewing at the turn of last century that gave birth to the wars and the disintegration of the family is merely playing out in our times. Even so, amazing things are happening. There are always signs of hope to be found by the man who is willing to look for them. And of all those given to the Church and world in our times, none seems more prevalent to me these days than the election of Pope Leo XIV. Not only is he American, but he is also from an area of South Chicago that has seen the decline of the Catholic Church. His home parish is boarded up and his Catholic high school is closed. But Robert Prevost has emerged from the rubble to be Saint Peter’s successor. Let’s go!