More Thoughts on Mary, Mother of Jesus and Church Teachings on Mary by Mary Eileen Collingwood ARCWP

The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus of Nazareth was born from the womb of a woman without blemish of any sin—after all, it was thought absolutely impossible that this God-baby could ever rest and grow within a sinful environment, especially, a woman’s womb!  This teaching is the basis for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. 

 
And because there was no sin, there is no death.  So, the Catholic Church’s continued teachings must reflect that.  Thus, Mary couldn’t possibly have died.  No, she was “assumed body and soul” into heaven.  The Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary (August 15) is the crowning point of the Church’s theology on Mary, the Mother of Jesus, that was promulgated by Pope Pius XII as he defined it in 1950.
 
Once again, we are confronted with a male perspective on the functioning of not only the female anatomy, but also the reason why human reproduction was essentially considered for centuries by the traditional Catholic Church to be a necessary evil in order to continue the species-- thus, not a sacred (holy) event.
 
The Church’s Vatican Ecumenical Council II (1962-1965) in its Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes), introduced a two-fold purpose in marriage: reproduction of the species and the loving union of a woman and man:
 
50. But marriage was not instituted solely for the procreation of children: its nature as an indissoluble covenant between two people and the good of the children demand that the mutual love of the partners be properly expressed, that it should grow and mature.
 
This was the first time the Church actually linked the word “love” with the concept of reproduction!  This was the first time both elements, procreation and mutual love, were considered as equally important. Since that time, instead of building on this “loving concept,” the Church has continually strayed from this tenet by adopting the ideas and teaching of the Theology of the Body that is being taught in most of the dioceses in the United States.
 
This “theology” was the brain child of Pope John Paul II.   As he attempted to make sense of his female-deprived upbringing through his mystical experiences of women, he surmised the role of women in marriage to be divinely created to support the men.  Since its widespread acceptance as true and authentic church teaching, the woman continues to be profiled as the complementary helper of the man.  Her first calling is to have and raise children; the second is to complement her male partner. Insofar as the men concocted this idea that has maintained the attention of people to this day, it certainly reaffirms the notion that the male leads while the female follows. 
 
My present thoughts rise above this morass the Church has presented us.  Mary, the Mother of Jesus, holds a very dear place in the hearts of many Catholics.  She certainly does in mine!
 
However, until we rid ourselves of all the shenanigans the Church used in trying to theologize Mary into an icon that experienced nothing human about the conception and birth of herself or her child, perfectly healthy, human women will continue to be treated as less than… 
                                                                        --MECollingwood
 
 
Song for Meditation:  How Could Anyone by Elaine Silver; Album: Faerie Goddess ℗ 1999 Silver Stream Music Released on: 1999-09-28 Auto-generated by YouTube.
How Could Anyone