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Charlie Traffas
Charlie Traffas has been involved in marketing, media, publishing and insurance for more than 40 years. In addition to being a fully-licensed life, health, property and casualty agent, he is also President and Owner of Chart Marketing, Inc. (CMI). CMI operates and markets several different products and services that help B2B and B2C businesses throughout the country create customers...profitably. You may contact Charlie by phone at (316) 721-9200, by e-mail at ctraffas@chartmarketing.com, or you may visit at www.chartmarketing.com.
Religion
2008-05-01 13:20:00
Virgin Mary’s role in salvation
Question: I know each of you represents a different faith. Can you tell me, in accordance with your faith, how important is the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary towards one’s salvation?
Answer: According to God’s eternal plan for the history and destiny of this world, the holy Virgin Mary has an essential role. When he created human beings with a free will, God knew already that they would abuse that freedom by sin. That sin of disobedience to God is a serious sin, requiring an infinite reparation, of which human beings by nature are incapable of satisfying. To demonstrate his love and mercy towards his weak human creatures, God the Father determined that his only Son should become a man “in the fullness of time” and repair all sins. 2000 years ago God the Son became a man in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who suffered greatly and was crucified and died in order to atone for the sins of all mankind. But for God the Son to become human, it was necessary that he take on a human nature, in addition to his divine nature because the divine nature is impassible, i.e. God as such cannot suffer or die. In order to assume human nature, God the Son had to be born of a human person. This became the role of the Virgin Mary. God selected for the mother of his Son: a holy humble simple maiden girl of Nazareth in Galilee. God sent the angel Gabriel to announce to Mary that she was chosen to become the mother of God’s Son. Mary gave her free consent to participate in God’s plan, without fully understanding what that entailed. God the Holy Spirit provided the active male principle in the conception of Jesus, acting directly on the womb of holy Mary. St. Joseph, the husband of Mary, was part of God’s plan in order to protect Mary from any charge of fornication or adultery. Although Joseph was Mary’s spouse, they never engaged in conjugal relations. This also was part of God’s plan: that his Son be born of a Virgin, according to the ancient prophecies. Without Mary, we would not have Jesus. Without Jesus, we would not have salvation according to the eternal plan of God the Father. God could have provided for the salvation of mankind in a different and less-complicated manner; but God chose this particular plan. All this is a matter of faith. To those who believe, it is the most wonderful thing that God has done. To unbelievers, it seems mere fantasy and nonsense. We cannot understand many of God’s decisions and dealings with humanity. We simply have to accept them on faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God (cf Hebrews 11:6). As Jesus told his Apostles on the Sunday evening, a week after his Resurrection from the dead: “Blest (happy) are they who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29)! The Catholic and Orthodox Church, established by Jesus, has always regarded Mary as our mother and patroness in heaven. Just as Jesus on earth paid attention to his mother (cf. John 2:3 and John 19:26-27), so in heaven Jesus, the Son of God, continues to respond favorably to her requests for her spiritual children, i.e. all those who are Jesus’ members by Baptism, and all who invoke her aid. Thus we regard Mary also as Mother of the Church.
 
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