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The premise of this blog is a faith in progress<\/em>.<\/p>\n One of my goals has been to provide a window into\u00a0the story of my faith as\u00a0it evolves in real time. I\u2019ve promised myself\u00a0 \u2013 and you \u2013 that I will move forward with reason, rationality, a clear head, and eyes wide-open.<\/p>\n At the same time, I cannot and will not\u00a0discount the role that faith, or perhaps some inexplicable\u00a0ordering of my steps (whether\u00a0one\u00a0calls it serendipity,\u00a0coincidence, or mere fate) may play during this process.<\/p>\n If that sounds grounded in self-delusion, or even wishful thinking, well so be it. At least you know the parameters.<\/p>\n By now you perhaps know a little of my story.<\/p>\n Before Francis caught my attention, I not only harbored multiple misconceptions about Church teachings, but what little I knew\u00a0 \u2013 or at least\u00a0thought<\/em> I knew\u00a0\u2013 was also enough to convince me that its doctrines were misleading, extra-biblical, somewhat mythical, and at times downright dangerous.<\/p>\n So it was, particularly, with matters concerning Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Convinced as I was that the Catholic faith had misconstrued and inappropriately magnified\u00a0her proper role, I rejected what I\u00a0believed had devolved into heretical worship.<\/p>\n Scores of popular books and academic tomes have been written about Mary, arguing both for and against her role in the great cosmic salvific plan.\u00a0Protestants \u2013 and I was one for a time \u2013 acknowledge Mary as the Mother of God,<\/em> but then often veer off, seeking to\u00a0put as\u00a0much distance as possible between\u00a0themselves and any further\u00a0exploration of Mary\u2019s unique place. Speaking for myself, at that time, I saw the Catholic teaching with respect to Mary as mere fantasy, not firmly grounded anywhere in written Scripture, her elevation robbing her son of His proper place in our hearts.<\/p>\n Because this is a blog post and not an academic work\u00a0or a scholarly review, it is not my intention to lay out for you all of the evidence or arguments pro and con \u2013 not that I am qualified to do so in any event.<\/p>\n But I do want to touch upon two specifics that have\u00a0moved me just\u00a0in the past few weeks. They, together, will point out to you the direction I am currently traveling.<\/p>\n Please note:\u00a0a special acknowledgement for this post goes to Dr. Mark Miravalle and his book, Meet Your Mother<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n First, we are, right now, in the\u00a0middle of Advent.<\/p>\n As I have previously posted<\/a>, I had never given much thought to this season, believing that we wrongly\u00a0focused on the infant son instead of the mature Son of Man<\/em>. As we\u00a0await the celebration of the birth of Christ, we also anticipate His return.<\/p>\n But His physical\u00a0nature and birth\u00a0\u2013 which we as Christians believe was\u00a0accomplished through the imparting of the\u00a0Holy Spirit \u2013 could not have happened without\u00a0Mary\u2019s unequivocal yes.<\/em><\/p>\n As Mother Teresa famously and succinctly said: \u201cNo Mary, No Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n As I have come now\u00a0to examine Advent more closely, taking each day seriously and with purpose, Mary\u2019s\u00a0role in Jesus\u2019 physical birth alone now seems to me clear enough to accord her with a special place above all others.<\/p>\n As Dr. Miravalle points out (but I have not independently verified), even though Muslims do not\u00a0believe that Jesus is divine but only a great prophet, they \u201cnonetheless accept beliefs similar to Mary\u2019s Immaculate Conception [and] her virgin conception and birth of Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n Moreover:<\/p>\n Mary is the only woman who has an entire chapter dedicated to her\u00a0in the\u00a0Qur\u2019an . . . and is more revered than any woman related to Mohammed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But perhaps even more fascinating is this exclamation, quoted by Dr. Miravalle in his book:<\/p>\n We are all children of Mary . . . Mary is the mother of Jesus and the mother of us all. If Christ is ours, his mother is also ours \u2013 She, the Lady above heaven and earth . . . Here passes the woman who is raised far above all women, indeed above the whole human race . . . no woman is like unto thee! Thou art more than an empress or a queen . .\u00a0. blessed above all nobility, wisdom, or saintliness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The source?<\/p>\n Martin Luther, some years after<\/em> he was no longer a part of the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n I am left to wonder why I had never heard about Luther\u2019s clear Marian beliefs before I returned to the Church. It seems that the Protestant reformer himself would\u00a0be quite comfortable with current Catholic doctrine about Mary.<\/p>\n Mary\u2019s place as mother \u2013 and more \u2013 above all others has been secured in my mind.<\/p>\n Second, I have been recently been exposed to Mary\u2019s \u2013 to me previously unknown \u2013\u00a0role as the Untier<\/em> or Undoer<\/em> of Knots. This is something that Pope Francis himself has recently championed. But it has roots that is centuries old, perhaps as early as the second century.<\/p>\n It is a role that I have both come to accept and in which I\u00a0have taken a special delight.<\/p>\n Basically,\u00a0this nine-day intercessory\u00a0contemplation and prayer (a Novena<\/em>), seeks assistance in untying the \u201cknots\u201d that entangle our families, our relationships, our finances, our lives \u2013 really anything that seems too complicated or messed up for an ordinary human solution or reprieve.<\/p>\n Here is one version that I have found touching:<\/p>\n Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine love and immense mercy that exists in your heart, cast your compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exist in my life.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nYou know very well how desperate I am, my pain and how I am bound by these knots.
\nMary, Mother to whom God entrusted the undoing of the knots in the lives of his children, I entrust into your hands the ribbon of my life.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nNo one, not even the evil one himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands there is no knot that cannot be undone.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nPowerful Mother, by your grace and intercessory power with Your Son and My Liberator, Jesus, take into your hands today this knot [herein mention a specific knot] I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once for all, You are my hope.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nO my Lady, you are the only consolation God gives me, the fortification of my feeble strength, the enrichment of my destitution and with Christ the freedom from my chains. <\/span>Hear my plea.<\/span><\/p>\n
\nKeep me, guide me, protect me, o safe refuge!<\/span><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/span>Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for me<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n