"Never apologize for the
Blessed Virgin Mary!"
~~Mother Angelica
Posted on 09/21/2013 3:07:58 PM PDT by NYer
Why in the world would Mary have been getting married in the first place if she had taken a vow to never know a man? The above argument implies Joseph was okay with that which is obviously absurd. What could possibly have been his motive to agree to such a thing? The article doesn't address this rather obvious point (I wonder why?).
Betrothal was more serious than a modern engagagment but it was still before the marriage ceremony and the marriage was only consummated at that point. If he's implying betrothal had to have been after then he's full of it.
And then of course they declare that Jesus brothers were actually his cousins. Righhht.
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In Matthew 12:49-50, Jesus is actually calling His disciples and other people who do the will of His Father in heaven "His brothers", using that Greek word "adelphos".
The truth is, "adelphos" can mean several things, including "a brother, near kinsman, or relative; one of the same nation or nature; one of equal rank and dignity; an associate, a member of the Christian community", etc. (Source: http://www.teknia.com/greek-dictionary/adelphos )
Also, your statement "The only reason to declare Mary a lifelong celibate woman is to worship her" is also false. There are many other reasons why one could believe that Mary was a lifelong celibate. I believe Mary is "ever-virgin" (celibate), and I do not worship Mary.
And yet according to Catholicism, the marriage was never consummated, which means Joseph was also a virgin.
Exactly. There’s no way to explain this implication so it’s ignored.
Well, either a virgin, or a widower. (Source: http://www.catholic.com/quickquestions/was-st-joseph-a-virgin-or-a-widower-with-children )
Why were they getting married in the first place? Is there some “tradition” that explains that too?
"Never apologize for the
Blessed Virgin Mary!"
~~Mother Angelica
But Mary IS the Mother of God the Son, Jesus Christ, fully human and fully God.
Re=read the story of the Visitation again, please, and Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary, “How is this that the Mother of the Lord....”
You mean you've never heard of the tradition of getting married?
May I ask, where are you from?
1. How does the writer know Mary’s parents were elderly when she was born? Never read that in the Bible.
2. How did the writer know Joseph was much older than Mary? Where does it say THAT in the Bible? He may have been as much as ten years older, but if he were say 24 and she was 14 that wouldn’t seem that strange.
3. They were probably legally married prior to going to Bethlehem, most likely before Mary began to “show”, otherwise in the eyes of many Jesus most certainly would have been a bastard child, and would not even seem like Joseph’s at all. Maybe when the angel said “Do not be afraid to take Mary for your wife” Joseph took care of the legalities right away.
4. Joseph must have been quite a man to be able to deal with all of the above.
Actually she said “mother of my Lord”. I don’t even understand what saying she’s the mother of THE Lord would mean except that Jesus had a beginning which is impossible.
I haven’t heard of the tradition of people vowing to never have sex getting married.
So do you believe that Father, Son and Holy Spirit were present at the beginning of the World?
Of course. Don’t you?
I know of several Saints who did just such a thing and consecrated their lives to God.
One is incorrupt — so to me, that says that it is not a sin.
Absolutely. All one has to do is read the beginning of Genisis. It’s there, but people sometimes don’t see it.
My question is, what were Mary and Joseph’s motives for getting married vowing never to have sex, not some Saints you know of?
And where does the idea come from that vowing not to have sex inside a marriage has anything to do with consecrating one’s life to God? There’s nothing in the Jewish religion to suggest any such idea existed at any time.
we’ve had a thread about St. Joachim and St. Anne. After the birth of Mary, they vowed to live as brother and sister, if I remember correctly.
And that’s what I believe aobut Mary and Joseph.
I’m not a history buff on Judaism, so I can’t answer that question.
http://carm.org/christianity/christian-doctrine/let-us-make-man-our-image
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