Philosophical Reflections000 With

Matthew M. Umukoro

mattmukoro@gmail.com  (08034052655)

There is no doubt, whatsoever, that the most blessed and most honoured human being since the creation of the world is Blessed Mother Mary. She was chosen by God, out of all the virgins available during her time, to be the one conferred with the privilege of bringing forth the Baby Jesus, during the Lord’s incarnation for the salvation of mankind.  For this unique honour, she has received innumerable epithets and titles used in the various Marian litanies which continue to grow with time. The titles include Mother of the Church, Virgin most venerable, Mirror of Justice, Seat of Wisdom, Queen of Angels, Queen of Apostles, Queen of the most Holy Rosary, Queen of Nigeria, and other titles. But the highest, and easily the most controversial title is Mary, Blessed Mother of God; a title first ascribed to her at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD.  How can a mortal, no matter how highly placed, be addressed as Mother of the same God that created her? This apparently blasphemous claim is, in actual fact, the greatest paradox of human history.

It is important to view the issue in its proper context.  From the literal perspective, the controversy can be decided through the application of syllogism, a logical form of reasoning based on two related premises and a conclusion, which may be valid or invalid, depending on the variables employed. The simple syllogism that attests to this fact runs as follows:  Mary is the Mother of Jesus; Jesus is the Second person of the Holy Trinity; therefore, Mary is the Mother of God.  The conclusion is both logical and valid. Thus, Mary’s motherhood of God must be seen strictly in the biological sense, not in the sense of the maternal superiority or authority of a mother over her child. The fact remains that Mary carried Jesus in her womb for nine months, enduring all the hardships and inconveniences associated with pregnancy, and was delivered of the Baby Jesus after the gestation period of nine months, and she proceeded to suckle the new baby all through his infancy. A woman cannot be more motherly than that. Therefore, Holy Mary deserves the title as the biological Mother of Jesus, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity; hence, the Mother of God. But this is motherhood with a difference.

The First Person of the Holy Trinity created Mary and prepared her for her divine role; the Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, made Mary to be pregnant in her state of virginity; while Jesus, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, gestated inside Mary for nine months before the Infant Jesus was born into the world as the Son of the Most High. Thus, all the three Persons of the Holy Trinity collaborated in the incarnation of Jesus through Mary. A foster father was provided in Joseph to help in nurturing the Baby to adulthood, before embarking on his earthly ministry. It was a complex tripartite arrangement, with Holy Mary at the center of it all. Had Jesus descended into the world as a supernatural Being, he would have been unable to fulfil the mission for which He came. He would have been feared and dreaded, and not integrated into the human community; and no one would have dared to convict Him to death or to crucify Him. His major reason for coming into the world would have been vitiated. After His resurrection, He returned fully to his supernatural state, appeared a number of times to his disciples, before taking to the sky in grand style to return to his Father in Heaven, and prepare for the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day. “And when he had said these things, while they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. And while they were watching him going up to heaven, behold, two men stood near them in white vestments. And they said: ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven shall return in just the same way that you have seen him going up to heaven” (Acts 1:9-11).

Christ’s Second Coming in a spectacular manner is thus a frightening reality. Having fulfilled His mission on His First Coming through Mary, His promised Second Coming at a future time which is God’s closely guarded secret will be through a descent from the sky in grand style in the same manner of His ascension; this time to Judge both the living and the dead. By allowing Himself to be crucified on His First Coming, Jesus Christ had performed the one-time sacrifice needed by sinful mankind for the salvation of their souls, and anyone who believes in Him will be saved and have eternal life. So, Jesus will be fully justified in whatever decisions He takes when He comes again, because there will be no excuses for derailment or licentious living. This serves as a warning to all human beings, regardless of sex, race or creed, to prepare fully on a daily basis for that eventful and monumental occurrence which, according to Him, will be like the unexpected coming of a thief in the night.

The latest occurrence in Virgin Mary’s miraculous exploits was her appearance six times over a period of six months, to three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria, an area in the city of Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.  The three shepherd children were Lucia dos Santos, and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, who saw Mary’s apparitions on six different occasions, between 13 May and 13 October, 1917. On the last day, 13 October 1917, an enormous crowd across Portugal had gathered to attest to the much talked about apparitions. Although the apparition was visible only to the children, the crowd of over 700,000 people saw the sun perform some miraculous movement in the noonday sky. Appearing to have slightly shifted base, the sun began to emit different colours for about ten minutes to the amazement of all. Those who tried to play down on the monumental event cited the possibility of optical illusion; but over 700,000 pairs of eyes could not have suffered optical illusion at the same time for a period of ten minutes. Hence, the Miracle of the Sun, which occurred over Fatima on 13 October 1917, alongside the final appearance of Mary to the shepherd children, was an ocular reality that was even captured on camera. As a result, Mary gained the additional title of Our Lady of Fatima, and Fatima now boasts of one of the largest and most visited Marian shrines throughout the world. Jose Alves Correia da Silva, Bishop of Leiria, formally accorded credibility to the spectacular events on 13 October 1930, and the

Feast Day of Mary of Fatima is 13 May. Mary’s assumption into Heaven body, soul, and spirit, after her death, is thus a logical fact. There was no way that the womb that bore the Son of God could have been allowed to rot away in the tomb.