The Gadfly “To persuade and reproach” - Socrates, The Apology
Vol. XIII, Iss. II October 7, 2010
Is Mary Coredemptrix Ecumenical? One of the cries those who promote the fifth Marian dogma of Mary Coredemptrix, Meditraix of all Graces, and Advocate of the People of God so often hear tirelessly repeated is that this dogma is somehow against the ecumenical mandate of the Second Vatican Council. We are often told that to promote such Marian "maximalism" is excessively offensive to Protestant Christians. I thought it would be helpful to clarify why exactly the opposite is the case. And I am not going to merely parrot the usual response that ecumenism authentically understood means uniting all Christians and all persons into the one Body of Christ, that is the Catholic Church. In a recent class for Mary in the Modern World, we discussed the need to reiterate publicly the Catholic
belief that we are all called to be coredeemers in Christ; the dogma of Mary Coredemptrix will help drastically in bringing Catholics back to the understanding of redemption precisely by clarifying authentic Catholic dogma on coredemption. Coredemption presupposes, as well as further preserving and safeguarding, the universal Christian belief in redemption. The Refomers such as Martin Luther and John Calvin, among others, all believed that the Catholic Church was so corrupt because of false medieval accretions that they sincerely wanted to go back to the clear teaching of the Gospel about the centrality of the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Basic Reformation principles are sola fide, we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone; sola gratia, that we are saved
by the grace of Jesus Christ alone; solus Christus, that Jesus Christ alone saves us; sola Scriptura, that the Bible alone is sufficient for salvation; and solus Deus gloria, that God alone is to be given all glory. Interestingly, even as Catholics we might do well to return to these fundamental principles. While they are clearly heretical and incomplete in and of themselves, therein are contained many truths which are forgotten, neglected, and even—sadly—explicitly rejected by not just many Protestants but even a good number of Catholics today. Apart from the "alone", these teachings are all legitimate and totally true Catholic doctrines that are tragically being undermined in the years since the Second Vatican Council. Authentic Protestant Evangelicals and Fundamentalists who believe Continued on pg 6
Love Me, Don’t Judge Me I've come not to hold your Frannie hands, but to invite myself to become a vessel of accountability through writing... of course. Fellow students, must I resort to being blunt about things? I thought at one point in time I could approach things in a more civilized and passive manner. Obviously, I've been driven to this new method of discourse, which leads me to be a little bit more direct than usual. For
those of you who have been patient, who have been understanding, who have been able to entertain differing opinions, thank you. Please pardon my potential rudeness when I say the following: some of the biggest fences people have to jump and trip over to reach the truth and love that our Church has to offer consists of our fellow students.
I ask, can you entertain the thought of being held to a higher standard, a standard set higher than those of other college students who are not followers of Christ? If the answer is no, please refrain from wasting your time reading this article, which will probably only upset you, and unfortunately fail at helping expand your intellectual capacity. If yes, good pagan, please continue (To you pagans on campus, reading.) Continued on pg 5