Mary co-redemptrix of Christ: why her work is important

The grieving mother and the mediator

How do Catholics understand Mary's participation in Christ's redemptive work, and why is it important?



There are very few Catholic titles for the Blessed Virgin Mary that are more likely to annoy evangelical Protestants than Coredemptrix or Mediatrix. Immediately the biblical Christian will jump high to quote 1 Timothy 2: 5, "Because there is one God and one mediator between God and Man - the man Christ Jesus." For them it is a done deal. “The Bible says so. I believe it. This solves it. "

So how do Catholics understand Mary's participation in Christ's redemptive work, and why is it important?

First of all, what do these words mean: "Coredemptrix" and "Mediatrix?"

The first means that the Blessed Virgin Mary participated in a real way in the redemption of the world accomplished by her Son. The second means "female mediator" and teaches that it mediates between us and Jesus.

Protestants complain that this reduces the one-time sacrifice of Jesus Christ once and for all. He alone is the Redeemer, not he and his mother! The second directly and blatantly contradicts 1 Timothy 2: 5, which says: "There is a mediator between God and Man - the man Christ Jesus." How could it be clearer?

The Catholic vision can be explained, but it is better to start not with the Catholic doctrines of Mary Mediatrix and Coredemptrix, but with Catholic devotion to Mary, Mother of Sorrows. This devotion developed in the Middle Ages and focuses on the Seven Pains of Mary. This devotion brings the Christian into the meditation on the suffering that the Blessed Mother has experienced as part of her role in the salvation of the world.

Mary's seven pains are:

Simeon's prophecy

The flight to Egypt

Losing the boy Jesus in the temple

The Via Crucis

The death of Christ

The deposition of the body of Christ from the cross

Spreading it in the grave.

These seven mysteries are a consequence of old Simeon's prophecy that "this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be contradicted (and a sword will also pierce your heart) so that the the thoughts of many hearts can be revealed. ”This key verse is prophetic - not only by revealing that Mary will suffer together with her son, but that this suffering will open many hearts and therefore will have an important role to play in the whole history of redemption.

Once we recognize that Mary suffered with Jesus, we should take a moment to try to understand the depth of that identification with her son. Remember that Jesus took his human flesh from Mary. She is related to her son like no other mother and her son is like no other son.

How many times have we seen and experienced the profound identification between a mother and her son? The boy is suffering in school. Mom comes forward, because she too has suffered. The child experiences difficulties and tears. Even the mother's heart is broken. Only when we understand the depth of Maria's suffering and the depth of her unique identification with her son, will we begin to understand the titles of Coredemptrix and Mediatrix.

We should be clear that we are not saying that Jesus' redemptive work on the cross was somehow insufficient. Nor is his work as a mediator between God and man in any way inadequate. We recognize that his redemptive suffering on the cross was full, definitive and totally sufficient. We recognize that it is the only saving mediator between God and Man. So what do we mean by these titles for Mary?

What we mean is that you participate in the full, final, sufficient and unique work of Christ. He started that participation when he conceived it in his womb and gave birth to it. He continued that identification with him on the way of the cross and through his death. Walk beside him and through his work he joins that work. It is as if the love and sacrifice of Christ were a fast flowing river, but Mary swims in the current of that river. His job depends on his job. His participation and cooperation could not take place without his work preceding him and allowing everything he does.

Therefore when we say that she is a Coredemptrix we mean that because of Christ she works with Christ for the redemption of the world. Furthermore, it is not the only one to do it. This is an excerpt from my book La Madonna? A Catholic-Evangelical debate:

Human cooperation with the grace of God is a scriptural principle. So, for example, we have the role of Jesus as High Priest; but while the New Testament shows that he is the great high priest, he also calls us to participate in that priesthood. (Rev. 1: 5-6; I Peter 2: 5,9). We do this by sharing his sufferings. (Mt 16:24; I Pt. 4:13). Paul calls himself a "collaborator of Christ" (I Cor. 3: 9) and says that part of it is that he shares Christ's sufferings (2 Cor. 1: 5; Php. 3:10). Paul continues by teaching that this sharing of Christ's sufferings is effectively effective. Complete "what is still missing in the afflictions of Christ" on behalf of the church. (Col. 1:24). Paul is not saying that Christ's almighty sacrifice is somehow inadequate. Instead it is teaching that sufficient sacrifice must be completed by preaching, accepted and embraced by our cooperation, and that our suffering plays a mysterious role in this action. In this way the redemption of Christ is applied and made alive in the present moment by our own cooperation in that one, complete, last sacrifice. Nobody says that we are equal to Christ, instead, by grace, our cooperation becomes part of all the sufficient sacrifice of Christ.

By proclaiming Mary Co-Redeemer and Mediatrix we are not simply elevating Mary to the stratosphere. Instead, since she is also "Mother of the Church", we are emphasizing that what she does in sharing the redemptive work of Christ in the world is what we are all called to do. She is the first Christian, the best and most complete, so she shows us the way to follow Christ in a complete way.

All Christians are therefore called to be "mediators" because and through the mediation of Christ alone. We do this by praying, living and making peace, reconciling ourselves and witnesses of the Gospel. We are all called to "participate in the work of redemption". Because of what Christ has done, we too can offer our sufferings and sorrows and participate in that work so that they too can be part of his greatest work of redemption in the world. This action not only helps in the work of redemption, but also "redeems" suffering. Turn the worst into the best. It takes the pains of our life and unites them to the sufferings of the Lord and turns them into gold.

This is the reason why, in the mystery of the Church, these titles are given to the Blessed Mother, so that we can see in her life what should be a reality in ours. In this way, following his example, we are able to do what Christ commanded: take our cross and follow him - and if we cannot do it, then he says that we cannot be his disciples.