Allow me to offer a very profound hat tip to my good friend at A Dei in the Life. This is a presentation he made for his sixth, seventh, and eighth grade religion classes.
The Charge
Mary, a faithful Jewish girl, was guilty of ignorance regarding the facts about the coming Messiah… her own Son, Jesus the Christ.
The Prosecution
Your Honor, I call Mary to the stand.
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary
Yes, I did. The Old Testament foretold that “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea.” (Job 9:8)
The Prosecution
Did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Mary
Yes, I did. The Lord told our prophets, “Say to those whose hearts are frightened: be strong, fear not! Here is your God, He comes with vindication; With divine recompense He comes to save you.” (Is 35:4)
The Prosecution
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new… that this child that you’ve delivered will soon deliver you?
Mary
Yes I did. The angel Gabriel greeted me saying, “Hail, full of grace (kecharitomene – Lk 1:28),” so I knew I’d already been delivered, actually. I then told my cousin Elizabeth that, “My spirit rejoices in God, my savior.” (Lk 1:47)
The Prosecution
Did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary
Yes I did. Everyone knew that it was said of the coming Messiah, “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared.” (Is 35:5)
The Prosecution
Did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?
Mary
Yes I did. The Psalmist foresaw, “In their distress they cried to the LORD, who brought them out of their peril, hushed the storm to a murmur; the waves of the sea were stilled. They rejoiced that the sea grew calm, that God brought them to the harbor they longed for.” (Ps 107:28-30)
The Prosecution
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
Mary
Yes I did. As it was written, “When He established the heavens I was there… Then was I beside Him as His craftsman, and I was His delight day by day, playing before Him all the while,
playing on the surface of His earth; and I found delight in the sons of men.” (Prov 8:27, 30-31)
The Prosecution
And when you kiss your little baby, You’ve kissed the face of God?
Mary
Yes, “For thus said the LORD of hosts (after He had already sent me)… Whoever touches You touches the apple of my eye… Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! See, I am coming to dwell among you, says the LORD.” (Zech 2:12, 14)
The Prosecution
Mary, did you know? The blind will see, the deaf will hear…
Mary
Yes, regarding the coming of my Son it was said, “On that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book; And out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind shall see.” (Is 29:18)
The Prosecution
Did you know the dead will live again?
Mary
Yes, in the Scriptures it was spoken that with the coming of Christ, “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” (Dan 12:2)
The Prosecution
Did you know the lame will leap and the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb?
Mary
Of course! The prophet wrote of my Son, saying, “Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the dumb will sing.” (Is 35:6)
The Prosecution
Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary
Yes, I did. It is written of my Son, the Word, “God of my fathers, LORD of mercy. You who have made all things by your word.” (Wis 9:1)
“At God's word were His works brought into being; they do His will as He has ordained for them.” (Sir 42:15)
The Prosecution
Did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Mary
Yes, just listen… “For a child is born to us, a Son is given us; upon His shoulder dominion rests. They name Him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace. His dominion is vast and forever peaceful, From David's throne, and over His kingdom, which He confirms and sustains by judgment and justice, both now and forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this!” (Is 9:56)
And as if that weren’t enough, Gabriel told me personally that, “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Lk 1:32-33)
The Prosecution
Did you know that your baby boy is Heaven’s perfect Lamb?
Mary
Yes, absolutely. As a little girl, I learned the prophecy of the suffering servant. “Though He was harshly treated, He submitted and opened not His mouth; Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, He was silent and opened not His mouth… He was cut off from the land of the living, and smitten for the sin of His people.” (Is 53:7-8)
The Prosecution
One final question, Your Honor…
Mary, did you know that this sleeping child you’re holding is the Great I AM?
Mary
Yes. It was written, “For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior… everyone who is named as mine, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. Lead out the people who are blind though they have eyes, who are deaf though they have ears. Let all the nations gather together, let the peoples assemble! Who among them could have revealed this, or foretold to us the earlier things? Let them produce witnesses to prove themselves right, that one may hear and say, "It is true!" You are my witnesses, says the LORD, my servants whom I have chosen To know and believe in me and understand that it is I. Before me no god was formed, and after me there shall be none. It is I, I the LORD; there is no savior but me. It is I who foretold, I who saved; I made it known, not any strange god among you; You are my witnesses, says the LORD. I am God, yes, from eternity I AM He; There is none who can deliver from my hand: who can countermand what I do? Thus says the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” (Is 43:3, 7-13)
The Judge
Defense, your witness.
The Defense
The defense rests, Your Honor.
"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28)
“…and His mother kept all these things in her heart.” (Lk 2:51)
The Judgment
Mary, this court finds you NOT GUILTY of ignorance regarding any of those things which are mentioned in the song, “Mary, Did You Know?” By virtue of this decision, it would seem that the song itself should be under trial, as it gives the false impression that you were ignorant of these important matters stemming from your own Jewish faith. While this may be demeaning to you if the song's questions are taken to imply ignorance on your part, it probably cannot be said to be heretical. Nevertheless, under no circumstance should it be sung at Mass, for it can give the impression that not only you, but nobody else knew the things which had been foretold. This is simply untrue, as you have so eloquently pointed out with your Scriptural answers.
There's no way someone actually sang this dreck in church.
ReplyDeleteMy Dear Titus,
ReplyDeleteYou must be a very lucky person. To have it be your experience that such a song would never be sung in a Catholic Mass... I wish I were you, my friend. Both the parish to which I belong as well as the parish where I teach (typical parishes in my dioceses) use this song at Mass during this time of year.
Yours,
The author of the post in question
Titus,
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Mark M. here. While not, strictly speaking, during Mass, our parish has been playing this song as part of the "carols" before Midnight Mass for the past several years.
C'mon people! All it needs is a final verse saying "Yes!"
ReplyDeleteI think the point here is that the over-simplified, over-emotionalized lyrics miss entirely the reality of Mary's prevenient grace, particularly the line, "Mary did you know that the child you've delivered would soon deliver you?" The Immaculate Conception clearly indicates that she had already been delivered.
ReplyDeleteThe other side of this is, of course, the poor musical quality of the piece ... but to each his own I suppose.
It's a pop song not a hymn or a carol. It has no place in Mass nor in a service of carols before Mass. But as a pop song I rather like it.
ReplyDeleteThe rhetorical questions don't really imply that Mary didn't know the answers. Sure, on a literal level they are directed to Mary; but I think the listener isn't so much meant to linger on the state of Mary's knowledge so much as be drawn toward contemplation of the mystery of Incarnation. It reminds me of the list of rhetorical questions in Pink Floyd's "Mother". The "mother" character isn't really the point of the song, we're not meant to think about who the mother is or what she will think or how she will answer; she's just a rhetorical device.
The song moves the listener away from the iconic scene of the Mother and child in the stable and toward the rest of the Gospel story. In a post-Christian culture where most people never move beyond the Christmas card picture to think about Who that little baby is, this song tries to get them to do that.
I don't think the song needs rebuttal because it isn't really making the claims you say it's making about Mary. The one detail that I agree is off is the line about "the child you've delivered would soon deliver you" and yet I can forgive the bad theology. First, because it's a pop song and not a hymn. Second, because the focus of the line is a play on the word "deliver" not on the "soon". And last but not least, Christ's sacrifice on the cross did happen in time, a specific moment that fell after the moment of Mary's conception, obviously. The grace of that act saved Mary outside of time. I think it is well within the bounds of poetic license to juxtapose the moments and is a bit tendentious to impose rigorous theological language and categories upon a song.
Also, maybe it's kind of a quibble that is beside the point; but many of the verses you site are not ones that I think Mary or anyone else at the time would have applied to the Messiah. They have Christological significance only in hindsight after the Holy Spirit had led the Church into the fullness of understanding of Christ's dual nature as both human and divine. I think the exact nature of Mary's knowledge about Christ's divinity is pure theological speculation. I don't think it's unreasonable to say that at the Annunciation or in the stable in Bethlehem Mary still didn't understand that her son was the great I Am. That certainly was not the Hebrew expectation of who the Messiah would be.
Also, I don't think it was a typical Jewish understanding of the scriptures that the Messiah would be the Word in the verse from the Book of Wisdom that you site, for example. You're reading the Old Testament with a Christological understanding that wouldn't have been available to first century Jew before Jesus explained all of the Old Testament to the apostles on the road to Emmaus. There is nothing in Church teaching or tradition that tells us Mary would have known all these things at the time of the Nativity.
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteYou have made some excellent points here. Kudos.
What Melanie said, especially in her last two 'graphs: as Catholics and with hindsight, we tend to presume that Mary knew her Son's divinity very early, even at the Annunciation, but that isn't necessarily the case, and Melanie notes.
ReplyDeleteWhat I posted on Darwin's site about this:
ReplyDeleteThis song doesn't give an answer to the questions, but instead gives the opportunity to meditate on Mary's contemplation of her Son. Perhaps she did know all the answers, but perhaps she didn't (she isn't God after all). But either way, to meditate on Mary's understanding of her Son is exactly what we are called to do in the Rosary.
I find it amusing that most protestants would never touch a rosary due to misunderstand, yet they will still enter into that contemplation through this song. It's like Mary is giving her children, who through no fault of their own would avoid a devotion to her, a way back to her (and through her to her Son).
Melanie,
ReplyDeleteIt's unclear whether it is you or your husband. The line about "poetic license" and being "a bit tendentious" is a cut and paste from his comment on Facebook. Regardless, I will repeat some of what I said there.
The main point, I think, is not whether we can stretch the plain meaning of the words to fit into Catholic theology, but rather whether the most obvious meaning is Catholic or Protestant. As a side example, I have heard the author of "Sing a New Church Into Being" defend her song by basically claiming, "It doesn't mean what people take it to mean." She may or may not be correct, but the fact remains that it is misleading at best. Such a case can be made with this song. I will happily fold on the issue of whether or not the words can be squeezed in one way or another so that the issues of overt heresy disappears. But the plain and honest meaning of the text comes off as "No, Mary didn't know."
Even more-so with the overt, "Soon deliver you" line. True, if thought about in the right way, with enough linguistic and academic gymnastics, this can be twisted so that is it not quite heretical. Yet if we ask a neutral observer to interpret the line as is, I am quite confident they will come up with Protestant rather than Catholic theology. To further the point, it should be recalled that the song was not written by a Catholic. While this is not an automatic disqualifier, when it comes to issues of our Blessed Mother, I think it a bit intellectually dishonest to take a line written by a Protestant about Mary's deliverance and interpret it in a way that can loosely jive with the Immaculate Conception.
Now, regarding whether or not Mary knew that Jesus was actually God, I will gladly admit that there is no definitive Church teaching that I know of on this issue. However, that does not mean that both answers are up for grabs. Too often as orthodox Catholics we (rightly) focus on what has been defined, but then (wrongly) assume that outside of solemn definitions all is fair intellectual game. The first obvious reality is that Mary either did or did not know. Now, from an "obedience to the Church" perspective, neither answer is strictly speaking heretical. Yet if one of the answers is wrong, then it is certainly "wrong" to adhere to it.
I offer just one piece of early Church Fathers' writings as the beginning of evidence that Mary did, in fact, know that Jesus was God. From Irenaeus:
"The Virgin Mary, being obedient to his word, received from an angel the glad tidings that she would bear God" (Against Heresies, 5:19:1 [A.D. 189]).
I would happily look at any other reference that people have to offer suggesting otherwise. I have not been able to find it.
(I should also point out that Irenaeus is writing here specifically about Mary "pondering all these things in her heart." He sees this verse as support that Mary knew, rather than as evidence that she did not. He sees this verse as indicating the special knowledge granted to her by virtue of the grace instilled from the first moment of conception and her fiat at the Annunciation.
Christina,
ReplyDeleteI will try to be quick about this. The fact that the song elicits contemplation of our Blessed Mother is not proof of the merits of the song itself, but rather proof that God can bring good things out of even those things that are not-so-good. In other words, if contemplation is a result of this song, blessed be God in his mercy and grace, but think then of the contemplation that would result if the song were more accurate in its presentation of Mary.
Thank you for the post. Can you now explain to our "Contemporary Choir" at what I deem the "Performance Mass" why Mercy Me's "I Can Only Imagine" is inappropriate for All Souls Day.
ReplyDeleteKaryn,
ReplyDeleteI smiled brightly in reading your comment, not out of of joy for your situation of, course, but out of pure amusement. Tolstoy, in the opening line of Anna Karenina, wrote something to the effect of, "All happy families are alike, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." I feel this way when listening to people's stories of liturgical abuse: All orthodox Masses are alike, but each unorthodox Mass is unorthodox in its own way. In other words, I am continually amazed at the phenomenon of: One you think you have heard it all ... think again.
Blessings to you and yours.
I guess it's all a matter of perspective. The man who penned the words, Mark Lowry, didn't say, "Mary, you didn't know, did you?" It's more of a wondering...how much did she know? How much was revealed to her initially? And as pre-Mass music, I find it acceptable. Part of the liturgy? No.
ReplyDeleteAnd while you're on the subject...having only been in the Catholic Church for 4 1/2 years now, I have to say how disappointing it is to sing traditional carols for Mass that have been "neutered", or changed in some other way to become politically correct. I acknowledge that carols and hymns are not divinely inspired. However, some of the word changes have caused the theology in the hymns to become questionable at best. Just my 2 cents' worth. :o)
Joni, Did you see Anthony Esolen's recent series on bad hymns? He really addresses that issue of questionable theology.
ReplyDeletePart I: The Scandal of What We Sing
Part II: Bad Poetry, Bland Theology: Let's Write a Hymn!
Part III: Songs of the saved and the Bland
Roma locuta est,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the reasoned discourse and time you have taken to explain the problems inherent in this song. Although some of your examples in your original post might be stretching your case a little far to prove Mary "did know" (such as the personifications of Wisdom in the Old Testament), your explanation of the sacrilege this song perpetrates against the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is dead on.
The only quibble I have with the presentation of your case is that it appears that in your view that Mary must, as a "good Jewish girl," know all of the things that will take place in the adult ministry of Christ, particularly the walking on the waters and the calming of the seas. To me, that is the only redeeming virtue of the song, because the wonder at those particular events (how a small, vulnerable child will grow up to perform such mighty acts) reaches straight into the mystery of the Incarnation.
Of course, some of the other things the song posits that Mary might not know require, for Mary to lack knowledge, Mary not to have been listening to Gabriel at the Annunciation or even to her own self speaking the Magnificat (such as the "ruling the nations" line).
I just heard this song at tonight's LifeTeen Mass on the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. I am now on a one-man campaign to stamp this song out of ever being played in ANY Catholic church before, during, or after Mass.
Michael Val
(who was told by the teen choir director, when I raised the sacrilegious nature of this song to him, that LifeTeen approved it for liturgical use)