Ask Father Tom

Dear Father Dowd.
Happy to see you are back safe and sound. To God,we give thanks.
Wondering whether you read the ECT “white paper” on the Virgin Mary in First Things magazine. Where I 1st heard about you from a letter you wrote to them.
They, on both sides, were cordial and perhaps because of space etc. they were careful.
I sent the following letter which they published, which I pray got to the heart of the issue at least in a short letter. I hope it is theologically accurate.

Referring to the article in, “First Things” Magazine, concerning Catholics and Evangelicals Together on The Blessed Virgin Mary.

A few reflections on the mother of God in her blessed virginal motherhood!
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is a necessary understanding of who Mary is in her Motherhood of the Child Jesus.
To become a mother, a father is absolutely necessary.
In the time of the Old Testament the woman had to be a virgin, to be accepted into the house of the husband to be. i.e. recall the Joseph story.
Scripture tells us that her deliverance of the Child was in fact virginal, yet she gave birth to a Son.
This is one aspect of her virginity. We understand by this that she “did not know man”.
To be able to give birth, there 1st had to be a father. Holy Scripture tells us that she was “overshadowed” by the Holy Spirit the 3rd person of the Trinity.
Thus she is the bride of the Holy Spirit. She was so selected before all eternity.
She is regarded as the new Eve. For God to fulfill His promise; as Eve was immaculately created from the rib of Adam, so Mary to be the bride/ spouse of the Holy Spirit she would necessarily need to pure/virgin for Him to “accept” her, she had to be a “spiritual virgin” as well as a physical virgin. For how could the Holy Spirit unite with sin?
Mary gave her nature, both physical and in some degree, spiritual, to her Son for that nature was a sinless nature; “like men in all things, accept sin”. He was sinless as God but he became man in all its sense. All men inherit the sin of Adam in their conception/ nature. Jesus did not, for His mother was necessarily sinless, immaculate at His conception.

As for Mary’s perpetual virginity one need only refer to God’s forbiddance of adultery.
How could the spouse of the Holy Spirit “know another man” it would be adultery of the most grievous nature.
One cannot imagine St. Joseph committing adultery against God.
She, he fully understood, is the queen mother of his Lord the Davidic King come into the world to save him as promised.
Can you imagine?
Donald O’Rourke
Manchester N.H.

Fr. Tom
This is a fantastic idea to put out this question and answer website. The question is when will you have the time with such a busy schedule to answer these questions. When ever you have answered one of my questions I never had a doubt and there is absolutely no need to ask a second question because something is left unclear . Thanks for doing what you do.
God Bless

Hi there, Father! John 17; 2 Peter 3:13.