Is any saint mediator required to reach Jesus?
No saint is required to reach Jesus. “For there is one God. There is also one mediator between God and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). As Jesus himself says, he is the “gate for the sheep” (John 10:7) and “the way” (John 14:6) who leads us to the Father.
When we pray to saints, we are basically asking for their help, because by their holiness of life and presence in heaven they are much closer to God than we are here on earth. We don’t need the saint, but like any friend here on earth with us, they want to help bring us to God. This is called “intercession.”
This is especially true in the case of Mary, the Mother of God. She is the greatest of all creatures, because not only was she completely sinless, but she bore God himself in her womb. Her motherly intercession with the Lord is greater than the intercession of all the other angels and saints combined!
Mary is also sometimes referred to by the title “Mediatrix of all graces,” but that doesn’t mean that we must go through Mary to Jesus. Rather, it means that because Mary cooperated completely in the saving work of Christ, the Father is pleased to give her access to all the graces of heaven, which she can use to help anyone who comes to her. Of course, Mary leads anybody who comes to her straight to Jesus–so much so that St. Louis de Montfort said that Mary is the shortest, easiest, safest, and most perfect way to reach Jesus (a fact that many other saints and popes have affirmed).
So if you ever feel like it’s a little hard to reach out to God, just know you have plenty of friends in heaven ready to help you–and above all, our Blessed Mother!
Chris Cammarata
Disclaimer!
The views, thoughts, opinions presented here belong solely to the author and are not necessarily the official view of the Jesus youth movement.
Why mother Mary is said to be born without sin but we all are considered to be born with sin ? As Jesus died for our sins , shouldn’t we too be born without sin ?
Your question mainly concerns two important theological concepts: Original Sin and the Immaculate Conception.
Original Sin refers to the sinful condition we are all born in, which is a consequence of the sin of Adam and Eve. Through them, “sin entered the world” (Romans 5:12), and we as their children have been implicated in their sin. The Catechism speaks about this in detail in sections 385-390 and 396-412.
It is true that Jesus died for our sins, but in order for us to receive this freedom from sin, we must “enter into” his death, which comes only through baptism. St. Paul explains this in his letter to the Romans:
“Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection. We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin. For a dead person has been absolved from sin. If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (6:3-8).
Next, let’s look at your question about Mary. Because of her purpose and mission in the history of salvation, Mary was given a special and unique grace by God–we call this grace the Immaculate Conception. That means that, from the very first moment of her existence, Mary was preserved from sin and its corruption–that is, she was conceived without Original Sin. God did this by looking at the future merits of Christ on the Cross and bestowed those graces upon Mary–which is why we (following the angel Gabriel) call her “full of grace” (Luke 1:28).
Why would God do this specifically for Mary? For one, it was fitting that the Mother of God–the one who would bear God in her womb–should be preserved from all the stains and corruptions of sin. She is the living Ark of the Covenant, the God-Bearer. There’s another very important reason, though: Mary’s “yes.” “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Mary’s “yes,” her Fiat (“let it be done”) had to be a complete “yes.” It had to be a free “yes.” Sin is always a kind of bondage, a slavery. We can only say “yes” to God as much as we are free from sin. By preserving Mary completely from all sin, she had the freedom to say “yes” so completely that God himself came into the world as a child in her womb!
Hopefully that helps! Good questions.