Making Mary in our own image!
December 21, 2025 The first reading and the Gospel reading of today are both used as two of the most important Scriptural texts to support the dogma of the perpetual virginity of Mary - a dogma that was articulated in the Church after many centuries of debate. The Gospels of Mathew and Luke which are the only two Gospels in which we find reference to Jesus ’ birth, clearly indicate support for the first part of this dogma, namely regarding the virgin birth of Jesus . However with regard to the second part, namely that Mary remained a virgin till death , there was much debate till the sixth century, as there are too many references in the New Testament that raise doubts about this. These texts include Mathew 13 : 55-56, Galatians 1 : 19 and Acts 1 : 14, all of which speak of Jesus ’ brother(s). In all of these texts the original Greek term used for ‘brothers’ is adelphos, which in all other cases in t...
