Sixth objection: “How can the Catholic Church justify calling Mary
‘Mediatrix’ when 1 Timothy 2:5 says that there is only one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.”
Understood properly, Christ is the one mediator of redemption, for there is
no other name under heaven by which man must be saved. Nevertheless,
Scripture itself attests that Christ is not the sole mediator of prayer. For
example, the Holy Spirit “intercedes with sighs too deep for words” (Rom.
8:26). Also, Scripture shows that God occasionally does not answer prayer
without a mediator or intercessor. For instance, Abimelech and the friends
of Job were only pardoned through the prayers of Abraham and of Job
(Gen. 20). St. James makes the point that the “prayer of a righteous man
has great power in its effects” (St. Jas. 5:16), and the Virgin Mary is
certainly righteous. If having Christ as our one mediator precludes the
intercession of the Virgin Mary, then St. Paul should never have
recommended himself to the prayers of his brethren on earth, whose
prayers would have lessened the importance of Christ’s mediatorship
(Rom. 15:30; Heb. 13:18).
Seventh objection: “The Ark of the Covenant was lost during the time
of Jeremiah. How is it that Catholics call the Virgin Mary ‘Ark of the
New Covenant?’”
The original Ark of the Covenant was covered completely in gold and
contained within itself a pot of manna, the priestly rod of Aaron, and the
tables of the Ten Commandments (Heb. 9:4). It was overshadowed by a
propitiatory––or mercy seat––upon which God Himself dwelt (the
Shekinah Kabod) between two statues of Cherubim (Exod. 25). The Ark
accompanied the Jews into battle, being carried by four men handling two
poles. It was forbidden for anyone without consecrated hands to touch the
Ark, on pain of death.
The Ark of the Covenant was a symbolic type of the Virgin Mary. In fact,
the Virgin Mary in comparison is a greater Ark, being a rational creature
immaculately conceived who carried within her womb not simply the
symbols of Christ, but Christ Himself. Instead of being adorned in gold and
gems she was adorned with grace and virtues. God, likewise,
overshadowed her when the Holy Spirit conceived Christ within her after
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