Saint Paul, co-redeemer

It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my own body to make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church. Colossians 1:24.

The coredemption of Mary and the Saints has always been a part of Catholic belief (not protestan belief). In the heart of the Catholic Church our belief is that we are all collaborating with Christ when we suffer, and even when we simply pray for others. The Protestant mentality does not believe that works, as opposed to faith in their understanding, have power to redeem. However, Catholics have always understood what God told us through Saint Augustine, that is, “God, who created you without you, cannot save you without you.” The worldly views of Protestantism separate faith and works, making faith an abstract idea that has no correlation with works of piety. Hence, we can say that removing co-redemption from the vocabulary fits perfectly with the Protestant theology, which abstracts works from faith, making one another independent from each other. Thus we have a lot of people who do not live a life of piety believing that works are abhorrent to faith. In order to justify their theology they claim that Christ’s works alone save them, independent of the fruits that they have. Thanks to that belief is the horrendous sins of so many followers of those for which faith is just an abstract concept detached from works, ideology which has infiltrated Catholic clergy and laity. Thus they claim, based upon their understanding of “Christ’s Cross,” that their salvation has already taken place and that no sin they make can send them to hell. 

In my opinion, that Protestant belief “justification by faith alone” is just an excuse to keep on living a life of sin. Hence, it is important to note that co-redemption is at the heart of true Christian belief, for ‘God, that created us without us, cannot save us without us.’ Saint Paul clearly expresses he is a co-redeemer in verse 24 of chapter 1 of the letter to the Colossians. In addition, the church confirms such co-redeeming works in the lives of Saints. And, if that co-redemption is a factual matter in their testimony of life, it is even more in the life of Mary Immaculate. So, by stating that Mary Immaculate is co-redeemer, we implicitly state that we all are called to redeem of brothers and sisters offering our lives for the salvation of others, which is, after all, the new commandment he gave us: ‘to love one another as I have loved you’ and to make it clear he adds, ‘no one loves more than the one who gives his life to save others.’ Otherwise, what would be the purpose of suffering and penitence, sacrifice and love itself? Thus, love matters because love saves others. 

I am praying for Pope Francis so that he realizes that it is more important to encourage the Church to be co-redemptive than for us to be in union with Protestants by sacrificing Christian teaching, co-redemption, that is. 

After all, if Saint Paul is co-redeemer, why wouldn’t Mary Immaculate be co-redeemer as well? She would indeed be the first and foremost co-redeemer, if on top of it all we can all acknowledge without doubt that her Amen to the message of the angel gave us the Logos Incarnate, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Who is like God! 

To him all glory, honor and power, for he shares with us, the Body of Christ, his church, the works of Salvation through the Cross.

#coredemptrix 

Amen.