A. The simple answer is that the serpent (the devil) persuaded Adam that eating the apple would be to his benefit. Adam would “become like God” if he ate it. Sadly, Adam believed this lie and chose to disobey God who had told him not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This was the first sin and resulted in humanity falling from what we call Original Innocence. But to give a more thorough explanation, let’s consider the entire story in a broader way. First of all, did Adam actually eat the apple? Perhaps, but perhaps not. It’s important to understand that we should not read this story in a “literal” way. That doesn’t mean the story is not true. A good explanation of this comes from Cardinal Ratzinger (who later became Pope Benedict XVI) in his book “In the Beginning …: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall” (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing). In that book, Cardinal Ratzinger stated, “It has become clear that the biblical creation narratives represent another way of speaking about reality than that with which we are familiar from physics and biology.” He went on to explain that these stories “represent truth in the way that symbols do — just as, for example, a Gothic window gives us a deep insight into reality, thanks to the effects of light that it produces and to the figures that it portrays.” In other words, the story of Adam and Eve is true, but not necessarily in the way a science book is factual. A science book presents truth in a literal way, explaining the physical truths as they are in this world. The story of Adam and Eve presents truth in the form of a symbolic narrative. Whether or not Adam actually ate the apple in the literal way explained in that symbolic narrative is not important. What is important is the truth that the narrative presents. So what is the truth it presents? It presents us with the fact that our first parents turned from God in disobedience. The consequence was a fall from the original state of innocence and union with God for which God had made them. Therefore, the answer remains that Adam “ate the fruit” for selfish motivations because he believed the lie that disobeying God was better for him than obeying God. He was selfish and failed to trust the truth of God.
No. Jesus’ death was because of our sin. Had sin never entered the world, Jesus would not have had to die. This question, however, can only be answered in a theoretical way since Adam and Eve did sin, as have we all. For a more thorough explanation, you can read Chapter 4 of “My Catholic Faith” here. Though this question is difficult to answer in a short and simplified way, let’s consider an analogy. Let’s say that your parents ate poison. The result of this poison is death. The only cure for this poison is to receive a transfusion of new and healthy blood from someone not affected. By analogy, you could say that Jesus entered the world without any effects of this “poison” so that He could offer the divine “transfusion” to Adam and Eve and all their descendants affected by the poison of sin. Thus, the blood of Jesus is what heals us as we receive His blood poured forth from the Sacrifice of the Cross. We receive His saving blood by accepting Him into our lives, especially through the Sacraments and faith. But this question brings up another more interesting question. If Adam and Eve (and all of us who descended from them) never sinned, would God the Son have become human? Would He have taken on human flesh through the Incarnation through the Virgin Mary? Though the death of Jesus was on account of our sin, His Incarnation (becoming human) was not solely so that He could die for our sin. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that one of the primary reasons for His Incarnation was “in order to save us by reconciling us with God.” The Catechism identifies three other reasons: “so that thus we might know God’s love;” “to be our model of holiness:” and “to make us ‘partakers of the divine nature’” (See CCC #457-460). Some speculate that even if there were no sin, God would have become flesh so as to fulfill these other effects of the Incarnation. Perhaps that’s a bit deep and is only speculation, but it’s beautiful to reflect upon nonetheless!
The short answer to this question is “No.” Let’s explore further. Most likely you are asking this question because some Scripture passages seem to suggest that Jesus had brothers and sisters. For example, here are two such passages: Mark 6:3 – Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” Matthew 13:55-56 – Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? Are not his sisters all with us? Should we conclude from these passages that Jesus had brothers and sisters in a literal way, meaning Mary and Joseph had other children in addition to Jesus? Certainly not. Below is a brief answer to this question that is taken from Chapter 3 – The God-Man and His Mother of the book My Catholic Faith! The Virgin Mother Scripture is quite clear that Mary conceived Jesus in a virginal way – by the power of the Holy Spirit. Additionally, it is the constant teaching of the Church that she always retained her virginity. She had no other children and never engaged in the marital act with Joseph. Sometimes this is confusing since there are references in the Scriptures to Jesus’ brothers and sisters. But this language was commonly used in reference to cousins. This shouldn’t confuse us if we understand the language of the time. In fact, this language is still a common practice in other cultures of our day. People from various African countries commonly refer to those within their own village as their brother or sister when they are with them outside of that village. God’s plan was that Mary have one Son for various reasons. It was especially so because we are all called to become brothers and sisters of Christ through spiritual adoption. Therefore, if Jesus had had blood brothers or sisters, it would have undermined his spiritual brotherhood with them. It would have made their relationship with Jesus different. God desires this deeper spiritual relationship with all people. Mary is the only blood relation to Jesus; thus, she shares a special bond with Him that no one else does. It had to be that way if God were to become true man. Interestingly, even Mary’s deepest bond with Jesus does not come as a result of her physical blood relationship. It comes, first and foremost, by her spiritual motherhood. She is united with her Son primarily by her perfect faith and obedience. It is this bond that surpasses the natural one.
These two questions are actually hard to answer with accuracy. In many ways, the answers remain a mystery. From a theological perspective, we can say that God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus because she, herself, was the Immaculate Conception. This means that she was the only fitting mother for God in the flesh. Mary was conceived in the womb of her mother in a miraculous way in that she was conceived without sin. God chose to bestow upon her a “preservative grace,” meaning, God preserved her from all stain of sin, including Original Sin, at the moment of her creation in the womb of her mother. Of course, He did this so that she would be a fitting vessel for God the Son to become incarnate in her womb. The grace that preserved her came from the Cross of her Son Jesus, but it transcended time so as to free her at the moment of her conception. Thus, her Son was her Savior, even though He had not yet been born in time. If that’s confusing, try to ponder it for a while. It’s a great mystery of faith and a deep one also. Additionally, Mary chose to remain free from sin throughout her life. Just as Adam and Eve were born without sin, so was Mary. But unlike Adam and Eve, Mary never freely chose to sin throughout her life. This made her the perfect vessel for the Son of God. Her body and soul were perfect, making her the perfect instrument. But this only answers your question from one perspective. You might also be wondering, “But why Mary?” This is a question that is hard, if not impossible, to answer. It’s most likely a matter of God’s mysterious will. Perhaps God, who can see all things and knows all people even before they are born, looked at all women from all time and saw that Mary was the one who would never freely choose to sin. And perhaps for that reason God chose to gift her with the Immaculate Conception. But this is ultimately a mystery of faith that will be revealed only in Heaven. As for your second question, “Why was she so young?” this might be easier to answer from a historical perspective. Today, in the twenty-first century, it’s uncommon for a fifteen-year-old girl to marry and have a child. But it wasn’t that way back then. When Mary had Jesus, she was seen, not as a dependent child, but as a young woman ready to start a family. So it’s always important to try to understand the culture of the time when considering questions of history.
Strictly speaking, the Bible does not explicitly say, “Pray the rosary and other devotions to Mary.” Nor does it explicitly say, “Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.” But, of course, that’s a somewhat obvious answer. The real answer to your question has to do with the biblical foundation of those practices. So let’s take a look at that. There are numerous ways that devotion to Mary is found in the Bible. Here are some of those ways. First, the Rosary, which is the most common devotion to our Blessed Mother, is primarily Scriptural. On each bead of the rosary we pray the words of the Angel Gabriel to Mary, as well as the words of St. Elizabeth to Mary. “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” And, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Luke 1:26-46). Additionally, we pray the “Our Father” prayer, which is directly from Jesus, and the “Glory Be” prayer, which is echoed in Scripture many times. So, yes, the Rosary is biblical in that sense. We are primarily repeating passages from Scripture. Additionally, in praying the Rosary, we are to meditate upon one of twenty different Scriptural stories during each of the twenty decades. So the prayers are Scriptural and the meditations are Scriptural. Second, devotion to Mary in general comes to us from the fact that Jesus lived the Fourth Commandment perfectly. That Commandment says, “Honor your father and mother.” Jesus honored His mother perfectly, and we are to imitate Jesus in all He does. Therefore, we are to honor His mother, too. Third, at the Cross Jesus said to the Apostle John, “Behold, your mother.” And in giving Mary to John, the Church has always seen that Mary is given to all of us. We are all to behold our mother in the person of Mary. Fourth, Jesus gave Peter the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven and said that whatever he binds on earth is bound in Heaven (Matthew 16:19). He gave Peter the gift of infallibly leading the Church into all truth. We believe that this gift of infallible teaching did not stop with Peter but was passed on through the ages to all his successors, the popes. The popes have definitively taught, through countless ages, the value of honoring our Blessed Mother. So though this last point is not a direct biblical call to honor our Blessed Mother, it is an indirect biblical command through the teaching of the Church founded by Christ in the Scriptures. It would require a book to detail all the ways in which Mary is spoken in the Old and New Testaments. Hopefully, the thoughts above help. Regarding the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, the same basic principles apply. Though this Chaplet is not mentioned in Scripture, the message and meditations are deeply Scriptural in every way. “For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.” This is the heart of the Chaplet and the heart of the Gospel message. In truth, there could not be a more Scripturally-based prayer than this. The Scriptures reveal God’s mercy, His gift of salvation, and our need for it. The Scriptures point to Jesus’ saving sacrifice as the source of salvation, and this Chaplet acknowledges that truth and calls upon that grace. The last point to make is this. Be sure to use the Bible in the way it was written. It was not written as a strict and complete roadmap with a direct answer for every question. Yes, it does answer every question and gives us the necessary message of salvation. It is the fullness of revelation from God. But Jesus never said to us, “Here is my Bible. Follow it and only it. Do not do anything that is not explicitly spoken of in these pages.” No, what Jesus did is to start His Church through the foundation of the Apostles. And from that Church, the Bible was also given. But the Bible must always be read in union with the Church and Her teachings through the ages.
Confession might be one of the most difficult parts of our faith for some. For others, Confession is something they deeply look forward to. Your question is a good one. Let me offer some thoughts. First of all, it’s true that “God knows everything.” We call that omniscience. So, yes, He knows everything you’ve done, and He knows whether you are sorry for that or not. But there is a big difference between God “knowing” what you did and His act of forgiveness. For example, if you sinned against a friend with whom you were very close and then felt sorry for that, it’s possible that your friend would realize, just by knowing you, that you were truly sorry. But that doesn’t mean that you can just presume your friend’s goodness and forgiveness. The best thing to do, in this situation, is to actually sit down and tell your friend you are sorry and to have your friend tell you that you are forgiven. This very human exchange brings about reconciliation. So it is with God. God is all merciful and wants to forgive us all our sins. But for true reconciliation to take place, God wants you to actually say those words and then to hear the words, spoken by the priest, that you are forgiven. So Confession is not only about God forgiving us, it is also about reconciliation with God on a human level. What’s important to understand is that God offers us forgiveness in His way. He forgives us through a human being. Who is that human being? It’s the Father’s Son who became one of us. Jesus is the one who offers God’s forgiveness, and Jesus is both fully God and human. But how does Jesus do that now that He has ascended into Heaven? Before He ascended, He gave His divine power of forgiveness to His first priests, the apostles. They, in turn, passed that power onto others, who passed it on to others, down through the ages, all the way to our present age. Priests, despite the fact that they are imperfect themselves, have the spiritual power of Jesus to actually speak His words of forgiveness to others. Therefore, when a priest says. “I absolve you” we must hear Jesus Himself, as the human face of God, saying those same words to us. Why did God choose to use priests to dispense His forgiveness? Honestly, we really don’t have a perfect answer to that question. Sure there have been wonderful writings and reflections and teachings on this subject throughout the history of the Church. But, in the end, we will only fully understand this mystery of how God gives us His forgiveness when we are in Heaven. For now, we must simply follow what Jesus taught and receive His forgiveness in the way we know He offers it. On a psychological level, I, as a priest, have seen so many people benefit from actually hearing those words spoken from my mouth. So many times I have seen people come into the confessional scared and ashamed, and walk out freed and at peace. So it really works. Make sure you give it a try soon!
