Jack Chick: Why is Mary Crying? (pt. 2)

This is the second part in a 4-part series on Jack Chick’s tract, “Why is Mary Crying?” Part 3 will come on Wednesday. Click on the image for a larger view of each frame.

This frame shows us one of the reasons we love Mary: she submitted to God’s will and is a model for us. That is why we pray those words that she is quoted as saying, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord…” when we pray the Angelus.

Oh, but I wonder what the “surprising” thing will be!

She made a sin offering! Here, without explicitly stating it, Chick is rejecting the belief that Mary never sinned. He does this in two ways: 1) by quoting Romans 3:23, and 2) referencing Mary’s Magnificat where she says, “My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour” (Luke 1:47 KJV)

Firstly, Chick apparently does not realize that the magnificat is one of the most popular Marian prayers, and that it is prayed as part of Evening Prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours. But, since Chick, as he says in Alberto, thinks that Catholics are forbidden to read the New Testament, he probably doesn’t even realize that we know the Magnificat. I wonder if he knows that in the next verse Mary prophesies, “from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed” (Lk. 1:48 KJV). Does Mr. Chick call Mary blessed?

Secondly, the reference to Luke 1:47 is a straw man argument, meaning that he has argued against a belief that the Catholic Church does not hold, has refuted it, and thinks he has refuted the real belief. This is a common tactic he engages in. The Catholic Church teaches that Mary did not sin, but this was due to the grace of God which preserved her from the stain of original sin so that she would be a pure vessel to carry Our Lord. Thus, God, through the Blood of Christ, was still her savior, but in a special way.

Thirdly, the verse from Romans is a proverbial statement, not a definitive statement about all human beings. The proof is that some people, notably infants and the mentally handicapped, have not sinned. If Chick insists that they have, then these people would necessarily go to Hell since they lack the mental faculties which enable them to repent of their sins. But why would God allow them to sin without offering them a means of salvation? He wouldn’t!

Finally, Mary offered a “sin” offering because it was proscribed by the law for a woman who had given birth. It was not a sin offering in the sense that she had committed a wrong against God that she needed to atone for, unless having a child that the Holy Spirit forms in your womb is a sin. If you read Leviticus 12, you will see that it does not mean what Chick wants you to think that it means.

Mary’s heart is pierced at the sight of Jesus’s sufferings. But Chick will read into it as well the “sufferings” of Marian devotion.

.

.

With the words “including her own” Chick again implies that Catholics believe that Mary was not saved by the Blood of Christ. As I said above, we do believe that Mary was saved by the Blood of Christ, but in a special way.

.

.

Can you guess how Chick claims that Mary’s heart is broken again? We’ll pick up here in part 3.

.

.

.

Prayer for Jack Chick

Dear God, through Your infinite merciful Love, and through the intercession of Our Lady of La Salette, soften and open the heart of Jack Chick. Help him to see through the lies about the Church and accept it as the Church which Christ founded, and may he come to love Mary as Jesus loved her, so that he might have a fuller relationship with Your Son. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen