Is the Marian title of Co-Redemptrix contained in Revelation? To explore this central question for our class seminar, Pope John Paul II’s reflection on the parable of the prodigal son in his 1980 encyclical, Dives in misercordia (DM), offers a unique starting point to consider the relationship between Christ’s redemptive work and Mary’s role in salvation history.
In this parable, the prodigal son represents “the man of every period, beginning with the one who was the first to lose the inheritance of grace and original justice” (DM 5). According to St. Thomas Aquinas, “the gift of original justice… was entirely destroyed through the sin of our first parent” (STh I-II, q.85 a.1). This sin resulted in the corruption of human nature, including four wounds to the soul’s power: ignorance, malice, weakness, and concupiscence, as well as bodily defects like death (STh I-II, q.85 a.3,5). Consequently, we are all born in this “distant country” (Luke 15:13), estranged from the Father’s house, which was intended to be our original home. Furthermore, each one of us, due to personal sin, has “squandered [our] property in dissolute living” (Luke 15:13), experiencing the loss of harmony between God and His creation (cf. Genesis 3:17, 19; Weimann, Sacramentals, 44-45). As a result, we often resemble like the prodigal son, feeling unworthy of redemption in the face of divine justice.
However, the parable of the prodigal son is not ultimately about despair before divine justice but rather hope in divine mercy. The father’s merciful embrace of his son and the subsequent lavish banquet reveal the good news of redemption. By His Incarnation, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, “left” His Father’s house and entered into our “distant country… [of] dissolute living” (Luke 15:13). By His Passion, death, and Resurrection, Christ took upon Himself the sins of every prodigal child and revealed “a ‘superabundance’ of justice, for the sins of man are “compensated for” by the sacrifice of the Man-God” (DM 7). Moreover, Christ bequeathed a superabundance of mercy, granting each of us the opportunity to return to the Father’s house as “children of God” (1 John 3:1).
Within this redemptive story, what can be said about Mary’s potential title as Co-Redemptrix? To begin our initial inquiry in this seminar, two key points arise from her Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55. First, Mary acknowledges her own need for redemption: “[M]y spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:47). Second, she recognizes her unique role in salvation history: “[F]rom now on all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48). Through her fiat, Mary cooperated in God’s plan by giving her perfect cooperation in the Incarnation, the very means by which Christ entered our “distant country” to accomplish the work of redemption. Yet, Mary’s role does not imply that she shares equally in Christ’s redemptive power; rather, it highlights her singular cooperation, to which she alone can perfectly sing her Magnificat from the Father’s house.
This initial reflection raises several important theological questions for further consideration. If Mary acknowledges God as her Savior, does this negate the possibility of her being Co-Redemptrix? Or does it deepen the understanding of her unique cooperation in the economy of salvation? Finally, how does the Marian title of Co-Redemptrix harmonize with Christ’s unique and irreplaceable role as Redeemer?
Prodigal Catholic 