Was the Immaculate Conception Necessary?

Assuming you believe in the Immaculate Conception (apologetics for the dogma is another post for another day), it is fair to ask if it was necessary.  Did Mary have to be conceived without sin in order to bear Jesus?

I would say for yes for two reasons. 1) To fulfill Genesis 3:15, and 2) It is fitting!

1. Genesis 3:15 reads: “I will put enmity put you [the serpent] and the woman and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  Translational issues not withstanding, the latter half is clearly  a reference to Jesus, making the “woman” Mary.  So what does enmity mean?  It means total and complete opposition.  If Mary had not been immaculately conceived, she would have been under the effects of the fall, and therefore under the bondage of sin and Satan.  If Mary was in any way sinful, even in the smallest degree, she would have in that degree been in opposition to Christ and therefore on the side of the serpent.  Enmity forbids such a thing.
2. Can anyone argue that the King of Kings, perfect and sinless, deserves less than to be carried in a womb that is completely free from sin?  Does it make sense for the Holiest of Holies to be carried in a sin-laden vessel?  No!  It’s actually quite a revolting thought that the innocent and sinless baby Jesus might have developed in a sinful womb, especially considering He was a completely helpless little zygote.  Or worse, that the human nature Jesus received from His mother would have been tainted by sin!!  So through preservative redemption, the merits of Christ’s passion were applied to Mary and she was conceived without sin.  Why? So she could be a fitting vessel, so she could provide Jesus with a safe and sin/evil-free womb, so that the Mother of God could be worthy of carrying Him!

People are often confused by the Immaculate Conception, reasoning that if Mary was conceived without sin that would mean that St. Anne would’ve had to be without sin, and St. Anne’s mother, etc., etc.  Though you’re in good company in thinking this way (St. Thomas Aquinas did – one of the rarer occasions where he was wrong), it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the way original sin is transferred.  It is not transferred from infected parent body to infant soul.  Rather original sin is caused by a lack of sanctifying grace.  After the fall God stopped freely offering the sanctifying grace He had given to Adam and Eve, and so we are all conceived with original sin.  Mary, however, was blessed with sanctifying grace at the moment of her conception – removing the need for her forebearers to have been immaculately conceived as well.

If you want more posts on Mary, please comment and let me know.

Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and guide us as we seek to do your Son’s will!

Transforming our Stoney Hearts

Do you ever have those moments where it really hits you how much God loves you?  Since God is love itself, we of course can’t fully know and understand the depths of His love, but oh man, to just even feel some of His love can be so powerful!  And perhaps the most amazing thing about His love is that it is transformative.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

“I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart” (Jeremiah 24: 7).

Every time we respond to God’s love we allow Him to change our hearts a little more.  We let Him chisel away at the stone and make our hearts more like His, so that we can better image Him and truly be His people.  How can such goodness be matched?  God wants us to be more like Him and will help make it happen if we just give our consent!  No matter how much (or little) we have already embraced His love, peace and mercy, He is ready to pour even more into our hearts.

God is more faithful in His promises than we realize.  God wills better things for us than we can imagine for ourselves.  He loves us more than we can fathom.  So let us ask Him to give us hearts to know Him and obey Him, so that we can truly be His.  Because there is nothing better we could ask for, and God will deliver!

Reveling in the Triumph of the Cross

Today the Church celebrates the Triumph of the Cross.  I love this feast day because the Cross is such a mystery, and one of the greatest paradoxes as well.  What from the worldly perspective seemed like the greatest defeat (or, for kids these days, like epic fail), is from the heavenly perspective actually the greatest victory for all of mankind.  Things haven’t changed much in 2,000 years: for many the Cross is still a “stumbling block” and utter “foolishness” (1 Cor 1:23).  But for those who have the grace to open their ears and hearts, we can understand that through the Cross “death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor 15:54) and the gate of eternal life opened!

For many carrying one’s cross seems like insanity (why suffer when you can have pleasure?), but the Cross is the truest way we unite with Jesus.  It’s the way we participate in our redemption and the way we “complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His Body, that is, the Church” (2 Cor 12:9).  The Cross is the way we follow Jesus, the way we imitate Him, and the way we mold our own lives into it’s proper cruciform shape!

Let us all embrace the Cross, and revel in its triumph!  And may It bring us all to everlasting life…

Remembering St. Anne

Today we joyfully celebrate the birth of our Mother, Mary!  And I decided that today I would honor her by honoring her mother, St. Anne.  Since God chose St. Anne to bear the Mother of the God, we know that St. Anne must have been one of the holiest people alive at the time, if not the holiest woman on earth.  Such an honor is not bestowed on one who not loyal to God and His Covenant!

I’ve recently been reading The Mystical City of God, which was written by Mary de Agreda, a religious who had visions from Mary and Jesus.  The book, which bears the Imprimatur, has many wonderful things about St. Anne and I wanted to share just a bit with you, since I imagine only a few of you are familiar with City of God.

Upon learning that she will not only become pregnant, but will carry the Mother of the Messiah, St. Anne exclaims, “Use me, O Lord, according to thy will, since to it I resign myself entirely.  I wish to be as completely thy own as such a favor requires; but what shall I do, who am not worthy to be the slave of Her who is to be the Mother of the Onlybegotten and my Daughter?  This I know, and shall confess always: that I am a poor creature; but at the feet of thy greatness I await the course of thy mercy, who art a kind Father and the all-powerful God.  Make me, O Lord, worthy in thy eyes of the dignity Thou bestowest upon me.”

Whoa.  Right?  My prayers don’t sound like that (though perhaps, God willing, one day they will!).

None of us will ever have so great a privilege as to be the Mother of God, or the Mother of the Mother of God, but we do all have the privilege of being adopted sons and daughters of God.  And this, is a far great gift than any of us could ever warrant, and is accompanied by a far greater dignity than we fully understand.  So today, let us pray with St. Anne: “Make me, O Lord, worthy in thy eyes of the dignity Thou bestowest upon me”!

Happy Birthday Mary!  Pray for us!