Today, I decided to do something a little different. I usually begin by sharing a scripture verse with you. However, today is a very special day, at least in the Catholic Church. There is a lot of confusion about this day and so I wanted to explain what we are actually celebrating today and why we are celebrating it. Today, in the Catholic Church, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception. When I was growing up I never understood how Mary could have immaculately conceived Jesus on the 8th of December and then delivered him on December 25th. It didn’t make sense to me and yet I didn’t really question it. It was not until I was an adult, I am not sure how many years ago, that I learned what we were truly celebrating. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
What is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception?
Today, I decided to do something a little different. I usually begin by sharing a scripture verse with you. However, today is a very special day, at least in the Catholic Church. There is a lot of confusion about this day and so I wanted to explain what we are actually celebrating today and why we are celebrating it. Today, in the Catholic Church, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception. When I was growing up I never understood how Mary could have immaculately conceived Jesus on the 8th of December and then delivered him on December 25th. It didn’t make sense to me and yet I didn’t really question it. It was not until I was an adult, I am not sure how many years ago, that I learned what we were truly celebrating. I found this great article that explains what we are celebrating and why. It is called, “8 Things You Need to Know About the Immaculate Conception,” by Jimmy Akin. I will put a link for the article in the show notes. (Click Here) for the article. This is where I found the information for this episode.
The Immaculate Conceptions is not referring to Jesus’ conception, it is referring to Mary’s conception. Mary has a human mother and father, her conception was not the same as Jesus’. However, it was special in another way. Here is how the Catholic Church explains it:
CCC490 To become the mother of the Saviour, Mary “was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role.” The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as “full of grace”. In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.
CCC491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:
The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.
This means that Mary was not only free from original sin, but she was also free from person sin as well. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:
CCC493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God “the All-Holy” (Panagia), and celebrate her as “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature”. By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long. “Let it be done to me according to your word. . .”
The next question Akin asks is, “If Mary was free from sin, does that mean she didn’t need Jesus to die on a cross for her?"
He answers, “No. What we've already quoted states that Mary was immaculately conceived as part of her being “full of grace” and thus "redeemed from the moment of her conception" by "a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race."
The Catechism goes on to state:
CCC492 The “splendour of an entirely unique holiness” by which Mary is “enriched from the first instant of her conception” comes wholly from Christ: she is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son”. The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person “in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” and chose her “in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love”.
CCC508 From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin Mary to be the mother of his Son. “Full of grace”, Mary is “the most excellent fruit of redemption” (SC 103): from the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life.
The next question Akin asked is, “How does this make Mary a parallel of Eve?” His is answer is: Adam and Eve were both created immaculate--without original sin or its stain. They fell from grace, and through them mankind was bound to sin. Christ and Mary were also conceived immaculate. They remained faithful, and through them mankind was redeemed from sin. Christ is thus the New Adam, and Mary the New Eve.
The Catechism notes:
CCC494 . . . As St. Irenaeus says, “Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: “The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.” Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary “the Mother of the living” and frequently claim: “Death through Eve, life through Mary.”
Another question Akin asked was, “Was it necessary for God to make Mary immaculate at her conception so that she could be Jesus' mother?”
Akin writes, “No. The Church only speaks of the Immaculate Conception as something that was "fitting," something that made Mary a "fit habitation" (i.e., suitable dwelling) for the Son of God, not something that was necessary. Thus in preparing to define the dogma, Pope Pius IX stated:
And hence they [the Church Fathers] affirmed that the Blessed Virgin was, through grace, entirely free from every stain of sin, and from all corruption of body, soul and mind; that she was always united with God and joined to him by an eternal covenant; that she was never in darkness but always in light; and that, therefore, she was entirely a fit habitation for Christ, not because of the state of her body, but because of her original grace. . . .
For it was certainly not fitting that this vessel of election should be wounded by the common injuries, since she, differing so much from the others, had only nature in common with them, not sin. In fact, it was quite fitting that, as the Only-Begotten has a Father in heaven, whom the Seraphim extol as thrice holy, so he should have a Mother on earth who would never be without the splendor of holiness [Ineffabilis Deus]."
Many of you listening may have already known all about this special day. However, I felt it was important to explain as I remember when I first found out what we were celebrating I was confused. I didn’t really understand at first and I would have loved to have had this article back then. I know there are some people who don’t understand that we aren’t celebrating Jesus’ immaculate conception and so I wanted to clear up any misunderstandings about this day. For those of you who are Catholic, just in case you don’t know, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conceptions is a holy day of obligation. I hope you all enjoyed this little explanation and I hope you check out the article for more information.
Dear Heavenly Father, we are so grateful you gave us Mary so she could say yes to having your one and only son. We are so grateful you came up with a plan to save us. We are grateful for all you have done for us over the years. We don’t deserve anything and yet you give us so much. We thank you Lord. We love you and we celebrate and honor your beautiful daughter Mary today. We honor you and your plan for her life. You are so amazing how you plan everything out in advance. You are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. You are truly remarkable and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you and so do I! Have a blessed day!