On December 8th, the Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the day on which we celebrate NOT the fact that Jesus was born of a virgin (that's called....well, Christmas I suppose) but rather the fact that Mary, as the Mother of God, was privileged with a very unique and special grace, whereby she is preserved from sin, both original sin and personal sin, from the moment of her conception. This is one of those Catholic doctrines that is often met with confusion, controversy, and erroneous conclusions. As such, I would like to devout not one but two posts to a deeper understanding of this beautiful teaching.
One of the most common objections to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception goes something like this: if Mary is preserved from original sin and never commits any personal sin herself, does it not follow that she had no need of a savior? In other words, she would be the only person in the whole history of the world who essentially "saved herself", apart from the salvation won for us all by Jesus Christ. If this truly was what Catholics believed, it would be an egregious mistake indeed. However, the truth of this teaching is not that Mary is preserved from sin by any sole effort or salvific act of her own, but that God, being outside the restriction of time, can apply the grace won by His Son on the cross to Mary in a special way, even before His death on the cross actually happens in history. By way of an analogy, for most of us sin is like a giant pit into which which we all fall and from which Jesus pulls us out. For Mary, it is as though Jesus catches her even before she falls into the pit. In both cases, the individual in question is saved from sin, and Christ alone is the One Who saves them. However, for Mary it is simply done in a different and unique way, as a way of God showing favor to the mother of His Son (more on this in a later post). Bishop Baron describes it best, as usual, in his own Advent reflections on the Immaculate Conception when he says that "Mary was rescued from the power of original sin." This is a beautiful way of saying it. Mary in no way "saves herself", but is rescued from sin by Her Son, as indeed we all are.
Another frequent objection to this teaching is supported by the citation of several passages from scripture which say that all have sinned, most frequently Romans 3:23, "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." This seems to allow no room for the possibility that Mary did not sin. However, a closer examination of scripture reveals that the word "all" does not always mean "absolutely every single person without exception". For example, Romans 5:18 says, "Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men." However, few Christians would interpret "acquittal and life for all men" to mean that literally every single individual will be saved. Paul is instead making a universal statement about the state of humanity in general after the redemption of Christ. In the same way, in Roman's 3:23 he is making a general, universal statement about humanity's fallen state, without necessarily suggesting that every single human being without exception is guilty of having sinned. For example, infants and mentally handicapped people are incapable of sinning; therefore, they too would be exceptions to this statement. Mary too, through God's grace, is simply another.
This has already turned into a rather long post, so I will end here and continue this topic in a future post. That's all for now.
Pax Vobiscum
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