There IS Something About Mary

By Robert Morgan , Catholic Evidence Guild of Guam

A couple weeks ago we explained some of the reasons we should honor the Blessed Virgin Mary and where some of her titles, such as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven, originate. Today we focus on one title, the Immaculate Conception.

This doctrine was formally stated in dogmatic form by Pope Pius IX on the 8th day of December, 1854: "The Most Holy Virgin Mary w as. in the first moment of her conception, by a unique gift of grace and privilege of Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of mankind, preserved free from all stain of original sin." Hmmm, can you hear the objection coming?

What? Is that Biblical? Saint Paul tells us that "All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. " (Romans 3:23) Even Mary "rejoices in God, my savior" (Luke 1:47) Why would she need a savior if she didn't have any sin?

Let's open those two verses up and take a closer look to see just how Biblical this dogma is. To start with, Saint Paul often writes in an exaggerated fashion. Saint Peter warns us of this in his second letter (2 Peter 3:15-16). Does this mean that we should ignore Saint Paul? Absolutely not! We should, however, read Saint Paul very carefully so we don't twist his words into something they don't mean.

"All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God." All? Well, that would include Jesus, wouldn't it? That would contradict the letter to the Hebrews where we learn quite explicitly that Jesus is "one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin." (Heb 4:15) Similarly, Mary is an exception to this rule as supported by three separate verses, one from the Old Testament, one from the Gospels, and one from the Epistles.

The first verse to consider comes from the very start of Scripture, Genesis 3:15. There we find God delivering the Proto-Evangelion or "first Gospel" to Adam and Eve. "I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and hers." When God says "enmity," he means complete and total separation between "the woman" and "the serpent." Any tendency to sin or stain of sin would be an incomplete separation between the two, not the enmity God ordained.

Notice God doesn't say "between you and women" or "you and a woman" but "you and THE woman." Who is "THE woman?" Well, the end of the verse characterizes "THE woman" as a person whose "seed" will also have complete enmity with the serpent's offspring. No where in Scripture does a woman have "seed." Seed is a "man thing." Right? Well, there is one place where a woman has offspring without a man's help. The Prophet Isaiah prophesied that "the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel" (Isaiah ?:14). This was brought to completion when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said "Hail, most favored daughter! The Lord is with you. " He went on to say, "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name hint Jesus " (Luke 1:28, 31).

"Most favored daughter?" What is that? This is actually a "big deal" and understanding this term helps us to understand a lot about our Blessed Mother. This is another of those "only time in Scripture" moments, and once again it applies only to Mary. The Angel Gabriel doesn't address Mary as "Mary," but uses her title as known in heaven "the one who is full of God's grace" or "the most highly favored daughter." The same Greek word, the same meaning, in many ways to translate into English. Mary has the fullest measure of God's grace that it is possible to bestow on any human person. This starts from the moment of her conception through her death and Assumption and continues still.

So is Saint Luke contradicting himself? We read earlier about how Mary "rejoiced in God her savior," so how does that work'? This brings us to our final Scripture verse in Hebrews: "Sacrifice and offerings you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me" (Hebrews 10:5). What body was prepared for him? It wasn't Jesus' body as that had yet to develop and grow in human fashion. In fact it was Mary's body that was prepared, from conception, to be kept free from all stain of sin.

So why does she rejoice in God as her savior? Because she needed a Redeemer like everyone else and God in his greatness and magnificence reached down and saved her from the very moment of her conception in a singular act of grace.

"My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name " (Luke 1:46-49). Indeed, great things he has done for Mary. By learning about these great things we learn more and more about the greatness of God.