Immaculate Conception

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Many people think it is a relatively new thing, but it is not. It goes way back in Christian history. Actually, the concept goes back to the 5th century. But it was only defined as dogma in 1854. Many also confuse it with Jesus' birth - it deals with the concept that Mary was born without original sin.

"We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful."
—Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854

Why is the Immaculate Conception important?
"The dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the belief that God interrupted the flow of human history by a special act and preserved Mary from the stain of original sin from the first moment of her conception. This action of God reminds us of two important truths – truths which have been obliterated in the rationalist, secular-humanist modern world.

"The first is that God is alive and at work in the world. He has not abandoned the human race, but he cares enough to be involved. Through a special act he preserved the Virgin Mary from the stain of original sin, and through this unique action he reminds us that he is still engaged with the human race in our eternal struggle. This world is not empty of God and empty of grace, but it is still charged with the grandeur and humility of God. Rationalism is not the final answer. The miraculous is still alive in the world.

"Secondly, the Immaculate Conception reminds us that human life is sacred from the first moment of conception. We are taught by divine revelation and by divine interaction with the world that the first moment of human life is the moment of conception. In a world threatened by genocide, suicide, war, murder, abortion, and euthanasia, the Blessed Virgin – under her titles of Aparecida and Guadalupe – speak to the world of the sacredness of human life and of God’s care and love for the human race.

"Finally, it is no mistake that the Immaculate Conception is the primary image of the Americas. The Americas are the ultimate battleground in the war between secular, godless humanism and the divine mercy of God in the world. The blessed Virgin, Immaculately and miraculously conceived, offers her son for the Redemption of the world and the conversion of the Americas."

- Fr. Dwight Longenecker

Quote

“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain forever a child.” 
    —   Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 bc), Roman orator

Food for Thought

“So it is with sorrow, each thinks his own present grief the most severe. For of this he judges by his own experience.

He that is childless considers nothing so sad as to be without children; he that is poor, and has many children, complains of the extreme evils of a large family. He who has but one, looks upon this as the greatest misery, because that one, being set too much store by, and never corrected, becomes willful, and brings grief upon his father.

He who has a beautiful wife, thinks nothing so bad as having a beautiful wife, because it is the occasion of jealousy and intrigue. He who has an ugly one, thinks nothing worse than having a plain wife, because it is constantly disagreeable.

The private man thinks nothing more mean, more useless, than his mode of life. The soldier declares that nothing is more toilsome, more perilous, than warfare; that it would he better to live on bread and water than endure such hardships.

He that is in power thinks there can be no greater burden than to attend to the necessities of others. He that is subject to that power, thinks nothing more servile than living at the beck of others. The married man considers nothing worse than a wife, and the cares of marriage. The unmarried declares there is nothing so wretched as being unmarried, and wanting the repose of a home.

The merchant thinks the husbandman happy in his security. The husbandman thinks the merchant so in his wealth. In short, all mankind are somehow hard to please, and discontented and impatient.”

—   Saint John Chrysostom

When Faced with...

Only One Black Friday

Going Fishing

Lovely photo I ran across.

Christ the King Sunday

Today is the feast of Christ the King. It is a relatively new feast, established in 1925 on last Sunday of the church liturgical year (a new liturgical year begins next Sunday as Advent begins) to emphasize the place of Christ at the center of life and to challenge the increasing denial of the place of God in life seen in communism and the secularism of that time [and as it is today still]. The Kingdom of Jesus is about a new way of relating to one another — a way that Jesus revealed by His life and teaching. Jesus demonstrated His kingdom as he blessed, loved, forgave, healed, and served the people He was speaking to. He welcomed the poor and the marginalized. He taught about His way of relating in parables that prioritized forgiveness over revenge, service over being served, and sacrificial love over self-serving arrogance. The Kingdom way of relating is expressed in this Sunday's Gospel as Jesus tells us that what we do to the least of our brothers or sisters we do to Him. Jesus’ Kingdom is present whenever we relate to one another as the God of all creation desires us to relate. It is the only Kingdom that will last forever.

Not All Wounds...

The Leaning Towers

Deacon Ken of my parish

always manages to have a great post each Sunday. Here is another:

The Leaning Towers … The Tower of Pisa, one of the world's great landmarks, was originally designed to stand up straight. In 1773, it began to lean shortly after the onset of construction due to a poorly laid foundation. The word Pisa “, I've heard, actually means "marshy land." This might explain why history's most famous church bell tower started going off-kilter before it was even completed. Several years ago it looked like the Tower of Pisa was headed for toppling. Moving one-twentieth of an inch each year, it eventually ended up 17 feet out of plumb. Alarmed architects and engineers puzzled over it, and in 1990, created a plan to remove 38 cubic meters of soil from underneath to straighten the tower by 18 inches. Now, they say, it is stable for another 300 years.

Perhaps you will be surprised to learn that the leaning Tower of Pisa is not the most tilted tower in the world. In November 2007, the honor was given to the leaning tower of Suurhusen in Germany. Though not as beautiful or old as her sister in Pisa, the 15th century Suurhusen bell tower is the greatest leaner on earth. You don't have to be pretty to be crooked. Once again, the sway from vertical is due to marshy soil and a faulty foundation. These twin towers teach us an important lesson. If you want to stand straight, you need to have a firm foundation. Parents, if you want to grow good adults, start your children when they're young. This is the most important task for mothers and fathers. Teach your children the depths of truth, character, integrity and faith. And most importantly, teach them about God. When they are older, they will display it.

Engaged couples can build a great marriage by building on the firm foundation of selfless love, faith and trust. Marriages built on shallow soil seldom last. A life, built on the rock solid foundation of God, faith and the Bible, will stand straight and strong through all the storms of life. If you've started off wrong, and find yourself leaning, there's still hope but it always goes back to the foundational issues.

Blessings

Book Recommendation: A Call to Joy

"Contrary to popular belief, Catholicism is not a religion of sin and punishment, rules and regulations, but a religion of growth, fulfillment, love and joy."
 -- Matthew Kelly - A Call to Joy, p 43.

This is a great book.  DynamicCatholic.com