(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
St Paul tells us that God has chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. Many Christians believe in the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. They are referring to the beginning, her conception in the womb of her mother. They are saying that Mary started her existence in her mother without an inclination to sin. They say this because they believe that God should have had such a mother to befit his rank as Son of God. They celebrate this belief on December 8.
What does Sacred Scripture have to say? St Paul tells us that God has chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. We were chosen by God to be without sin from the foundation of the world. We are all conscious of sin in our lives. Yet God has chosen us to be without sin. Cannot God do what he has chosen for us? Can we be without sin? We know that we need to be without sin for us to get to heaven: if God can get us into heaven, why cannot God keep someone from sin from the first moment of her existence? If God cannot keep a person free of sin before birth, how can God free someone from sin at the time of death?
God’s purpose in creating us is to have us in heaven with God. If God is powerless to do this, how can he be God? God creates what God decides to create and God does not create what God does not decide to create.
God’s purpose in sending his Son is to bring un into heaven. Today we celebrate this choice of God to provide for our sinlessness. We celebrate this because we believe that God has done this for the Mother of his Son, who is the Christ. We can call this a privilege for the Mary, but privilege means private law; it is more like a prelude to what God does for us. She is first of many.
Those of us who celebrate the immaculate conception of Mary are not saying that she is the only one destined to be sinless, but that she is one among the many who are destined to be sinless.
St Paul tells us that God chose us from the beginning of creation to be sinless, blameless, and holy in his sight. This God has accomplished through the work of Jesus. What God has begun in us; God will bring to completion in us. All this is for the praise and glory of God.
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(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
St Paul tells us that God has chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. Many Christians believe in the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. They are referring to the beginning, her conception in the womb of her mother. They are saying that Mary started her existence in her mother without an inclination to sin. They say this because they believe that God should have had such a mother to befit his rank as Son of God. They celebrate this belief on December 8.
What does Sacred Scripture have to say? St Paul tells us that God has chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. We were chosen by God to be without sin from the foundation of the world. We are all conscious of sin in our lives. Yet God has chosen us to be without sin. Cannot God do what he has chosen for us? Can we be without sin? We know that we need to be without sin for us to get to heaven: if God can get us into heaven, why cannot God keep someone from sin from the first moment of her existence? If God cannot keep a person free of sin before birth, how can God free someone from sin at the time of death?
God’s purpose in creating us is to have us in heaven with God. If God is powerless to do this, how can he be God? God creates what God decides to create and God does not create what God does not decide to create.
God’s purpose in sending his Son is to bring un into heaven. Today we celebrate this choice of God to provide for our sinlessness. We celebrate this because we believe that God has done this for the Mother of his Son, who is the Christ. We can call this a privilege for the Mary, but privilege means private law; it is more like a prelude to what God does for us. She is first of many.
Those of us who celebrate the immaculate conception of Mary are not saying that she is the only one destined to be sinless, but that she is one among the many who are destined to be sinless.
St Paul tells us that God chose us from the beginning of creation to be sinless, blameless, and holy in his sight. This God has accomplished through the work of Jesus. What God has begun in us; God will bring to completion in us. All this is for the praise and glory of God.