J
John_Paul_III
Guest
God’s way or Our way
The Conception of our own Deception
The sin of Adam and Eve led them to desire a perfection that rejected God’s offer of sanctity and beatitude from within the human, creaturely condition. By doing so they became, in effect, “immaculate deceptions,” filled with a destructive self-love by which they sought to rely only on themselves and on their false conceptions of perfection. In their sinful desire to become God, Adam and Eve rejected the divine offer of a living, personal relationship with him. In Genesis 3:15 God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed”. It is this very one verse in the bible that sets up the groundwork for our ultimate salvation. In other words there exist in each person, a more or less explicit conviction that we are in ourselves remains unacceptable to God.
Mary’s Immaculate Conception is God’s way of giving us a proper and a sanctifying way to rely on the sacredness of human personal existence in order to be drawn more closely to Himself, we are professing that we are unwilling to trust in our own conceptions of goodness and righteousness which is ultimately a temptation that leads to all sin.
So instead we must rely on the Sacraments, the Church, the human body and soul of Jesus, and participate in the very holiness of God by relying on the Mother of God. In that mystical union we discover our true dignity and independence because we become truly free of deception.
The original relationship with God that was damaged by enslavement to a sinful conception is restored by our union in the Immaculate Conception, whereby God manifests Himself ultimately in the birth of Jesus. In order to fulfill His destiny, Jesus had to be born of a sinless vessel, and that sinless vessel was Mary. This in itself was a huge obstacle for me, and a lot of Protestants, particularly those in the evangelical denominations,who have been raised to regard any sort of veneration as idolatry; some extremities of this is not being allowed to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
Another hard concept for me was if I could go directly to God in prayer why do I need Mary to intercede on my behalf? Before I tackle this question lets first define intercede, which means to pray for someone. I now understand that people in heaven can still pray for us, and who better to pray for me than the Mother of God. All Christians have a role to play in the plan of Salvation, and Mary as the first Christian has the greatest role. Mary dedicated her herself to the services of God all her life and that of course includes her perpetual virginity. We honor Mary because she is the Mother of Jesus and since Jesus is God, we call her “Mother of God.” This does not mean that she is a goddess; rather it means that she embodies the great honor that God has chosen to bestow upon humanity.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to believers. Since Mary is the first and best Christian, she was the first to be assumed up into heaven; body and soul and because of this we call her “Queen of Heaven.” Ultimately Mary gives us hope of our own destiny, and shows us our reward if we choose to believe in her son, Jesus Christ. All we have to do is believe in Him, accept him into our lives even if God’s way is not our way.
The Conception of our own Deception
The sin of Adam and Eve led them to desire a perfection that rejected God’s offer of sanctity and beatitude from within the human, creaturely condition. By doing so they became, in effect, “immaculate deceptions,” filled with a destructive self-love by which they sought to rely only on themselves and on their false conceptions of perfection. In their sinful desire to become God, Adam and Eve rejected the divine offer of a living, personal relationship with him. In Genesis 3:15 God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed”. It is this very one verse in the bible that sets up the groundwork for our ultimate salvation. In other words there exist in each person, a more or less explicit conviction that we are in ourselves remains unacceptable to God.
Mary’s Immaculate Conception is God’s way of giving us a proper and a sanctifying way to rely on the sacredness of human personal existence in order to be drawn more closely to Himself, we are professing that we are unwilling to trust in our own conceptions of goodness and righteousness which is ultimately a temptation that leads to all sin.
So instead we must rely on the Sacraments, the Church, the human body and soul of Jesus, and participate in the very holiness of God by relying on the Mother of God. In that mystical union we discover our true dignity and independence because we become truly free of deception.
The original relationship with God that was damaged by enslavement to a sinful conception is restored by our union in the Immaculate Conception, whereby God manifests Himself ultimately in the birth of Jesus. In order to fulfill His destiny, Jesus had to be born of a sinless vessel, and that sinless vessel was Mary. This in itself was a huge obstacle for me, and a lot of Protestants, particularly those in the evangelical denominations,who have been raised to regard any sort of veneration as idolatry; some extremities of this is not being allowed to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
Another hard concept for me was if I could go directly to God in prayer why do I need Mary to intercede on my behalf? Before I tackle this question lets first define intercede, which means to pray for someone. I now understand that people in heaven can still pray for us, and who better to pray for me than the Mother of God. All Christians have a role to play in the plan of Salvation, and Mary as the first Christian has the greatest role. Mary dedicated her herself to the services of God all her life and that of course includes her perpetual virginity. We honor Mary because she is the Mother of Jesus and since Jesus is God, we call her “Mother of God.” This does not mean that she is a goddess; rather it means that she embodies the great honor that God has chosen to bestow upon humanity.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to believers. Since Mary is the first and best Christian, she was the first to be assumed up into heaven; body and soul and because of this we call her “Queen of Heaven.” Ultimately Mary gives us hope of our own destiny, and shows us our reward if we choose to believe in her son, Jesus Christ. All we have to do is believe in Him, accept him into our lives even if God’s way is not our way.