Actually, it was not a “necessary” grace but a “fitting” grace.
Just like if the Queen of England were to come to my house, it would not be necessary that I clean it up, but it would be fitting.
I can understand why some would consider this to be a fitting grace. I still have to ask…'why?"
Back to the scriptures that state that everybody has sinned, period…is it necessary that Mary never have sinned,
…or simply necessary that she sincerely repented as often as she did, and, perhaps, never committed the same sin twice?
The reason I’m asking is…if Jesus is fully man as well as fully God, then being born to anybody who is somehow so much greater than any other human being doesn’t make Him ‘fully human,’ seems to me. HE was certainly tempted to sin, and by the master of temptation.
I think that one of the most remarkable things about Mary is that she was just a woman, like all other women; she wasn’t given special treatment at her birth, or during her lifetime to help her be who she was; she simply was. In other words, she lived a life that the rest of use really can aspire to, in honor, in holiness, in charity and in simply being a perfect daughter (and mother) of God.
If, in order to be who she was, God had to step in and make her a superwoman who was never tempted and never had to deal with the evil the rest of us do, what hope does that leave the rest of us?
No, in a very real way, I can’t help but think that this insistance upon making her born innocent (when the rest of us aren’t) and having never been tempted to sin, living a life that is impossible for us to consider and understand, much less emulate–that lessens her accomplishments. After all, a puppet who has been carved to be incredibly beautiful, and manipulated to be utterly good–the hero in all the shows–what credit is there to the puppet? It’s all the puppeteer. Praising the puppet truly is idol worship; it’s not real.
But you take an ordinary young girl, like all other young girls, raised well and faced with what she was faced with–and have HER excercise the faith and courage it took to bear and raise Jesus the Christ…now THAT is a woman worth incredible respect and honor.
My opinion, of course.
I believe that Mary was born innocent–as we all are. I believe that she lived a very ordinary childhood–for those times; she had great parents, was raised well, and had incredible faith; more than just about anybody I can think of. She had a calling greater than pretty much anybody else has, before or since, and she 'magnified it."
She gave her life to God–and to her family.
…and she, fully human in the way all women are, freely chose to do so. There is no more honor that can be given her than this; to acknowledge that she did this amazing, glorious thing–without extra help that is unavailable to the rest of us.
Just her faith, her determination, and her free will.