The Immaculate Conception The immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary The dogmas of the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Assumption of Mary are perhaps two of the most difficult and controversial dogmas declared by the Church. Immaculate Conception, the solemn dogma defined by Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1854 is celebrated on every 8th December, 9 months before the feast of the nativity of Mary. A feast called the Conception of Mary arose in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the 11th century it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception. Two Franciscans, William of Ware and Blessed John Duns Scotus, helped develop the theology. In the 18th century it became a feast of the universal Church. It is now recognized as a solemnity. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven was dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution. These two dogmas are very closely connected, each depends on the existence of the other. Without one, the other dogma cannot stand. These dogmas are not actually about Mary, but rather, it is about what God has in His salvation plan for the humankind. Just like all the titles given to Mary are not about her, but a reflection of either the Church or of Jesus. Calling her Mother of God is to show that at the moment of Jesus conception, He was already divine, and not only after His birth that He received His divinity. Otherwise there was a period of nine months when Jesus was in Marys womb when there was only the Holy Twosome and not Holy Trinity, if Jesus was not God as well then. I used to hear that Mary had to be immaculately conceived because the womb that bore the sinless Jesus had to be without sin. Then my question is, if thats so, then in order that Mary could be born without sin, Marys mother, Anne had to be without sin in order to bear the sinless Mary. The list has to go back to a litany of sinless women. What about their fathers, dont they have to be sinless too? Such a defense does not stand. In Genesis we were told that Adam and Eve sinned and therefore lost their birthright to being called children of God, as a result eternal life with God was lost. It was through the sin of disobedience of the first Adam and Eve that brought about this loss of eternal life, it would have to be the obedience and sinlessness of the second Adam and Eve to reverse what was destroyed by the first, this was mentioned in the Scriptures. Jesus is identified as the second Adam and we can see that Mary is the second Eve. After all, Mary was referred to by the Angel Gabriel as the most blessed of all women. It was to this that we believe Mary was immaculately conceived. In 1858 Mary appeared to St Bernadette 18 times at Lourdes and finally introduced herself as the Immaculate Conception. The Lourdes event is perhaps one of the most recognized apparition endorsed the Church . This also confirms the accuracy of the Church when the Immaculate Conception was declared a dogma. Once the Immaculate Conception is possible in Mary, the natural progression would be her Assumption into heaven. How then are the two dogmas connected? These two dogmas are the prefigurement of what we too will become in the future. All of us are created for heaven, but none can enter because of sin. Even a Saint have sin and fall short of the glory of God unless sin is removed. That is done through the process of purgatory. It is only after that that one can be reborn into heaven, immaculate. Not only that, that person not only enters heaven as a soul, but in body as well, what we call assumption. In other words, one day we too will enter into heaven body and soul, immaculately conceived and assumed into heaven like Mary before us. We do not know how this body that is assumed is going to be like. All we know is that it will be a perfect body, for nothing imperfect can enter heaven. Her going before us encourages us to know this is what Jesus has won for us through His life, suffering, death and resurrection. Fr Joachim
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 04:46:21 +0000
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