Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Mary Is the Model of Faith in Christ and Christian Discipleship
A Reflection on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Deacon Tracy Jamison, OCDS, PhD
Every year on December 8th we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary was conceived by her parents, Joachim and Anne, but without the stain of original sin. Thus her conception was immaculate, and she was conceived in the state of sanctifying grace, and her nature was not corrupted by original sin. This doctrine about Mary is a divinely revealed truth that has always been implicit in Catholic Tradition. In 1846 the bishops of the United States named Mary the principal patroness of our nation specifically under the title of her Immaculate Conception, and in 1854 the doctrine was explicitly defined by Pope Blessed Pius IX as a dogma of the Catholic Church.
Dogmas give us certainty. All sciences have dogmas. Some dogmas are truths which have been discovered. Other dogmas are truths which were already known. In arithmetic it is a dogma that 2 + 2 = 4. In geometry it is a dogma that triangles have three and only three interior angles. In physics it is a dogma that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In ethics it is a dogma that the end never justifies the means. In chemistry it is a dogma that water is H2O. In the Christian faith it is a dogma that Jesus is God. All Christian dogmas are truths which belong to the deposit of faith. Karma cannot change dogma. All dogma is written in stone. Dogma is man’s best friend. Thank God for the dogmas of the Catholic Church. No one honors their Mother more than Christ and the Catholic Church.
What do we believe about Mary? In 1968 Pope Saint Paul VI formulated it in the “Credo of the People of God”:
“We believe that Mary is the Mother, who remained ever a Virgin, of the Incarnate Word, our God and Savior Jesus Christ, and that by reason of this singular election, she was, in consideration of the merits of her Son, redeemed in a more eminent manner, preserved from all stain of original sin, and filled with the gift of grace more than all other creatures.”
“Joined by a close and indissoluble bond to the Mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, the Blessed Virgin, the Immaculate, was at the end of her earthly life raised body and soul to heavenly glory and was likened to her risen Son in anticipation of the future lot of all the just.”
“And we believe that the Blessed Mother of God, the New Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven her maternal role with regard to Christ’s members, cooperating with the birth and growth of divine life in the souls of the redeemed.”
The four Marian dogmas are her Motherhood of God, her Perpetual Virginity, her Immaculate Conception, and her Assumption into Heaven. As the Mother of Christ, Mary is the Mother of God. This truth about Mary necessarily follows from Christ’s divinity. Every Christian who denies it falls into a contradiction. In 431 the Council of Ephesus explicitly defined that Mary is the Mother of God specifically because Christ is God. She is the Daughter of God the Father, the Spouse of God the Holy Spirit, and the Mother of God the Son.
Mary is also the model of faith and Christian discipleship. To become the Mother of God the Son, she had to be immaculately conceived. Since she was immaculately conceived, she was taken body and soul into heaven at the end of her earthly life. Free from the corruption of original sin, she was not obligated to die, but there is a pious tradition that Mary freely chose to die because she wanted to be like her Son in all things. We do not know for certain that Mary died, because that is not part of the dogma. It has not yet been defined. So perhaps she was assumed directly into heaven without dying. That’s what many Eastern Orthodox Christians believe, so they call her passing a dormition, like falling asleep. Neither Christ nor his Mother was obligated to die. If she died, then she freely chose to die in imitation of the sacrifice made by her Son. She would have died for love of her Son and for love of us. Mary shows us our destiny. We are destined for heaven. Christ desires to make us like his Mother, to some degree or another.
Christ gave his Mother to us to be our spiritual Mother. Do we love and honor our Mother? What are the signs?
Seek the intercession of Mary for all your needs and concerns. It works. Cast your cares on her, because like her Son she cares for you. Try it and see what happens.
Pray the Rosary daily and meditate on the mysteries, joining mental prayer to vocal prayer. Mary has asked us repeatedly to pray the Rosary, especially for world peace.
Tell others about the graces and blessings you have received through Mary’s intercession. Give witness and recommend Mary’s intercession to others, especially to Protestants and non-Christians. To give a personal testimony is not proselytism. Personal testimony is part of Christian discipleship, and it is part of being a good son or daughter of Mary.
About Deacon Tracy
Deacon Tracy Jamison was raised in a Christian family as the son of a Scotch-Irish evangelical minister in the Campbellite tradition. As an undergraduate he majored in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Cincinnati Christian University, where his parents had been educated. At this institution he met Joyce, who was completing a degree in Church Music, and after graduation they entered the covenant of Christian marriage in 1988. Through the study of philosophy and the writings of the Early Church Fathers, Tracy was received into the full communion of the Catholic Church in 1992. Under the influence of the theological writings of St. John Paul II he began to study the works of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross and entered formation as a Secular Carmelite of the Teresian Reform. In 1999 he completed the doctoral program in Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati, and in 2002 he made his definitive profession as a Secular Carmelite. In 2010 he was ordained as a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Currently he is an associate professor of philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West.
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