The Blessed Virgin Mary, Part 2

(Plain Text Version)

The Mother of God

Since Jesus Christ is true God, Mary must be the Mother of God.  These words may sound strange, but we need to remember that the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on a full human nature.  Suppose that someone has a Spanish father and a Japanese mother.  We don’t divide the person and say that the mother is mother of only the Japanese part.  The mother is mother of the whole child.

We know that everyone who ever lived is a descendant of Adam and Eve.  We are all brothers and sisters to billions of people, including Mary and her Son Jesus.  Our lives should be energized when we realize that God is truly one of us.

We are always tempted to think about God as someone distant, who lets us deal with life on our own.  We can never have a truly “bad day” when we remember that Jesus is with us.  It is good to frequently ask God to help us to remember this. 

Mary’s Immaculate Conception

From the very beginning of her existence, Mary received a unique gift from God: she was filled with grace.  Mary was not burdened with Original Sin, the break with friendship with God which we inherit from Adam.  This gift came through the merits of Christ our Redeemer.

As we know from experience, even good parents are sinners.  Their sins can become a source of sin for the children.  For the Christ child to have a sinful mother would be a source of conflict.  Because of the Immaculate Conception, Mother and Son always worked together for the salvation of the human race.

Mary’s Freedom From Sin

In addition to being free from Original Sin, Mary was also protected from committing sins.  One may question how she could be free if she couldn’t choose bad things.  It is actually a blessing to always do what pleases God! 

If there was a magic pill which would prevent any and all kinds of sickness, who wouldn’t want to take it?  Only someone who sees sickness as something good.

Because of Original Sin, we are blinded from seeing sin for what it really is.  We have a desire for things which are bad for us.  Mary was free from these obstacles to true freedom.  (True freedom is discussed in the previous edition, “What Is Freedom?” (2021-26).

Credit: Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., Pocket Catholic Catechism, 1989, Doubleday

Vocabulary: Immaculate: spotless, completely clean