Sunday Thought - December 1, 2013: Immaculate Conception

Alright, let's get the definitions straight.  Mary was an "immaculate conception,"  Jesus was a "virgin birth."

The Immaculate Conception is constantly being misused in reference to the birth of Christ, even in the media, when it is actually a dogma of the Catholic Church referring to the moment when Mary, not Jesus, was conceived in the womb.  At that moment of her conception, being conceived of a father and mother, Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, she was kept free of original sin and filled with the sanctifying grace normally conferred in baptism.

The virgin birth of Jesus, on the other hand, is the belief that Jesus was conceived in the womb of his mother, Mary, by the Holy Spirit and was born while Mary was still a virgin.

Christians make a lot of hoopla over this virgin birth miracle, yet it is interesting to note that in the Bible, not so much.  The virgin birth of Jesus is almost a footnote.  In fact, it was not considered universally accepted by the Christian church until the 2nd century, and was even challenged again in the 1700s.  It is now accepted by the Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, the Protestants, and Islam.

On December 8 the Church will celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, exactly nine months before celebrating her birth with the Nativity of Mary.  The Annunciation, commemorating the virginal conception of Jesus, occurs on March 25, nine months before Christmas.  I assume we all know what that celebrates, and I'm not talking about the boxes of worthless, materialistic garbage we shove underneath a dying, decorated tree.

I think a good start at remembering these definitions might be to actually remember why we have the celebrations.  Let's try remembering that Christmas is about the birth of Christ, not the new sweater from Macy's.