So many protestants come unglued when you mention that Mary was created sinless in Anna's womb, and then remained sinless her whole life. "But ALL have sinned," they say, quoting St. Paul from Romans 3:23. But let's take a quick look at that verse in context:
Romans 3: 20-30: For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,
whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by
faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine
forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. On what principle?
On the principle of works? No, but on the principle of faith. For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised through their faith.
If you take a look at the phrases highlighted in red above, it is clear that Paul is contrasting the Old Testament way of salvation that had mandatory works of the law, like circumcision, ritual hand washing, and kosher dietary laws, with the New Testament way of salvation that does away with Jewish works of the law and replaces them with faith in Jesus and with His grace. Paul even says in the verses above that His grace is a gift, and we know that Gabriel called Mary by her new title of "Full of Grace," in Luke 1:28: "Hail Full of Grace, The Lord IS with you." So it is clear from Gabriel, God's messenger, that Mary had already received her free gift of grace from God BEFORE the incarnation of Jesus. In other words, her savior Jesus saved her before she fell into the snakepit of sin, whereas the rest of are saved from the snakepit of sin after we fall into it. The original Greek text uses the word "Kecharitomene," which means "you who have been filled with grace." Kecharitomene does NOT mean "Highly favored daughter," like it says in the King James abridged version of the bible. This is a huge distinction, because a lot of protestants believe that Mary was highly favored because she was just lucky enough to be chosen to bear Jesus, whereas Catholics believe that Mary was full of grace from her womb as part of God's plan from the very beginning (Genesis 3:15: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed;) to be the living tabernacle of the Word of God made flesh. I've even seen where some protestants degrade Mary as only being "the incubator" of Jesus, rather than the Mother of God, and if she had said no, then God would have just picked some other virgin. Well, that isn't how God works. God preordains each one of us for a mission here on earth (Acts 4:28). I can just hear these Mary-haters telling their own Mother in May - "Happy Incubator's Day, Mom!"
But what about the "all have sinned" part? Well, the Greek word for "all" in the original text is "pas," and that is used elsewhere in scripture as well. For instance, Luke 2:1 says "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled." I'm thinking that Native American Indians and aborigines in Australia were not included in that census, even though the verse says that "all in the world should be enrolled!" And Romans 11:26 says "and so all Israel will be saved," which would have to include every citizen of Israel who ever lived, including Judas, Caiaphas, every Pharisee, ever Jewish rapist, murderer, and adulterer. But that isn't very probable, I think. So it can be concluded that the word "all" in the Bible, or "pas" in Greek, can sometimes be used to mean "a lot." And if it's really true that "all have sinned," then that would have to include Jesus Christ, 1 day old babies, and the mentally retarded as well, who have no sense of what sin even is!
So why would God create an immaculate woman to bear Jesus Christ? Because the original sin of Adam is passed down through the womb to the baby, which means that satan, for a while, until baptism, has dominion over us all, until the Holy Spirit comes at Baptism to free us from the stain of original sin, and satan at NO time ever had dominion over Jesus. Original sin is mentioned in scripture in Romans 5:12: Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.
And then there is what I call "bookend theology," where the Old Testament problem is resolved in a like manner with the New Testament solution. Just as Eve was created as an immaculate virgin in the first book of the Old Testament, likewise, Mary was created as an immaculate virgin in the first book of the New Testament. Whereas the immaculate virgin in the Old Testament said yes to the spirit lucifer, which allowed sin and death to enter the world, similarly, the immaculate virgin in the New Testament said yes to the spirit Gabriel, which allowed salvation and eternal life to enter the world. It's all part of God's amazing plan that is in scripture for us all to learn about.
If one takes the time to learn about the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant, it becomes clear just how holy and pure that container was. The Ark held three items - The Word of God in stone tablets, the bread from heaven known as manna, and the rod of Aaron (the symbol of the high priesthood), which was a stick made from an almond branch which resprouted and came back to life. Similarly, Jesus in Mary's womb is the Word of God made flesh, the bread of life come down from heaven, and the eternal high priest who also died and then came back to life. And when the Jews of the Old Testament were battling their physical enemies, they were always successful in their battles when they were trying to be holy, and had the Ark of the Covenant with the Word of God together at the forefront of their wars. Similarly, Catholics of the New Testament who are trying to be holy and who have Mary and Jesus together at the forefront of their spiritual wars will ALWAYS be successful in the end.
So be proud of the theology which says that Mary IS the Immaculate Conception. She revealed this to us at Lourdes in the 19th Century, and this was formerly proclaimed as a dogma of the Catholic Church in 1854. But it was the long standing belief of the Catholic Church for centuries, before it was formerly proclaimed as a dogma, as evidenced by all of the middle ages' artwork depicting Mary as "The Immaculate Conception."
As the Archangel Gabriel said, "HAIL FULL OF GRACE!" As Mary said, "My soul MAGNIFIES (makes clearer, enlarges, focuses) the Lord. God who is mighty has done great things for me. ALL GENERATIONS WILL call me BLESSED!"
AMEN!
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