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Shameless, what you and the other guy are both missing is that Elizabeth called Jesus in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary "Lord." For a Jew to claim a human being is Lord is to confer upon Him both the human nature and the nature of God, and *this* by the inviolable inspiration of the Holy Spirit. To deny Christ's dual nature is heresy. For it was *by* God (the Holy Spirit) that the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived and brought forth the Christ, the Son of God, truly human and truly God. Mary is truly "Mother of God" since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is God himself. St. Gabriel the Archangel [one of the seven angels who stand before the throne of God according to the statement of St. Raphael the Archangel in the Book of Tobit] states in Luke 1:35 -

And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God

So the Archangel attests, God (the power of the Most High) is the Father, Mary (the overshadowed one) the Mother. As the Son of God, the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. As the Son of God, Jesus *is* God, and the Blessed Virgin Mary *is* the Mother of God Incarnate, True Man and True God.

Further, the Blessed Virgin Mary was defined in Holy Writ by none other than St. Gabriel the Archangel, as a messenger from God Himself, as being "full of grace." Not 30% of grace, not 2% of grace, not 97% of grace but FULL of GRACE. Hence, as the Blessed Virgin Mary states in her Magnificat,

1:47. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

1:48. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Shall call me blessed... These words are a prediction of that honour which the church in all ages should pay to the Blessed Virgin. Let Protestants examine whether they are any way concerned in this prophecy.

Now, the Blessed Virgin Mary is saved by God from her conception because she, as St. Gabriel the Archangel stated, is FULL OF GRACE. That is, from the Bible, a clear statement as to the absence of original sin in the Blessed Virgin Mary and her being held spotless throughout her life by the FULLNESS OF GRACE which remained in her.

Karl Keating puts it this way:

Fundamentalists' chief reason for objecting to the Immaculate Conception and Mary's consequent sinlessness - which is what her lifelong state of sanctifying grace implies 0 is that Mary was but a creature, and we are told that "all have sinned." (Romans 3:23). Besides, they way, Mary said her "spirit rejoices in God my Savior" (Lk 1:47), and only a sinner needs a Savior. Since Mary was a sinner, she could not have been immaculately conceived.

Take the second citation first. The Church has a simple and sensible answer to this difficulty. It is this: Mary, too, required a Savior. Like all other descendants of Adam, by her nature she was subject to the necessity of contracting original sin. But by a special intervention of God, undertaken at the instant she was conceived, she was preserved from the stain of original sin and certain of its consequences. She was therefore redeemed by the grace of Christ, but in a special way, by anticipation. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception thus does not contradicts Luke 1:47.

What about Romans 3:23, "all have sinned"? Fundamentalists as a rule, think it means more than that everyone is subject to original sin. They think it means everyone commits actual sins. They conclude it means Mary must have sinned during her life, and that certainly would speak against an Immaculate Conception. Is the fundamentalists' analysis solid? Not really. Think about a child below the age of reason. By definition he cannot sin, since sinning requires the ability to reason and the ability to intend to sin. If the child dies before ever committing an actual sin, because he is not mature enough to know what he is doing, what act of his brings him under their interpretation of Romans 3:23? None, of course.

What Mr. Keating fails to mention, of course, is that if we are to take Rich's incorrupt interpretation of Holy Scripture at its face value, then it stands by the exact same, unexceptional heretical and dogmatic reasoning of Rich that since ALL have sinned, THEN CHRIST HIMSELF WAS A SINNER as there can be no exceptions to any human creature being a sinner BY RICH'S PAPAL DICTATES (straight from Boettner, but who cares?). Hence, Christ was a sinner; hence, Christianity is a sham, hence the only option is to choose Mohammed and Islamists as they are best suited these days for the complete take-over of the entire world.

Mr. Keating continues:

Paul's comment to the Christians in Rome thus would seem to have one of two meanings. Despite the phrasing, it might be that it refers not to absolutely everyone, but just to the mass of mankind (which means young children and other special cases, such as Mary, would be excluded without having to be singled out). If not that, then it would mean that everyone, without exception, is subject to original sin, which is true for a young child, for the unborn, even for Mary - but she, although due to be subject to it, was preserved from its stain.

It took a positive act of God to keep her from coming under its effects the way we have. We had the stain or original sin removed through baptism, which brings sanctifying grace to the soul, thus making the soul spiritually alive and capable of enjoying heaven, and makes the recipient a member of the Church. We might say that Mary received a very special kind of "baptism" at her conception, but, because since she never contracted original sin, she enjoyed certain privileges we never can, such as entire avoidance of sin.

Next, there is the matter of "private revelation," as manifested in Lourdes, France. A simple peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, at age 14 was miraculously benefitted by an appearance in a grotto by the river Gave of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Only she could see the Blessed Virgin, which, of course, gave rise to all sorts of scandal, but all was vindicated by the appearance of a brook out of the ground which has miraculous healing powers to this day. Bernadette was not a gifted student and was having an extremely difficult time with her tests. When the Blessed Virgin told Bernadette to tell the local parish pastor who she was, she instructed her to use the words, "I am the Immaculate Conception." Bernadette kept repeating these words over and over to herself as she rushed off to the priest. When she told him the "lady" said she was "the Immaculate Conception," the priest was thunderstruck. "Do you know what that means, Bernadette?" he inquired. When she did not, the priest gave her a small lesson in theology, and explained that with these words the Mother of God had confirmed the pious belief which Pope Pius IX, 4 years earlier, had raised to the dignity of a dogma of the infallible Church.

To this day, Bernadette remains incorrupt.

The Catechism states the following on the matter:

What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.

Mary's predestination

488 "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him,¹²⁵ he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, "a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary":¹²⁶

The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life.¹²⁷

489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living.¹²⁸ By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a son in spite of her old age.¹²⁹ Against all human expectation God chooses those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other women.¹³⁰ Mary "stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established."¹³¹

The Immaculate Conception

490 To become the mother of the Saviour, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role."¹³² The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace".¹³³ In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God,¹³⁴ was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.¹³⁵

492 The "splendour of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son".¹³⁶ The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love".¹³⁷

493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature".¹³⁸ By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.
"Let it be done to me according to your word. . ."

494 At the announcement that she would give birth to "the Son of the Most High" without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that "with God nothing will be impossible": "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word."¹³⁹ Thus, giving her consent to God's word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God's grace:¹⁴⁰

As St. Irenaeus says, "Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race."¹⁴¹ Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith."¹⁴² Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary "the Mother of the living" and frequently claim: "Death through Eve, life through Mary."¹⁴³

Mary's divine motherhood

495 Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus", Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord".¹⁴⁴ In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos).¹⁴⁵

Mary's virginity

496 From the first formulations of her faith, the Church has confessed that Jesus was conceived solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, affirming also the corporeal aspect of this event: Jesus was conceived "by the Holy Spirit without human seed".¹⁴⁶ The Fathers see in the virginal conception the sign that it truly was the Son of God who came in a humanity like our own. Thus St. Ignatius of Antioch at the beginning of the second century says:
You are firmly convinced about our Lord, who is truly of the race of David according to the flesh, Son of God according to the will and power of God, truly born of a virgin,. . . he was truly nailed to a tree for us in his flesh under Pontius Pilate. . . he truly suffered, as he is also truly risen.¹⁴⁷

497 The Gospel accounts understand the virginal conception of Jesus as a divine work that surpasses all human understanding and possibility:¹⁴⁸ "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit", said the angel to Joseph about Mary his fiancee.¹⁴⁹ The Church sees here the fulfilment of the divine promise given through the prophet Isaiah: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son."¹⁵⁰

498 People are sometimes troubled by the silence of St. Mark's Gospel and the New Testament Epistles about Jesus' virginal conception. Some might wonder if we were merely dealing with legends or theological constructs not claiming to be history. To this we must respond: Faith in the virginal conception of Jesus met with the lively opposition, mockery or incomprehension of non-believers, Jews and pagans alike;¹⁵¹ so it could hardly have been motivated by pagan mythology or by some adaptation to the ideas of the age. the meaning of this event is accessible only to faith, which understands in it the "connection of these mysteries with one another"¹⁵² in the totality of Christ's mysteries, from his Incarnation to his Passover. St. Ignatius of Antioch already bears witness to this connection: "Mary's virginity and giving birth, and even the Lord's death escaped the notice of the prince of this world: these three mysteries worthy of proclamation were accomplished in God's silence."¹⁵³

Mary - "ever-virgin"

499 The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made man.¹⁵⁴ In fact, Christ's birth "did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it."¹⁵⁵ and so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the "Ever-virgin".¹⁵⁶

500 Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus.¹⁵⁷ The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus", are the sons of another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls "the other Mary".¹⁵⁸ They are close relations of Jesus, according to an Old Testament expression.¹⁵⁹

501 Jesus is Mary's only son, but her spiritual motherhood extends to all men whom indeed he came to save: "The Son whom she brought forth is he whom God placed as the first-born among many brethren, that is, the faithful in whose generation and formation she co-operates with a mother's love."¹⁶⁰

Mary's virginal motherhood in God's plan

502 The eyes of faith can discover in the context of the whole of Revelation the mysterious reasons why God in his saving plan wanted his Son to be born of a virgin. These reasons touch both on the person of Christ and his redemptive mission, and on the welcome Mary gave that mission on behalf of all men.

503 Mary's virginity manifests God's absolute initiative in the Incarnation. Jesus has only God as Father. "He was never estranged from the Father because of the human nature which he assumed. . . He is naturally Son of the Father as to his divinity and naturally son of his mother as to his humanity, but properly Son of the Father in both natures."¹⁶¹

504 Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary's womb because he is the New Adam, who inaugurates the new creation: "The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven."¹⁶² From his conception, Christ's humanity is filled with the Holy Spirit, for God "gives him the Spirit without measure."¹⁶³ From "his fullness" as the head of redeemed humanity "we have all received, grace upon grace."¹⁶⁴

505 By his virginal conception, Jesus, the New Adam, ushers in the new birth of children adopted in the Holy Spirit through faith. "How can this be?"¹⁶⁵ Participation in the divine life arises "not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God".¹⁶⁶ The acceptance of this life is virginal because it is entirely the Spirit's gift to man. the spousal character of the human vocation in relation to God¹⁶⁷ is fulfilled perfectly in Mary's virginal motherhood.

506 Mary is a virgin because her virginity is the sign of her faith "unadulterated by any doubt", and of her undivided gift of herself to God's will.¹⁶⁸ It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the Saviour: "Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ."¹⁶⁹

507 At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: "the Church indeed. . . by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life. She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse."¹⁷⁰

The Church Itself, which Christ had instituted to "teach all nations" has the power to define dogma, because Christ wanted Truth to remain in the face of a zillion challenges and heresies which would erupt both from without the Church and within the Church. Christ instituted the Catholic Church, again, as a TEACHING INSTRUMENT from which the Holy Spirit would not depart. And to this day, the Catholic Church alone teaches exactly the same dogma as the apostles taught, which the Scriptural experts in Berea deduced from comparing their teachings to the lessons of Scripture and finding the apostles vindicated.

This is not to say that all Catholics are, should be, or can be perfect, not even priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals or Popes. But it does mean that the TEACHING will remain the same so that Truth will not perish from the earth. Given the maelstrom of individualistic theories of theology in 38,000 (and counting) different protest-ant sects, where can anyone find a more reliable source than the Church which Christ instituted, no matter the failings of its individual sinners?

To this day, the Church celebrates Holy Mass exactly as the Early Church did. Read this from the testimony of the Catechism:

As early as the second century we have the witness of St. Justin Martyr for the basic lines of the order of the Eucharistic celebration. They have stayed the same until our own day for all the great liturgical families. St. Justin wrote to the pagan emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161) around the year 155, explaining what Christians did:

On the day we call the day of the sun, all who dwell in the city or country gather in the same place.

The memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as much as time permits.

When the reader has finished, he who presides over those gathered admonishes and challenges them to imitate these beautiful things.

Then we all rise together and offer prayers* for ourselves . . .and for all others, wherever they may be, so that we may be found righteous by our life and actions, and faithful to the commandments, so as to obtain eternal salvation.

When the prayers are concluded we exchange the kiss.

Then someone brings bread and a cup of water and wine mixed together to him who presides over the brethren.

He takes them and offers praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and for a considerable time he gives thanks (in Greek: eucharistian) that we have been judged worthy of these gifts.

When he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all present give voice to an acclamation by saying: 'Amen.'

When he who presides has given thanks and the people have responded, those whom we call deacons give to those present the "eucharisted" bread, wine and water and take them to those who are absent.¹⁶⁹

The necessity of the priest, the necessity of the Eucharist, the celebration of Mass on Sunday, the virtually exactitude of the Holy Mass then as it is practiced to this very day, the necessity of the congregation to give thanks . . . only here in the Catholic Church will anyone find this exact practice today.

Come home. You don't know what you're missing!