Another quote of the day...

Quote of the day based on what Faith saw this morning. Jason's mom & grandma were walking into Mass today & came to sit by us & I hear Faith say, "Here come 2 grandmas in a row!"

Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. When the Angel Gabriel addresses her, "Hail, FULL OF GRACE, the Lord is with you", much is revealed to us. If we are full of grace, there is no room for sin. If there is no room for sin, but we are all born of the sin of Adam & Eve, how would she be full of grace? The truth is that the Lord chose her from the moment of her creation to be perfect and unblemished from original sin in order to be a vessel for His perfect Son to come into the world as we know it.

Even when studying the original Greek translation of this passage, the word used is kecharitomene. This word is used nowhere else in the Bible except in this instance to describe Mary. The following is from Catholic Answers:

"The grace given to Mary is at once permanent and of a unique kind. "Kecharitomene" is a perfect passive participle of "charitoo", meaning "to fill or endow with grace." Since this term is in the perfect tense, it indicates that Mary was graced in the past but with continuing effects in the present. So, the grace Mary enjoyed was not a result of the angel's visit. In fact, Catholics hold, it extended over the whole of her life, from conception onward. She was in a state of sanctifying grace from the first moment of her existence."

Even Mary struggled with all that the angel was revealing to her but assured her "for with God nothing will be impossible." (Luke 1:37) With that in mind, is it easier to come to know, understand and accept the truth that God reveals to us? Or should we throw out His truth given to us through His Word & Tradition and believe that a teaching as beautiful as this is irrelevant?

The moment Mary said "yes" to God is the changing point in our salvation history by allowing Christ to be conceived in her womb and to come into this world. If she would have said "no" by her own free will, as did Adam & Eve, the Incarnation would not have happened. Through man, sin entered the world, and in order to undo that, salvation had to come through man. Jesus came to save us, and he allowed a human being, a perfect one, to be a part of that...back then and forever.