The Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary

 

 

 

 

 

Mary Conceived without Sin

Mary is believed to be conceived without sin in the Catholic Church. It is required for Catholics to believed in it with Great Faith. Mary indeed was saved by God from sin before she even committed any and she is preserved by his Grace from inheriting original sin from her Parents. Original Sin is inherited from the time of physical conception.

But Mary through God's Love and Grace was preserved from Original Sin. Her very conception itself was made Holy by the Almighty. This Immaculate Conception of Mary was not recorded in the Bible but is a matter of Faith that God's ways is always in the matter of Holiness and it is in the context of Perfected Love.

Even though Mary needed a savior she was saved by being preserved from sin instead of being allowed to commit it in the first place. It is better to save someone from falling into a pile of mud instead of just raising them up when they are have already fallen into it.

Mary as the Ark of Salvation

Just like the Holy Ark of the Covenant that Hold the Ten Commandments. In Mary's womb the living Divine Word of God was conceived. If the Ark containing the commandments was made Holy, so is the Living Ark of the New Covenant of Salvation which is in the person of Mary. As the ''Person'' bearing the New Covenant which Jesus in Body and Blood. Mary is more Holier than the Ark of the Covenant because she is conceived without Sin. 

If Mary was a sinner, Jesus could have inherited original sin in his Human Nature. She was not a mere sinful vessel in which the messiah was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Rather, she was sanctified by God and very clean and pure in both Body and Soul. Nobody puts something pure and very important in a dirty container but it is put in a containment that is fitting, secure and clean.

God's Love Represented through Mother and Child

Mary had a special motherhood, she carried both Human and Divine. God's plan of salvation is in the perfected image of Love. The special bond between Mother and Child. God is Love, so his idea for salvation is done through the perfected ways of Love. In Love there is no place for sin, everything is just made perfect. The Son of God was very Holy and so was the Mother who carried him, must also be Holy and not stained with Sin.

This is God's ways not the imperfect preference of human and worldly ways. Everything is in his Intelligent design. Nothing will be out of place, there is a Divine Order of things even in a sinful world full of corrupt ideologies. Mary is loved by God as his precious hand maiden and Jesus loves and respects his own Mother.

Halloween to Christians

 What is Halloween to Catholics and Christians?

Halloween for me has always been a time of scare when I was a child, where a lot of television programs have their own specials about ghosts and anything that scares people. People dress up from anything scary to fictional characters and decorations are found from different places, from homes to different establishments. It is a tradition that was handed down from superstitions from long ago.

It is a fun and thrilling celebration for some but for others it may be just another waste of time trying to scare your self and feel bad about it at the end. There are really thrill seekers who likes to scare others and themselves, for me, I only hope Halloween evolves as something more positive than something scary and evil. Halloween's origin were about ghosts and ghouls so it is hard to remove that from tradition, yet it is celebrated like a fun festival.

My only worry is that people wear scary costumes and create decorations that is always been equivalent to something hurtful and evil. Promoting fear and harm visually is not a good sign that would give a negative impression that everything is just normal to simulate, Promoting fear has now been considered by the entertainment industries as fun and thrilling. a festival should be something positive that make all people gathered for fun and the common good.

The costumes or decorations for the celebration should be more about fictional characters and fantastic themed scenery which would be better. I don't think it is right for kids to go trick or treating wearing costumes that are scary and showing harm, it is best that they wear something out of fiction and more wholesome. Though it is hard to change traditions, it is best that it must be understood that we always have to do something that makes celebrations in a positive light.

Catholics celebrate November 1st for All Saints day and All Souls day at the 2nd. It is sometimes mistaken to extend the celebration of Halloween on the 31st to those two days after. Hallow really means to make holy and Sam Hein is the pagan celebration that spirits roam around during the 30th of November. Some traditions really got mixed but some are meant to be Christianized by the Catholic Church to replace it with some other sacred celebration.

Halloween may not be a holiday to be immediately removed from tradition but it can still be converted to something more wholesome than something scary or gruesome. It will be good to be celebrated with costume parties of some kind of characters. Catholics celebrate all saints day with something more positive like praying for the souls of their dearly departed and children wearing costumes of the Saints. Celebrations should always be something positive and promote goodwill and respect of peoples tradition and beliefs.