Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and this is Ascension Presents So, the feast of the Immaculate Conception happens every December 8th Which always causes people to say: “Wait a second December 8th, the conception of Jesus, he was born on the 25th? Like that’s only 17 days
You guys do not understand human biology.” But you don’t understand Catholic theology. ‘Cause it’s not about the Immaculate Conception of Jesus. It’s about the conception of Mary….What? Yeah, it’s totally true. The Immaculate Conception declares that Mary, from the very first moment of her conception was preserved from all stain of original sin
By the merits of her son’s future life, death, and resurrection. What? One of the things that means is that Jesus is Mary’s savior. People will say well how can … what do you mean Mary was without sin? She even calls God “my Savior.”
Well, yeah. Because Jesus saved her before before she got sick from original sin. I remember hearing this explanation years and years ago. They said: “Imagine this. Imagine there’s this worldwide epidemic, this virus that was rampant, and you were gonna get it And if you got it, you were gonna die.
And then along came Dr. Joe Johnson, and he comes up with this cure. Everyone who gets injected with this cure will get healed of the disease and will live. But then Dr. Joe also comes up with a vaccine. And if you get this vaccine, before you get the disease,
You’ll also … you won’t get the disease and you’ll live. So, imagine: you get the disease and you get the cure. Dr. Joe is your savior. He saved you from this virus. From this death You don’t get the disease, but Dr. Joe vaccinates you. Therefore, you are preserved from getting the disease.
Dr. Joe is still your savior. In a similar way, how you and I have been saved by Jesus if we’ve been baptized, and hopefully continue to be saved by saying yes to his grace is after the fact. We got sick. Original sin. But the way that God saved Mary is he preserved her.
He gave her basically the vaccine before she even got sick. Again, it’s by what? By the merits of her Son’s future life, death, and resurrection. People say “What? The future life, death, and resurrection? Like, how is that possible? ‘Cause that would have happened like 47 years
Before Jesus died and rose from the dead, right? So if Mary was roughly 14 when she conceived Jesus, and then Jesus died when he was roughly 33 Forty-seven years earlier, um that seems likely that it would be retroactive. How would it go through time like that? God’s merits go through time like that?”
Well, I would say that’s a great question. How do God’s merits go through time two thousand years into the future and affect us? ‘Cause that’s what we believe. By the power of the Holy Spirit That’s what we think. That’s what we say. Because God’s outside of time.
He can go to any moment in time if he wants. OK, so that’s one thing. But here’s the question: it’s like: “Well, why would that happen?” Well let’s look at these two stories. Let’s look at the story of the fall, right? In Genesis chapter three. You have one man and one woman.
And they are both without original sin. So, Jesus isn’t the first person without original sin, and Mary isn’t the first person without original sin. Adam and Eve were made without original sin. Now, Jesus is called the New Adam, right, by St. Paul? So there’s old Adam, Genesis chapter three.
Jesus is called the New Adam. Question: If there’s an old Adam and and old Eve And there’s a New Adam, doesn’t it also make sense that there would be a New Eve? Let’s look at the story. Genesis chapter three: Here’s the woman without a sin, and an angel of light appears to her.
You know, one of the shiny ones, the “hosh” is the Hebrew word, the glistening ones, or the bright ones— Lucifer the light bearer— an angel of light appeared to this woman without original sin, Eve and he speaks words to her that cause her to disbelieve and disobey. she says, “no”
To God and yes to the words that called her to disbelieve and disobey. She takes that disobedience, hands it on to the husband— the man— who then hands that disobedience and death to the whole world. We are all descendants of Adam and Eve; we all inherit that original sin; we all inherit
The disobedience and death. Now that’s the fall team, those two. There was also a redeem team. In Luke’s gospel, what do you have? You have this woman without original sin, Mary and the angel of light Gabriel, appears to her and he speaks words to her that cause her to obey and believe,
To believe and obey. When she says, “yes” to God’s message in that and trusts him she then hands on that obedience to the one conceived in her womb, the man, who then when he says, “yes” to the Father, he hands on life to the whole world so just like the woman
To the man, man to the world of the fall, in the New Testament, the new creation, the redeem team, from the woman to the man, from the man to the world. That’s why Eve is called the mother of all the living; Mary is called the mother of all the redeemed.
Well, why would God have to do that? Why couldn’t he just do it on his own? He could totally do it on his own. God could save the entire world on his own. That’s why St. Augustine had said the God who willed to create you without you is not willing to redeem you
Without you. The God who created you without your permission does not want to redeem you without your consent. This is like the mystery. This is like the way God does things, right? He could do it on his own, but he wants us to work with him.
You think, what was the work that God asked Mary to do? This is remarkable ’cause we believe Mary is like the greatest saint who ever lived. What was the work God asked her to do? Did he ask her to like start a movement, to start an orphanage, to start hospitals, to start schools
To start whatever? No … he just … this is the crazy thing. Some people think that we think Mary is amazing because on her own strength, her own goodness, her own beauty, her own whatever. False, not at all. We believe that all of Mary’s goodness comes from what God did in her life.
It didn’t come from her power or her strength. That all of Mary’s goodness, just like the goodness of any of the saints did not come from her; it came from God had done in her life, and she simply said, “Yes.” Consider this: You will never be asked to do anything more than Mary,
And all she was asked to do was say, “Yes.” So here we are on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. My invitation is this: Say “yes” to God, Regardless of whether you’ve been living like a rockstar, in a good way like a rockstar saint, or like a rockstar not in the best way,
Say “yes” to God today. You cannot go wrong when we say “yes” to God. From all of us here at Ascension Presents, my name is Father Mike. God bless. Dude, I’m just gonna try this. OK so I’ll be able to hold it up like this Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water. Mary, did you know? that your baby boy would save our sons and daughters. DId you know that your baby boy had come to make you new? This child that you delivered would soon deliver you. False. Heresy. Not heresy, technically heresy is the obstinate in public
Opposition to be corrected. It’s just an error and the error is only in one line of the song. It’s a great song, it’s a beautiful song. But, it’s wrong in that sense. Why? Because it says this child that you will deliver will soon deliver you. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception states
That from the very first moment of her conception Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin by the merits of her son’s future life death, and resurrection. So, when the song says, “he will deliver you,” it’s like actually, dude, um that happened like I don’t know fourteen years ago.
Go ahead, and like the song. It’s just the one thing that’s not good. My sister, she’s always like “Why can’t I like that song?” “I love that song.” It’s great. It’s great. It’s fine. It’s just the one line, that’s all I’m saying. That’s all I’m saying. That’s all I’m saying.
That’s all I’m saying.
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