{"id":142670,"date":"2024-12-08T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T11:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/?p=142670"},"modified":"2024-12-08T06:00:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-08T11:00:27","slug":"the-immaculate-conception-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/the-immaculate-conception-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Mac,<\/span><\/p>\n

It seems that you have been spending so much time trying to convert your Protestant friends that you have begun to think like them on certain matters. \u00a0To stop praying the rosary because it is \u201cnot an absolute requirement of our faith, and besides it\u2019s just plain boring\u201d is a bad sign, a very bad sign indeed. \u00a0Need I remind you that the rosary has been a fruitful devotion for Catholics of every rank and class (brilliant theologians, ignorant peasants, popes, missionaries, professors, housekeepers, hermits, orphans, and, yes, even college students) for a thousand years? \u00a0Admittedly, no one claims that it is a requirement for salvation, but need you to dismiss so vast an assembly that witnesses to its effectiveness in drawing us ever closer to our Lord? That\u2019s what devotion to Mary, in general, is all about you know.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take today\u2019s feast, for instance, which commemorates both the conception of Mary in her mother\u2019s womb and the dogma (officially defined in 1854, after being believed and celebrated by the whole Church for centuries) explaining that that conception was \u201cimmaculate.\u201d \u00a0It was in order to be a fitting tabernacle for God\u2019s incarnate Word that Mary was preserved from the slightest tinge of original sin even from the moment of her conception. This meant that her heart was completely free from any innate selfishness, any inherent tendency to sin \u2013 she, unlike anyone since Adam and Eve, was <\/span>completely free<\/span> to love God with an undivided love, to respond to him with her whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. \u00a0No internal divisions inhibited her total self-giving to the Lord. And ever since she was made the mother of the Church and mother of all Christians (see John 19), she has borne that same untrammeled love for each one of Jesus\u2019 brothers and sisters \u2013 that includes you and me. \u00a0She loves each of us with the tenderness and attention of the most devoted mother, but without any of the insecurity or possessiveness, that original sin tends to inject into most motherly love. Therefore, all her prayers and hopes for us have to do with bringing us into closer communion with her Son, the one Savior, who alone can give happiness and meaning to our lives. \u00a0Jesus didn\u2019t have to come to earth through Mary; he chose to. And he continues to come to us through her: he is the New Adam, and she is the New Eve; in them, mankind, created \u201cmale and female\u201d in the \u201cimage and likeness of God\u201d has already achieved its glorious destiny. It remains for us to join them \u2013 if we are willing to do so on their terms.<\/span><\/p>\n

So you see, my ornery nephew, Mary is not an obstacle to friendship with Christ; she is the Queen Mother who glories in bringing sinners to the throne of grace. \u00a0Keep that in mind, will you? Especially today, which happens to be the Patron feast of the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n

Your loving uncle, Eddy<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear Mac, It seems that you have been spending so much time trying to convert your Protestant friends that you have begun to think like them on certain matters. \u00a0To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary - 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He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 and earned his doctorate in moral theology in 2010. He provided spiritual support on the set of Mel Gibson\u2019s\u00a0The Passion of the Christ\u00a0while researching the 2005 Catholic best seller,\u00a0Inside the Passion, the only authorized, behind-the-scenes explanation of the film. Fr. John has contributed news commentary regarding religious issues on NBC, CNN, Fox, and the BBC. He also served as the English-language press liaison for the Vatican\u2019s 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. His most widely known books are The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer and 60 Days to Becoming a Missionary Disciple. His most recent book is\u00a0Spiritual But Not Religious: The Search for Meaning in a Material World. Fr. John resides in Atlanta and serves as Territorial Vicar for the Legionaries of Christ. See all books, Regnum Christi Essays, Retreat Guides, posts, and online classes from Fr. John Bartunek, LC.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/jbartunek\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/359"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142670"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=142670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}