12/8/18: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception: Why it is Necessary for Mary to be Sinless

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, first and foremost, does not refer to the virginal conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary, as many presume. It refers to the conception of Mary in the womb of her mother (traditionally called "St. Anne"). Mary was preserved at the moment of her conception from the disease that the rest of us inherited at our own conception: Original sin. While some question why it matters either or way or presume that this teaching was the arbitrary idea of a Pope who decided to impose this belief upon Catholics, the idea comes from the Scriptures and the Church Fathers who interpreted the Scriptures and was the subject of Christian conviction for many centuries prior to the doctrinal declaration in 1854. In this homily we talk about why it does matter that Mary was sinless and why it needed to be this way.