Immaculate Conception

 I was trolling through radio stations in my car the other day looking for Christmas music. I wasn't having much luck when I stopped at a Christian station.  The preacher was speaking about Advent and the coming of Christmas.  I listened for a bit.  That was until I got to the part where the preacher was telling the audience that Mary was just like us.  He said she was a sinner born with original sin and sinning throughout her life.

I moved on to another station.  The preacher was not Catholic, clearly.  He didn't know the story that we believe about Mary.  Mary was born without sin, conceived without sin.  That is what this feast day is--The Immaculate Conception of Mary.  So many people, even Catholics, confuse this as Jesus' conception without sin. But, we believe that His mother was also conceived without sin.  This was so she could be a worthy vessel to bring forth God.  It makes sense. It is what we believe.

This is one of those cases where I could probably not have cited all the scriptural references to convince that preacher.  But, I know that they are there.  I have heard preaching about this belief and I am convinced.  It is what we believe.

So, remember when you go to church today and sing "Immaculate Mary" that it is about her conception and sinless state. She said Yes to God in a big way.  That is why she is our spiritual mother.

Empty Places

 Since the pandemic began there have been a great number of empty places in my life. These were places that I went shopping or planned travel or visited with friends in my past life.  Now there are a lot of Zoom meetings and filling time taking care of sorting things or sewing or mulling over past mistakes. There are empty places.

After the Resurrection Simon Peter went fishing.  He wasn't fishing for men or being the rock upon which the church was built.  He was back at his old profession, fisherman.  Perhaps he was sorting things out or clearing his head. Perhaps he didn't know where to begin on the mission Christ gave him. The disciples went with him, fishing.  They caught nothing.  The had empty nets, an empty place.  Christ appeared and told them to lower nets on the right side.  They caught a lot of fish.  Christ filled the empty places.  So, instead of setting up a great fishing monopoly on the Sea of Galilee, they left the nets and followed Christ's call.  I recently heard a talk about how there had to be the empty nets, the empty place so that Christ could fill it. If the nets had been full, there would have been no room for Christ.  We need empty nets.  We need empty places.

I have empty places now.  My nets are empty.  But only in some ways because my life has gotten a lot busier lately. Still there is an empty-ness that wasn't there before the pandemic.  I have empty places.  I am waiting for Christ's call to fill those empty places.  I wait.