What about the Immaculate Conception?

The Catholic Church has declared it an essential doctrine of faith to believe that the Virgin Mary was herself conceived without sin, so as to be able to bear Jesus without passing on humanity's original sin. This is the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. They say that it was necessary to back up one generation to single out one woman to be born special, to be chosen for the Mother of God. The reasoning, however, seems a bit flawed. Perhaps, it might have been better to allow us the freedom to figure this out on our own. Let's take a look and see. 

If Mary was not originally "immaculate," then God would have had to intervene to prevent Jesus from inheriting original sin. Surely, the Messiah, Son of the Living God, could never be born with original sin. That would have invalidated his sacrifice for our sins. Only a sacrifice without blemish could possibly make the necessary atonement. Mary had to be without sin in order to bear the Son of God, and that includes even original sin. The enormous significance of this event clearly demands it. 

But what human woman could ever be herself without sin, much less be free from original sin? After all, it was a woman who listened to temptation and ate of the forbidden fruit. It was the first woman, Eve, who caused us all to bear the stain of original sin. But Adonai is omnipotent, isn't He? So, what stops the Holy Spirit from removing the stain from Mary, along with any other sin (presumably venial), at the moment when she consented to conceive? He is eternal, so all time is present before Him to manipulate if He chooses.

If God thus performed such a retroactive miracle to cleanse Mary, then Jesus could be conceived without sin as required. And if Mary never sinned after Jesus' birth, it could also be that the same cleansing would have strengthened her free will and reset her inclinations to desire only the good. It only makes perfect sense that she would be the best mother to our Lord as He was growing up under her care.

It just seems like a pointless overstatement to declare that Mary was first conceived to be immaculate. It begs the question of why she didn't get the stain from her mother. It also implies that the Holy Spirit spent centuries searching for the right girl to choose. He was going to have to do a miracle anyway. Rather, in his own right time, He finds the girl with the right bloodline, and poses the critical question: "Are you willing?" When she accepts, the perfect cleansing is performed. Simple.

Oh! How I would wish that the Holy Spirit would do such a miracle for us! Cleanse us at our baptism (or confirmation) to allow us to consistently recoil from temptation and sin. But then, that would vindicate Pelagius and condemn the rest of us. Instead, we need a continuous condescension of grace to forgive the sins we do not avoid, for whatever reasons, and to bring us back to a proper relationship with God. We may amend and improve our behavior, bit by bit as we grow older, but we never quite rid ourselves of the inclination to sin. We have to trust that Jesus' sacrifice will suffice. Perhaps, in the Millennial Kingdom, we may be gifted with both a resurrected body and a rectified inclination that chooses the good. 

Obviously, I agree that Mary needed to be sinless in order to conceive by the Holy Spirit. Our Lord had to be born without sin, and to live without sinning. If the Son of Man, being divine, could not live on Earth without sin, then Satan wins the argument. Mankind isn't able to be worthy of Heaven. But Jesus did manage to beat Satan and resist temptation. And He did go to the cross willingly to die as a sacrifice for our sins. He shed his blood so that He could give us his righteousness. 

Of course, He knew He would rise again, but his flesh didn't know that. Still, if Jesus had had to bear the stain of original sin, and the broken inclination that misaligns our free will, it would have been a much more formidable challenge for Him to live without sin up through the day of his Crucifixion. Even God didn't want to risk that much. It was enough that He had to become a mere human, when He was God walking among us. God had to exercise grace and mercy as never before to take on the mission of being our Messiah, and He earned his place to be our King for 1,000 years. 

We can now look forward to the days when we shall see Jesus' Mother as Queen beside his throne. Mary is also our mother, just as Jesus asked the beloved disciple, John, to care for her as He hung on the cross. Her place is assured by miracles, bestowed according to her humility and acquiescence to the divine will, and we know that she lived in the light of his grace all the days of her life. It just doesn't make logical sense to declare that God was waiting, looking for a girl who would be born without original sin, when He could fix that all at the same time when He covered her with his Holy Spirit. 

Hail Mary, full of grace! Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.