why do catholics celebrate it just a few weeks before the birth of Christ? confusing!!
2007-12-19 03:42:47 · 20 answers · asked by Nose U 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Because the Immaculate Conception is about MARY'S conception and birth, NOT JESUS'S
2007-12-19 03:45:17 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 15⤊ 1⤋
Immaculate Conception is for Mary not Christ. It is believed by the Catholic Church that Mary is the only human born without sin.
2007-12-19 03:46:38 · answer #2 · answered by s. grant 4 · 6⤊ 0⤋
I'll do you ONE BETTER. If we start time/years as BC (before Christ) and AD (after death).. then what do we call the 33 years in between? eh? never thought of that, hey Sparky?
If Jesus was born on 12/25.. then why does a year start on Jan 1st? (where's that last week, gone to? with the B.C. stuff?)
Who says Christ was born on Dec. 25th? Do you realize that the Roman calendar we use, wasn't used when Jesus was born...?
The celebration is about the Virgin Mary being called to become the human mother of god. The birth of Jesus is another great day for celebration...
The actual dates that WE celebrate were set along the way, by the Church and for traditional acknowledgement... basically, we NEED a date.... and in the USA, Christmas as a celebration only started about 150 years ago... as a combination of a few celebrations, and because it's in the DEAD of Winter across northern Europe and northern America (where most of the USA residents lived, back 150 years ago!!!).
2007-12-19 03:45:28 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
It is the conception of Mary, not Jesus, which is celebrated on March 25th as the Annunciation. The ancient Church held that Mary was sinless, panagia in koine Greek, based upon the use of kecharitomene in Luke's Gospel. The angel addressed her "Hail O Full of Grace!" This is before Jesus was conceived, and used the past perfect participle form of charitoo. For Luke's word choice to have meaning, Mary must be like Eve before the forbidden fruit, and hence be sinless from the beginning. Hence, when you see Marian imagery in Revelations and in the Assumption/Ressurection of Mary stories you have a rationale. Because of the use of kecharitomene, she had held the fullness of grace always from her conception. This does not limit her ability to sin after the conception of Jesus, she was free to do this as Eve was, but the ancient idea was that she did not and was taken to Heaven at the end of her days. This is attested to in stories handed down all around the world, even among Christian groups isolated from the rest of Christianity for over 1000 years.
When the Portuguese arrived in India to Christianize it, they found the Thomas Christians there already saying the Mass just as Thomas had left it. According to the Thomas Christians, Thomas was sent by Mary after her Resurrection east to what is now India. He founded churches along the way and I believe his tomb is in Kerala.
2007-12-19 04:00:11 · answer #4 · answered by OPM 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because the Immaculate Conception does not refer to the birth of Jesus. The Immaculate Conception refers to how we believe that the Virgin Mary, through the gift and grace of God, was preserved from the stain of original sin from the first moment of her conception. Why it is celebrated on December 8th, I don't know. I just know what the Feast celebrates.
2007-12-19 03:51:55 · answer #5 · answered by GemmaRose 2 · 5⤊ 3⤋
Father K is spot on. The Immaculate Conception is Anne's conception of Mary, not Mary's conception of Jesus.
2007-12-19 03:55:00 · answer #6 · answered by Phoenix: Princess of Cupcakes 6 · 4⤊ 1⤋
The Immaculate conceptions I believe happened during Hanukkah. Yeshua's birth was in the fall during the Feast of Tabernacles.
2007-12-19 03:49:02 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
the only thing immaculate about jesus conception and birth is the whitewashing of mary's impregnation by a roman soldier so her husband could save face. this is such a tired vehicle of the ancient world. there are SIXTEEN virgin births recorded in history and a town in greece BANNED the "excuse" when it became apparent that the god's were not actually impregnating all the women in the town instead of their husbands.
i'm sorry, but you christians are such chumps! you really are...
2007-12-19 04:00:42 · answer #8 · answered by darwinman 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Why is it confusing. Immaculate conception refers to the conception of Mary, Jesus' mother, not Jesus.
2007-12-19 03:46:23 · answer #9 · answered by osborne_pkg 5 · 7⤊ 0⤋
The "Immaculate Conception" refers to the conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is when Mary's mother became pregnant with Mary, not when Mary became pregnant with Jesus.
2007-12-19 03:51:07 · answer #10 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋