RajahJun

Christmas day is just around the corner. It's the time of gift-giving and being with family and friends. Though the pandemic has limited the enjoyment of that special day, we find ways to celebrate it despite the prevailing situation. For Christians all over the world, Christmas day is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a celebration of hope. It also reminds us of God's unconditional love by offering a sure-fire way to finally redeem mankind from sin once and for all. That is through his son Jesus. We all know that God sent his son to be with us and to show us the way to redemption. Matthew wrote in one of the verses in his gospel (Matthew  1:22) about a fulfillment of a prophecy of a virgin who will be with a child and will give birth to a son and they will call him Immanuel - which means "God with us." Matthew mentioned a virgin who is Mary the mother of Jesus. She played a big part in our redemption and our Christmas day celebration today. If she h...

In the Catholic tradition, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary every year on December 8. That yearly celebration reminds us that Mary was conceived without sin. Though Mary had ordinary human parents who conceived her in the usual way, God had already redeemed Mary from original sin the moment her parents conceived her.   That kind of redemption from original sin that Mary had is the same kind of redemption that Jesus would giving to everyone when he grew up to be a man. Mary had received it earlier because she would be playing the crucial role as the biological mother of God. In Luke 1: 26 -28, the verses strongly suggest that Mary had received that kind of redemption ahead of time. As a Catholic myself, I have mistakenly thought that the Immaculate Conception celebration was about Mary's conception and virgin birth of Jesus. I have studied in Catholic schools in my young life and I guess I did not pay attention when that doctrine was being taught during Religion c...