Mary

Today is the day Catholics honors the "immaculate conception," which is not in reference to the birth of Jesus.  It is based on the supposition, not shared by many Christians and probably confusingly understood by some Catholics, that Mary herself was born without original sin.  This to me would cheapen things a bit, since her strength of character is underlined if she was just like the rest of us, inclined from birth to "sin," or act against God's will (actual or symbolically understood).

Her acceptance of destiny also becomes less profound.

The Gospel of Luke notes:

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.  The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.  You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,  and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[c] the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

The whole account has a mystical quality that "fulfills" a biblical prophecy that appears to have concerned something else, including a quite normal birth.  Still, it is interesting to examine what is happening here.  For instance, note how Mary, who is about thirteen here, is informed beforehand by a messenger from God.  The matter is not just thrust upon her without warning.  She also consents to her role.  The event here (called the "annunciation" or announcement) can be seen as a symbolic acceptance and/or understanding of her role. The angel can be seen as symbolic -- ultimately, it can be a matter of faith on Mary's part, a personal religious experience.

Only time would tell if it was true or a mistaken confusion of a naive teenager.  The account was written long after the events, even if we take it as fact, based on oral statements perhaps given decades later.  Given the two birth narratives (Matthew and Luke) conflict, as do all the gospels on various details of Jesus' life, the exact details are unclear.  A mistranslation of "virgin" or using one version of the assumed truth so that the prophecy would be fulfilled could lead to an account that did not exactly happen quite that way.  Who is to say that an "illegitimate" pregnancy would not be used for God's purposes?  The Bible has many accounts, including involved assumed ancestors of Jesus, where questionable events (including tricking a father-in-law to conceive a child) furthered God's plan.

A book considered the death penalty by looking at Jesus' own execution,* in part since Jesus said that the least among us (including prisoners) should be treated as one would treat Jesus himself.  Imagine if Mary is seen as the seminal teen mother? Singling her out as having no original sin, like the idea of a perfect God who accepts the state of the world, does not really work for me.  But, what do I know?


I just share a name with St. Joseph, after all. 

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* Jesus on Death Row: The Trial of Jesus and American Capital Punishment by Mark Osler