I have read the Catechism of the Catholic Church from cover to cover. That’s a good thing. But I also think that I now “know” the Catechism. That’s not such a good thing. Last week I had to dust off my catechism and take it to the Catholic Men in Action group meeting that I was invited to by a friend. Today in adoration I read the next section that we are supposed to read for our meeting tomorrow, and after doing so, I flipped back through the catechism to read about our Blessed Mother’s sinlessness.

As an Evangelical Protestant, few Catholic beliefs incited me more than “Mary’s sinlessness”. I came to accept this belief along with many others when I became convinced of the Catholic Church’s God-given authority. Today God amazed me all over again while pondering this simple statement:

By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long. (493)


I thought about what this meant compared with myself, who has never gone a single day, nor even probably a single waking hour, without sinning (since I reached the age of reason). And yet Mary went her entire life without committing a sin! This truth is so fantastic and awe-inspiring that I know I cannot fathom it nor plumb its depths. The little bit that God has revealed to me is hard enough for me to accept.

Our Blessed Mother lived in the same world we do, with all its temptations and disordered ways, and she thought thoughts and made decisions just like we do every single minute, and yet she always chose to do God’s will and never sin.

Oftentimes I sin and don’t even realize it or realize it a few moments after the fact, especially in my thoughts. One explanation I have for why I sin so much and our Blessed Mother never did is that I underestimate the damage that original sin has done to me. I usually blow off original sin as being washed away at Baptism, which it is, and thus its effects are now completely negated, but the concupisence that is left over from the stain of original sin remains a powerful influence within me. Our Blessed Mother was preserved from this stain and disordered tendency, by the pure grace of God. Just to clarify, I also lived an unrepentant sinful life for many long years, which certainly didn’t help things any.

One day in Heaven, I hope to rest in her arms and feel the warmth of her embrace, and to fully know the eminence that our Father has bestowed upon her. Blessed Mother, pray for us!

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