Sharing – An Alternate View of the Immaculate Conception

December 7, 2023 / kredig

Friday, December 8, is, according to the official Catholic church calendar, a holy day of obligation, meaning a day, if you are into, “obligations,” that you must attend Mass. Let’s look at why this holy day was established in the first place.

It wasn’t until 1858 that this “feast” was established and why was that? To completely answer this, we need to go back to the garden. Until our first parents sinned, they supposedly possessed, infused knowledge, absence of concupiscence, (in other words, all appetites under control) and bodily immortality (preternatural gifts). In other words, “they walked with God.”

After the sinning, according to the story, we would live with pain, know shame, and eventually die. This is of course, a simplified version, but in essence, to be human meant that we “became,” or are, “imperfect.” It was into this “imperfection” that Jesus/God chose to become One-With-Us. So why this feast of the Immaculate Conception?

As we all know, this Marian feast states that Mary of Nazareth was conceived without the “stain of sin”—the rest of us, the Church men say, carry the stain of “original sin,” “acquired” because of the “sin” of our first parents.

There was a time, even as far back as Aristotle, when it was thought that women’s place in the creation of new life was merely as a “receptacle” for that life to grow. Over time it was realized that women supplied ½ of the chromosomes for new life, and in 1858, Pius IX decided, in order to keep Jesus, the “Savior” free from sin, Mary would “need” to have been conceived without original sin, and unwittingly, in so doing, he essentially declared that Mary was not human, and therefore, neither was Jesus.

At this point, it is important to interject that the biblical sources we have were, as Sister Sandra Schneiders says, “written by men, for men, and about men” to, I would say, “control the story.”

So, what do we have so far? God created us, supposedly perfect at one point—we chose not to follow God’s ways in the garden, “sinned,” and were thrown out of the garden to walk through life in pain, suffering, shame for our sinfulness, and eventually, experience physical death.

So, when God, who made us imperfectly—because we were able to sin, chose to “save us,” by becoming one of us in Jesus, the church men decided that God, in Jesus, wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the “original sin” all of us now “acquire” at birth, so the receptacle must be free of sin—stain—thus the “Immaculate Conception!”

Here is a possible alternate story, to that most confusing, “crazy-making” one: Our loving God, Jesus’ God of the Prodigal and the Good Shepherd, gifted us with life/humanity, which is an imperfect state, meaning simply, that we don’t always get it right—we sin. Our loving God, who is always “chasing after us” (from biblical translation, The Message) realized that we needed an example of how to live out our gift of humanity in a better way than we had been doing—enter Jesus.

We say in our Catholic catechism that Jesus was, and is, fully God and fully human. This is a mystery that we take on faith, and if this is to be so, then the human part has to come from Jesus’ human mother, Mary. But if, as the church fathers say, she is without sin, then she simply isn’t human, because “humanity” means to be “imperfect.”

Why is it so hard for us humans, who try to be religious, more so in our hierarchical men, to simply see a God who loves us beyond all imagining, and One who would go to any extreme—even co-existing with sinners to make that abundantly clear? I would say that when we move too much out of our heads, instead of our hearts, we come to such an end.

Therefore friends, as in the past, we won’t be meeting for Mass on Friday. Might I suggest that you instead reflect on the Mary of the Magnificat who said her mighty, faith-filled “yes” to God and gave to the world, her Son, human and divine, who would become the Christ, a fine example for all of us to follow.

Sharing – Thoughts on the Eucharist via Zoom

July 22, 2020 / kredig

My dear friends,

On this Sunday, July 26, 2020 at 10 A.M., CDT, we will, as a community, have, for the first time, the opportunity for a Mass through the technology of Zoom! Our board met successfully last evening through this format and it was so good to “see” each other again!

These are new times that call for new ways of being Church and community–something we have been talking about during this time of pandemic. I realize that many have already used Zoom for other meetings and gatherings, so this should be very easy for you. Some may not have yet done this, so it will be something new, but because of the good prep work of my son-in-law, Adam, who will be standing by on Sunday; I think this will be a good experience for all of us who can join in.

This first Mass on Zoom will be a celebration of Mary of Magdala (feast day, July 22) and of all women, recognizing our loving God’s intention, as exemplified so well in our brother Jesus’ earthly life of inclusion of all, that we are, women and men, equally called to serve as ministers at the altar.

As I pondered how to best do this Mass, knowing that only a few, (my personal family) will be present in the room with me to receive the Eucharistic bread; I am extending an invitation to you who join us on Sunday to participate in a special way, new to all of us, but one that other women priests have been using in their Zoom liturgies.

Those of you who are part of our Winona, All Are One community, know that I always invite you to pray the Eucharistic Prayer with me including the words of institution–” This is my body…this is my blood. I humbly remind you that I have the privilege of being the presider, but you all are celebrants with me and together, through the words and our faith, we make Jesus present. During this time of pandemic, in the absence of the physical bread, I have reminded us that Jesus is always with us and that we are being called to experience his presence in a different way.

So now my friends, again we have a new opportunity and your participation, that I spoke of above, in a special way, is my invitation to you, if you wish, to bring your own bread and wine, or grape juice to the Zoom Liturgy and when we all say the words together, in our faith, Jesus will be present in the bread and wine of our “collective altars.” This is what we do in our Masses at Lutheran Campus Center as you exercise your “priesthood of the faithful.”

I realize that this might feel strange to some of you, but the only difference is that we won’t be in the same room and I believe that the Spirit can make the leap!

Hopefully this makes sense and can rest easily on your hearts. I shared this plan with the board last evening and they were in agreement to proceed. And again, if you are uncomfortable with this plan, please know that it is an invitation and is totally up to you to decide what you want to do.

If you have questions or concerns, please be in contact and we can talk. aaorcc2008@gmail.com or 507-429-3616.

I will send the link for the Sunday Zoom Mass plus some written material for your participation in a few days,

Love and peace,

Pastor Kathy