THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION : THE ENTRANCE INTO THE INCARNATION.........

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, commemorates an essential occurrence in the course of salvation history. When God the Father decided to send His only begotten Son into the world Emmanuel, God With Us, and the Redeemer of Humankind, the Heavenly Father chose a woman, Mary of Nazareth, a virgin to become the mother of Jesus, His Son. To assure her undeniable holiness and immaculate state of life, Mary was conceived free from sin, to be the most worthy vessel to bear the Son of God. Thus we as Catholic-Christians believe in the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which has a long held heritage in the Church, originating in the 7th Century,as the feast of the,"Conception of Mary by St. Anne". Pope Clement VI, established the feast as a solemnity for the universal Church, in 1708. The Bishops of the United States of America adopted the Immaculate Conception as the patronal national solemnity and the Blessed Virgin Mary by that title, as our patroness in 1846, eight years before Pope Pius IX, declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Today's liturgical Scriptures contrast in the First Reading from Genesis and the Gospel Proclamation from Luke, the consequences of sin as Adam and Eve are disobedient to God's command in Genesis; and Mary responding obediently to the graced moment of being invited by God to cooperate with the Divine for the redemption of humankind. Immaculate Conception Parish in Sacramento's Oak Park area is celebrating it's 100th Anniversary today, with a special Centennial Mass tonight at 7 pm. Msgr. Kavanagh and I were planning to attend the Centennial Mass together. However, he is still in Ireland with his family and I am celebrating the 7:30 pm Mass at St. Rose's in his absence, instead. So Happy Centennial Immaculate Conception Parish !!!!!!!!!! I have happy childhood memories of Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals, and occasional Sunday Masses there, as many of my Portuguese cousins have lived in the parish from its earliest years.........Peace + Prayers through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Conceived without Sin for Our Salvation, Fr. Troy