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Catholic sprouts

The daily podcast for Catholic kids that strives to plant seeds of faith.

Hey there, Spouts.

Today is Friday, December 8th, 2023.

Today is also the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

It is a solemnity, a holy day of obligation.

So remember to go to Mass. So we're going to be talking about Mary. It is a solemnity, a holy day of obligation. So remember to go to Mass. So we're going to be talking about Mary, about this feast day. But before we get there, please join me in praying the

family prayer for Advent. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen. God of love, your son, Jesus, is the greatest gift to us.

He is a sign of your love. Help us walk in that love during the weeks of Advent as we wait

and prepare for his coming. We pray this in the name of Jesus, our Savior. Amen. So today is a feast of the

Immaculate Conception of Mary. Now, for years and years, I misunderstood what this feast was about.

This is about Mary being conceived in the womb of her mother, Anne.

Although we will soon be celebrating Christmas, the birth of Jesus, this is not his conception.

We celebrate the conception of Jesus exactly nine months before Christmas on March 25th Feast of the Annunciation. This is Mary's conception.

So just about 170 years ago, which was not that long ago, the Pope at the time declared it to be doctrine that Mary was conceived without original sin, that she was perfect from her very first moment of being

as an embryo in her mother's womb. So why is that important? Well, it's important because we know that

Mary was the vessel, she was the container through which God entered the world.

God is almighty. God is all good, all true. So it makes sense that the perfect container would

have been made to contain the perfect being, God himself. Also, I really love to reflect on the fact that Jesus is God.

He has existed from the beginning of time.

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