Ben Stein is one of my favorites. The man who stole the show in ’80s movie classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (the teacher who repeated in his monotone, “Bueller? Bueller?”) and constant TV ad pitchman truly is a Renaissance man: actor, writer, presidential advisor, comic, securities lawyer, economist, professor, conservative thinker and pro-life supporter, among many other things, and an incredibly smart man. So smart, in fact, he even hosted his own game show in the late 1990s called Win Ben Stein’s Money, where winning contestants won his paycheck for each show in which they answered more questions correctly than he. That’s how confidently intelligent Mr. Stein is.
Once, Mr. Stein lost, in part, by getting the meaning of The Immaculate Conception wrong (see Jennifer Hartline of Catholic Online). He was adamant that the Holy Day celebrated the conception of Christ into the Blessed Virgin Mary’s womb. He’s not alone. Most non-Christians, protestants and Catholics themselves think this. I’ve even had Catholics tell me tell me they were taught this in their formation! What else could it mean, after all, if Jesus was conceived not by man and woman but by the Holy Spirit through Mary? Ask most any Catholic and they will tell you this feast day celebrates the Lord’s conception.
For those who attended Mass yesterday, you should know. Still, it is important that we, as Catholics, understand what the Feast Day is about so as to not let misunderstandings undermine the Faith from within — Catholics trying to explain something to non-Catholics that isn’t correct to begin with — and to correct those misunderstandings by those of other faiths who think they know what we believe, and use this incorrect understanding in an attempt to misguide others about Catholicism.
In short, the Feast of The Immaculate Conception (see Catholic Encyclopedia) is the belief that in order for Christ to come into the world, He of no sin, would have to born without original sin. For that to happen, his parents would have to be free of original sin. God, the Father, of course is, but his human mother would have to be as well. Thus, Mary, at her conception and birth, was blessed by God to have been born without original sin, the only human to be born so.
That is the Feast of The Immaculate Conception. Next question, Ben.
