Someone on Facebook reacted the way I would to this ubiquitous meme:



PLEASE stop referring to the Incarnation of Our Lord as an "unplanned pregnancy." It is simply not true. In fact, this was the most "planned" pregnancy in all of human history!

In Genesis, God prophesies that "I will establish a feud between thee and the woman, between thy offspring and hers; she is to crush thy head, while thou dost lie in ambush at her heels." By referring to "Her seed," God has already spoken of the Virgin Birth because a woman, properly speaking, does not have "seed." The plan was established in the very beginning.

In the seventh chapter of Isaiah, hundreds of years before the Incarnation, we are given this prophecy: "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Again ... the prophecy recalls the plan established in the protoevangelium. This was not an "unplanned" pregnancy!

Even in the text of the Annunciation, we see completely that the plan was explained to the Blessed Virgin, who consented to the plan.

From Luke 1:26-38

When the sixth month came, God sent the angel Gabriel to a city of Galilee called Nazareth, 27 where a virgin dwelt, betrothed to a man of David’s lineage; his name was Joseph, and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 Into her presence the angel came, and said, Hail, thou who art full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women.[4] 29 She was much perplexed at hearing him speak so, and cast about in her mind, what she was to make of such a greeting. 30 Then the angel said to her, Mary, do not be afraid; thou hast found favour in the sight of God. 31 And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call him Jesus. 32 He shall be great, and men will know him for the Son of the most High; the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob eternally; 33 his kingdom shall never have an end. 34 But Mary said to the angel, How can that be, since I have no knowledge of man? 35 And the angel answered her, The Holy Spirit will come upon thee, and the power of the most High will overshadow thee. Thus this holy offspring of thine shall be known for the Son of God. 36 See, moreover, how it fares with thy cousin Elizabeth; she is old, yet she too has conceived a son; she who was reproached with barrenness is now in her sixth month, 37 to prove that nothing can be impossible with God. 38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be unto me according to thy word. And with that the angel left her.

It is completely wrong to refer to the Incarnation as an "unplanned pregnancy". It is untrue, it is bad theology, and it reduces the pinnacle of all salvation history to a suggested "mistake." Please, stop referring to the Virgin Birth in this manner.

May you have a blessed and grace-filled Advent!

It's worse than stupid, Matthew.  It's blasphemous.  That language of "unplanned pregnancy" typically connotes fornication.  So they're making an analogy between Our Lord's birth and children conceived out of wedlock through fornication.

Yes -- that is what I usually say when criticizing this. The person who wrote the above post didn't go that far -- but I would have.

They're trying to make fornication seem not as bad. They're trying to glorify the "single mom" which is disgusting. And yes, it's certainly blasphemous. (NOTA BENE: When I criticize "single moms", I'm criticizing the great majority of them -- who conceived their babies in fornication/while unmarried. I'm not speaking of the handful of women who were lawfully married and then at some point their husbands ran off on them, leaving them with 1 or more children to raise.)

The proof is simple. Talk about an "unplanned pregnancy" -- what do you think of? What do people usually refer to? They refer to women who conceived while they weren't ready -- i.e., they weren't married yet, they are still in school, etc. It's a euphemism for "unWANTED or unDESIRED" pregnancy.

Found it!

 :barf:

The Remnant Newspaper
And You Think You've Got Troubles?
Written by Renée S. Henning
May 2015

I know of a family whose life reads like a soap opera.  The mother got pregnant out of wedlock.  At the time, she was in her early teens and from a highly religious family.  She tried to explain why she had gotten pregnant, but it was very hard for her shocked family to accept.  Ultimately, the teenager did get married, but not to the father of her child.

The man she was to marry knew he was not the father of her baby.  After wrestling with the problem, he decided to stand by her in her time of need as a husband.  He figured he could get a divorce later.  Somehow the couple did make a go of their marriage, even though they had no love life worth writing about.

The husband, a kind man, adopted her baby boy as his own.  While he and his wife had hoped for a larger family, they were disappointed.  They never had another child.  The husband, a blue-collar worker, worked hard at manual labor to support his family.  Never rich, he was sometimes out of work and generally short of cash.

This family has to be classified as dysfunctional.  The family remained homeless and without regular employment for an extended period beginning at about the time of the baby’s birth.  None of the young couple’s relatives stepped forward to help out during this rocky period.  Trying to find better prospects for the child, the family emigrated and settled down to a new life in a foreign country.  Later the family returned to its homeland to start over again.

Sometime after the boy turned twelve, the father died.  With his death, the mother lost her husband, the son lost his father, and the family lost its chief breadwinner.  In a way, it may be just as well that the father did not live to witness firsthand some of the horrible things that later happened to his beloved son.

This child conceived out of wedlock brought his mother a lot of grief.  She had expected great things of her only child and had hoped he would take after his eminent biological father.  In fact, the boy did exhibit scholastic promise as an adolescent.  However, he began to associate with the dregs of society.  One of the people of ill repute whom he befriended was a woman known for her loose morals.

The young man showed no interest in getting married or finding a high-salaried job.  In fact, he never married, leaving his mother without any grandchildren.  Moreover, instead of working to support his widowed mother, he went for years without a paying job, often living off the charity of others.

As if the son’s friends were not bad enough, his enemies were worse.  The son had numerous enemies.  His worst enemy was a homicidal maniac willing to kill anyone who stood in his way.  This mass murderer sent paid assassins out searching for the son.  As a result, the whole family at one point had to flee into hiding.

The son in his lifetime was considered a troublemaker and a rabble-rouser.  He created a lot of turmoil.  Often accused of wrongdoing, he ultimately was tried for a serious crime and found guilty.  He was sentenced (to death) and imprisoned.  While in custody, he was tortured.

At the time of the son’s troubles, his so-called “friends” deserted him.  One of his closest friends turned informer to the authorities; another of his closest friends pretended not to know him, to avoid getting involved.  At one point there was hope for a pardon for the son.  Unfortunately, the hope fell through, and the son was executed.

At the time of the execution, his mother, who saw him die, was only in her forties.  The poor woman, who never remarried, was left to face her old age without any spouse, any child, any grandchild, any job, and any pension.  Really, when you think of what Mary, Joseph, and Jesus went through, it makes you marvel at how the Holy Family survived.

In times of trouble, it is comforting to remember that the Holy Family had to endure scandal, teenage pregnancy, unemployment, poverty, homelessness, fear, a death threat, immigrant life among strangers far from home, celibacy, misunderstanding, dependency on charity, the disloyalty of friends, the hatred of enemies, false accusations, imprisonment, torture, mockery, execution, loneliness, the death of dreams, the death of a spouse, the death of a parent, the death of a child, and more.

The range and immensity of the Holy Family’s suffering help make our own crosses look lighter.  Furthermore, at the death of a loved one and other times of heartache, it is comforting to know that the Holy Family truly understands.

Quote from: Caraffa

The Remnant tried running a piece on it's website last year starting that the Virgin Mary was "pregnant out of wedlock".

 

 

Unbelievable!