Our Lady of Ashes

  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. AMEN A reading from the book of Genesis. “ God said: Let us make* human beings in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth. God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female* he created them. And God blessed them … And The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. The LORD God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.* Then the LORD God said: It is not good for the man to be alone ... That communion of humanity is meant to reflect the Divine Communion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that is LOVE. God is love, an interpen...

  Here was something I wrote (warning: it's long) for a friend who had someone challenge her on Mary's Immaculate Conception and sinlessness. Her friend's challenge came from citing Romans 3:23, so the first part addresses that, then the rest goes into the Biblical confirmation of Mary's sinlessness: ______________________________ _____________________________ So, there's no short way to answer this. First we have to look at the Romans 3:23 passage "all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God." ( NAB ), and then we look at Scriptural references to Mary's sinlessness.  First regarding the passage your friend quoted you could, in turn, point out Hebrews 4:15 which says, in reference to Jesus, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin." So, looking back at Romans, not EVERYONE has sinned, otherwise you'd have to include Jesus...