Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today's Mass Readings
Today is an important day in the liturgical calendar of the Church. We celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is a Solemnity (the highest feast of the Church) and a holy day of obligation for us. To be clear, this feast does NOT celebrate the conception of Jesus, but rather the conception of Mary. Hence, in good liturgical and biological fashion, we find this feast situated exactly nine months prior to the feast of the Nativity of Mary, which is celebrated on September 8th. Yet it is a wonderful celebration for us to have in the midst of this Advent season. In celebrating Mary’s conception, which was free from original sin, we celebrate the truly free choice made by Mary when she agreed to carry in her womb God-incarnate, God-with-us. In other words, Mary’s sinless state prevented her from being influenced by selfish motives in her responding to God’s will for her life. Hence our gospel reading of the annunciation in Luke contrasts with today’s first reading.
In the selection from Genesis we encounter a passage that is all-too-familiar to us, namely, the story of Adam and Eve after they have eaten of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. This first sin by Adam and Eve was both a sin of omission and a sin of commission. Adam, who was called upon to protect the garden, and who knew that they were not allowed to eat of this particular tree, nevertheless left the tree and his wife unprotected to the invasion of the serpent. Eve, in taking the fruit and in giving it to her husband exercised her free will in listening to the serpent and following his direction. Hence Adam sinned by NOT doing his duty of protection, and Eve sinned by actively partaking of the fruit and sharing it with her husband. Both sins were choices against God and indicate a sort of lack of trust in God’s good intentions for them.
In Mary’s encounter with the angel Gabriel, we find her alone as Eve was, rather than with her betrothed husband Joseph. Once again, a woman is called upon to make a choice. Like Eve, Mary is sinless, and hence her choice is also an exercise of her own truly free will – a free will uncorrupted by sin. In Mary’s statement, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38), we find the beginning of our redemption as Jesus begins to grow in her womb.
Hence there is much to celebrate about Mary’s conception free from original sin. It was a blessing extended to Mary through which we all were blessed. Although the dogmatic articulation of Mary’s Immaculate Conception was defined relatively late, in 1854, it was a long-standing tradition of the Church. Mary the Immaculate Conception was recognized as patroness of the United States in 1846, and is the patroness of our church which bears her namesake.
On this day, let us take some time to meditate on the great mystery of our salvation, which was made possible by the great blessing of Mary’s own Immaculate Conception. Let us pray that, like Mary, we may say yes to God’s will in every instance and seek to be God’s servant in every action of our lives. It is in doing God’s will that we will find ourselves truly free.
- Maria Morrow