Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Anticipation. Advent is the season of anticipation and today we celebrate one of the greatest fests of anticipation. In anticipation of her role as Jesus' mother, we believe that God preserved Mary from Original sin and safeguarded her from personal sin. This is a feast that I find myself thinking about frequently, not just because our parish is Immaculate Conception, but it is a belief that raises a lot of questions from Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Here are two of my musings.
The first relates to the debate regarding free will and predestination. In some parts of Christianity this debate is fierce and entrenched. As we consider this feast we are presented with a beautiful both... and... We see in Mary that God always moves first. There is nowhere that God does not beat us. Whether it is in our own journey or in sharing the Gospel with someone else, we should always remember that God acts first! Additionally, we see that God acts so that we may act. Mary was chosen to choose. God said yes to her so that she could say yes to Jesus. This is true of us as well. We are chosen so that we may choose. But choose what?
There in lies the second musing. We've all heard the cliche "to err is human." In Jesus we begin to doubt that, but can easily write him off as the exception. With Mary, God presents us with a second example to encourage us that we are never more fully human than when we don't sin and that sinlessness will be real for us. Even if we never experience it for long in this life, we believe in an eternity of sinlessness. We believe in a eternity where love is true, where greed is non-existent, envy is replaced with gratitude and joy is complete.
Today we are reminded that through the Jesus, through his cross and resurrection, we've been chosen to choose. To choose life. To choose virtue. To choose love of God and love of neighbor. To choose the promises revealed in Jesus and foreshadowed in Mary.
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us.
- Spencer Hargadon