Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. With Mary’s “yes”, God’s original dream is revived. The “ground” is prepared so that His only-begotten Son, Jesus, might become man in a woman’s womb. Her “yes” comes after a moment of hesitation, bewilderment, but in the end, she assents because to Love that makes a request, one cannot but respond with a love that makes oneself available.
Nine months before the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (8 September), the Church celebrates the Solemnity of her Immaculate Conception. The Feast was approved in 1476 by Pope Sixtus IV. It was extended to the universal Church by Pope Clement XI in 1708. On this day, we celebrate the fact that through a singular privilege, Mary was preserved from any stain of sin from the first instant of her life.
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her (Lk. 1:26-38).
The Gospel text is preceded by the Letter to the Ephesians (1:3ff.) which the liturgy proposes as the Second Reading. It is a hymn of praise, glory and blessing that extols God’s “design” for humanity: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing… he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ”. This dream, this project, finds its model in Mary: the holy and immaculate one.
But we have all been predestined, we have all been filled with every blessing, we have all been chosen to be holy and immaculate. We do not only “admire” the Virgin Mary, therefore, with tenderness and awe. We are also asked to “imitate” her so that God’s beauty might shine on the earth thanks to the many “yesses” that men and women continue to say today after the example and intercession of Mary, the Immaculate One.
Today, let’s celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary, the one who is full of grace, the one who is completely fair, completely pure, all holy, in her shines the beauty of God. She is the masterpiece of God’s love.
Heaven is our goal.
Sources: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Vatican News