07
Dec
Dec
Reflection: Luke1:26-38
St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians reminds the community there that God has filled us with every spiritual blessings in order that his Church be holy and blameless before him. What St. Paul describes as God’s gift to his Children, is similar to what Luke describes about Mary through the mouth of Angel Gabriel. “Hail… Full of grace.” On the solemnity of Immaculate Conception, the Word of God reminds us – Like Mary, we are called to be holy and blameless before the Lord. Today’s feast offers us an opportunity to approach the authentic figure of Mary. She clearly shines in the Gospel accounts. To understand the dogma of the Immaculate Conception—defined by Pope Pius IX on December 8, 1854— we must re-read it in the light of biblical revelation. The Mary of the Gospel is very close to us: What makes her different from us is, her willingness to surrender to the plans of God instead of pursuing her own plans. She was a particular person in whom God has found the full availability to realize his plan of salvation. God bestows his gifts on Mary to give her a mission to carry out. She gladly accepted the Word and accomplished her difficult vocation. The Gospels remind us of her doubts, questions, and moving journey of faith. Like us, like her son, she has been tried, but at all times she has been able to always say, like Jesus (2 Cor 1:19), “yes” to God. The feast of the Immaculate Conception is the day for us to celebrate the numerous gifts of God, that He “chose us before creating the world”. Let us not be confused about this one important message: This solemnity is not the feast of Mary’s virginity, and even less of her puerperal physiological purification. Instead, it is the feast of the virtue of fidelity, fidelity to the “permanent yes” to what God has initiated in us, and feast of “no” to the power of the serpent. This is the feast of our own fidelity to the “Yes” we have committed to the Lord since our baptism.