DECEMBER 8
THE IMMACULATE
CONCEPTION OF
THE BLESSED VIRGIN
MARY
1st
Reading: Genesis 3: 9-15.20
2nd Reading: Eph 1: 3- 6.11- 12
Gospel: Luke 1: 26-
38: Mary, the Mother of Jesus: Submission to God’s Will.
Today we are celebrating the
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Luke’s account of the
Annunciation inspires us to compare Mary with Eve.
Mary obediently received the
Word of the Angel Gabriel, whereas Eve accepted the word of the Serpent. Mary
gave birth to the living salvation of all through Jesus Christ, whereas Eve
gave birth to disobedience and death.
The first reading talks about
the first parents Adam and Eve on account of their disobedience as a result
they were deprived of the life in the spirit of God.
The second reading brings
joyful news for us all. God has loved us and chosen us right from the very
beginning of the world to become His children through sharing His own life and
to live holy lives so as to get ready to share God’s life and joy on earth and
in heaven.
1.
God’s plans of love for human:
God created the first parents
Adam and Eve out of His love and not because He had to. Adam and Eve came God’s
hands in his own image and likeness: perfect in body and soul and they were
placed in a garden who were completely happy.
But they lost their “grace-life” or “life in the Spirit” or “the
wonderful gift of God” because of their disobedience to the command of God as
St. Paul explains the word “grace” means “gift”, “baksheesh” in the second reading.
2.
Adam and Eve wrecked God’ plans of
love for them:
God does not force his gifts
to anyone. He created Adam and Eve free. The greatest gift of freedom was given
to them but they broke God’s command and lost their treasure of Grace-Life, the
life in the Spirit to share it in heaven. Being the children of God they turned
into slaves of the devil and experienced the miseries and death in life.
3.
God’s plans of love for humankind
were not to be defeated:
St. Paul tells us that God
laid down his plans of love for humankind “from the beginning”, “before the
world was made” (Eph 1: 4). This tells us how deep his love for human despite
of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, God succeeded his plan through his Son Jesus
Christ born of virgin Mary (Gal 4: 4) to make available to everyone the gift of
“Grace-Life”, “The life in the Spirit” which Adam and Eve had lost by their
disobedience. We have “Grace” “in Christ”, “In the Beloved”, “through Jesus
Christ”. (Eph 1: 4.5.6).
4.
The Mother of Jesus:
The Son of God, the Messiah
was born of a woman (Gal 4: 4) was Mary from Nazareth. Mary would give to Jesus
human life and Jesus would give to Mary Life Divine.
5.
God communicated the Life in the
Spirit to Mary from the very beginning of her existence: Great help for non-catholic brethren’s Mary’s existence
Adam and Eve lost Grace-Life,
the life in the Spirit, not only for themselves, but also for all their
children. Deprived of this gift, every human person is born inclined to sin,
and sooner or later everyone falls a victim to it. But a single person Mary,
the Mother of Jesus was preserved from the original sin from the very beginning
(Gen 3: 15-“I will make you enemies of each other...your offspring and her
offspring. It will crush your head...” a comparison study of Esther 5: 13; John
the Baptist also received the life in the Spirit in visitation of Mary, in the
womb of Elizabeth; Lk 1: 29-the greeting of the angel Gabriel at the
annunciation-“Rejoice, you so highly favoured; the Lord is with you.”) was
special privilege or favour granted to her is the purpose of day’s feast.
6.
The holiness of Jesus demands that
his Mother should receive the Life in the Spirit right from the moment she was
conceived:
God filled her with
Grace-Life from the very beginning and at no moment the devil touch her soul.
She did the Will of God with humility and obedience to the command of God
always.
7.
From earliest time, Christians have
firmly believed that Mary the Mother of Jesus possessed the Life in the Spirit
form the first moment of her existence:
The Holy Spirit was given to
the apostles on Pentecost day. As promised by the Lord Jesus, he has been with
the Church down the centuries in the person of those whom Jesus appointed to
guide his Church, the apostles and their successors. So the Spirit of the Lord
not only guides the leaders of the church but every individuals and the
community as well.
8.
In 1854, the Church announced
officially what Christians had believed down the centuries:
The feast we celebrate today
which has been celebrated throughout the Church long before. It is surprised to
hear that England was the one of the first countries to celebrate it, together
with Ireland and other local Churches.
On December 8, 1854, Pope
Pius IX, surrounded by many bishops from all over the world and thousands
Christians at Rome declared this feast “That by a special favour from God, and
in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary was preserved
from all stain of original sin, from the very moment she was conceived.”
9.
At Lourdes, Mary Confirmed the Faith
of her Children:
Four years after the Holy
Father’s solemn proclamation, she appeared several times to a girl called
Bernadette, at a place called Lourdes, France. Hundreds of miraculous cures
can’t be explained by the laws of nature proved by the doctors. Definitely,
Mary has hand in that discovery.
In one of the apparitions
Bernadette asked the Lady who appeared to her to tell her who she was. The Lady
replied: “I am the one conceived without sin.”
Mary the Mother of Jesus has
been also appeared in many other places all over the world that she intercedes
for us to her Son Jesus Christ always like acting at the wedding feast at Cana
and lots of miracles taking place in the lives of the believers today.
Thought: Mary was encouraged to believe:
“For nothing is impossible with God.” God expects us to believe in His Power.
Surrender to God is an absolute essential for our salvation.
