Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, we hear of a journey that takes place. It is a journey that begins with sin being introduced into the world and resulting in all the misery that we still sometimes experience to this day, but it concludes with a new hope that we have been granted by the Son of a humble virgin who was chosen to be the Mother of God.

In our first reading from the book of Genesis, we hear of the way that sin entered the world through our original parents, and the carefully crafted interference of Satan. It is interesting to note in the dialogue that takes place in our first reading, that there is a tremendous amount of hiding of the truth, and finger pointing, and deflection that is present throughout. Adam initially tries to hide his guilt by simply hiding himself in the garden, but when that doesn’t work, and he realizes he is caught, he resorts to deflecting the blame to his wife Eve. He even goes to far as to subtly blame God by implying that it was because of the woman that He put there, that all this transpired. Eve for her part, deflects the blame to the serpent whom she accuses of trickery. Nowhere in any of this do they take responsibility for what happened. There is no humility or acceptance of blame anywhere in the dialogue. This should be our first clue to the sin that has entered the world. With those first deflections, deceptions, and lack of humility come the inevitable results that we still experience to this day.

This all stands in stark contrast to the humble bravery of a young girl whom the Lord had chosen to be the Mother of his Son. When she is approached by the angel, and told of Gods plan, there could have been a myriad of reasons that she could have given for not wanting to be part of so potentially dangerous a plan. Mary knows full well what could await her if she were found with child without being married. Yet, there is no posturing, no questioning, no making of excuses. Mary simply replies humbly, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” You see Mary had been born without the original sin that infuses so many of our own dialogues with deflection and deception as a first response when someone asks something difficult of us. Her soul was immaculate, she knew only one desire, and that was to humbly serve God in whatever capacity He deemed fit, and her trust in His plan was complete and unfailing. The only question she asked throughout the entire dialogue with the angel was one of a simple and practical nature. Mary knew how children were conceived, and since she was not yet fully married, she simply wanted to know how this could come to pass since she knew full well that God would not ask her to sin as part of His plan. When the angel answers her question though and explains that this will happen through the Spirit of the Lord, there is nothing more than an affirmation that she gives. Such is her faith in God.

It is through Mary’s humble acceptance based on faith that we are given hope. She conceived Him who would be the Lamb of God and take away the sins of the world and restore our relationship with the Father through His sacrifice on the cross. It can only be fitting that the Son of God would be carried and born of such a sinless a vessel.  With Mary’s participation in God’s plan and with the birth of our Lord, we have the hope that comes with their faith, hope, and love of the Father. We are renewed and brought back closer to what God originally intended for us, and with the sure and certain hope that through His Son we can one day be fully reunited with Him again.