Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Cycle B
December
8, 2015 8:30am (Middle School) and 12:15pm
Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air
“Before
I Formed You…”
Today’s celebration of the
Immaculate Conception has led me to recall a passage from the Prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah, inspired by God, writes
this. “The Word of the Lord came to me thus: Before I formed you in the womb,
I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I
appointed you.”
Jeremiah’s words recall something
not just about him and the origin of his becoming a prophet. They also teach something about all of us.
God knows us before we are even
born. From the moment of conception in
our mother’s womb, God has a personal relationship with us.
God knows what gifts he has given
us and what he wants us to do in life.
This is true for Jeremiah and for all of us.
Mary as Mother and Sinless
This is
important for understanding today’s celebration of the Immaculate Conception.
God, from the moment of Mary’s
conception, knew that she would bear and give birth to Jesus. He wanted Mary to bring his Son into the
world.
So, because of that, from the
very beginning, there was this unique relationship between God and Mary. God preserved her from all sin.
This is what the angel Gabriel
means in today’s gospel when he greets Mary and says, “Hail, full of grace. The Lord
is with you.”
Mary is full of grace, filled
with the Lord. She is human like us, but
without sin.
We see evidence of this right in
the gospel, in the way Mary responds to God.
She trusts God and God’s word completely.
She always gives a complete Yes
to what God wants. This is what we mean
by the Immaculate Conception.
A Challenge for Us
Sometimes I think it hard for us
to wrap our heads around this.
It is hard for us to understand
sinlessness or complete goodness in any human being. The reason is that we know that we are all sinful
in some ways.
So maybe the best thing is just
to let Mary and her trust in the Lord be an example for us. Let’s allow Mary to show us the way.
Mary’s trust led her to center
her life on God and to listen to God. It
led to be prayerful and to follow God’s way in all things.
Let’s allow Mary to be that
wonderful example for us. Let’s allow
her to lead us to Jesus and grow more and more in the way of the gospel.
