Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Cycle B
December
8, 2014 6:30am and 12:15pm
Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air
I see two traits in Mary that
jump out for me in this Advent Season.
First, Mary is receptive.
In this, she is something like
John the Baptist.
She knows that there is “One mightier who is to come.”
So she is receptive to the
strength and direction that comes from God.
And second, Mary is
trusting.
She is trusting when she does not
fully understand and when there is no scientific or rational explanation.
She is trusting in the face of
mystery.
Now this does not mean that Mary
was any freer from doubts or temptations to self-centeredness than we are.
She was human.
But it does mean that, by the
grace of the Immaculate Conception, she was empowered by God to overcome those
doubts and temptations.
Maybe a better way to say it is
that she was graced by God to follow God’s way even with or in spite of doubts
and temptations.
This enabled her to be receptive
to God and trusting in God.
Today, we pray for that same
empowerment or grace from God.
We ask God to help us to be
receptive and trusting, to overcome doubts and temptations and to follow the
way of Jesus positively.
