The Solemnity of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Gen. 3:9-15.20, Eph. 1:3-6.11-12, Lk. 1:26-38. Today, Holy Mother Church celebrates the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. This dogmatic teaching was promulgated by Pope Pius IX in 1854, to project that the Blessed Mother was given the gift from God of being conceived without original sin. From the moment of her conception, Mary was given the grace not only of freedom from original sin, but of being the only human being other than her Divine Son who lived a life without sin. We see evidence of this reality of the doctrine of our Lady’s Immaculate Conception in the Bible. Mary carried Jesus in her womb for nine months and we think of this especially during this Advent season. One of the titles given to Mary is “Ark of the Covenant.” The Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament was a chest made of wood to carry the two stone tablets containing the commandments God gave to Moses (Ex. 25:16). So we could say the ark contained the word of God and Mary contained Jesus the Word of God in her womb, so for that reason, Mary is sometimes called Ark of the Covenant.

In the Old Testament those who were called on to move the Ark of the Covenant could not be sinners because the ark was considered so holy since it carried God’s word (1 Chron. 15:14). In like manner, Mary, who is the new Ark of the Covenant, could not be touched by sin. It makes perfect sense that God would specially prepare Mary in holiness to carry Jesus in her womb. God and sin are opposites and God prepared sinless Virgin Mary to be a fitting mother to Jesus His Son. We get another hint of the reality of the doctrine that Mary was conceived without sin in today's Gospel, when angel Gabriel greeted her announcing the birth of Jesus, saying: “Hail, full of grace” which literally means that Mary was filled with an abundance or with the fulness of sanctifying grace. Mary was able to give herself over totally to the will of God, completely able to cooperate with the Plan of Salvation. It is true that she sets a holy example for us, because we are called to cooperate with the Plan of Salvation in our own lives, as well as in the work of the Church, but by God’s gift, Mary was able to cooperate fully and completely with that plan from the moment of her conception.

May the Lord help us to always seek to do the will of God in our lives! Amen!! Good morning and have a productive week!!!