Immaculate Conception

Today we celebrate the solemn feast – the Solemnity – of the Immaculate Conception. Many people, Catholic AND non-Catholic, think the Immaculate Conception refers to Jesus’ conception. And many people are wrong. Christ’s conception by the Holy Spirit – while indeed immaculate in the physical sense – is NOT what we’re celebrating. Today we honor the Immaculate Conception of Mary, not in the physical sense (because unlike Jesus, neither of Mary’s parents was divine) but in the spiritual sense. God predestinedMary at her TRUE conception –when her soul was created and infused into her body – to be pure and undefiled, sanctifying her by His grace at the moment of her animation, at the moment she came to be. Mary alone of all humanity was chosen to be free from the stain of Original Sin. And through her holy and Immaculate Conception, Mary became a first critical step in God’s recovery plan for our salvation, the redemption of mankind from the evils of sin. Because – quite simply – God wants us back.

At first glance today’s readings don’t really seem to belong together. Today’s reading from Genesis is all about the fall of Man from grace, and the introduction of sin into the world. Looking back to the creation story, Adam and Eve, our first parents, were created by God from pure and undefiled matter, virgin creatures from a virgin world. They were in full and open communion with their Creator. And we also heard Eve described as “the mother of all the living”. But God also blessed Man at our creation with free will. Adam and Eve, our first parents – in spite of the purity of their creation – were tempted and seduced by evil in the form of the serpent, and chose to turn away from the will of God. And by that choice they condemned Mankind to struggle for all time to regain that blessed union with Our Father, beset by the Human Condition – created by God for goodness, yet naturally impelled by Original Sin toward evil.

But in spite of our condemnation by Original Sin, God wants us back. St. Paul tells us as much in our second reading from Ephesians, when he tells us He “…has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.” Salvation was lost to us when Adam and Eve – even though created pure and undefiled – chose to turn away from God’s will. To restore us to grace, God deemed it necessary that our salvation be won back for us by an equally pure and undefiled new Adam and new Eve.

The Immaculate Conception is the first step in God’s recovery plan for mankind. God in his wisdom and mercy selected Mary to become the pure and immaculate vessel by which God Incarnate would come into the world in the person of Jesus Christ – a new Eve to bring forth a new Adam. But it’s in our Gospel reading that the full meaning of the Immaculate Conception and what it means for our salvation comes into focus – because as we learned from our first reading, purity of creation is only half the story.

When confronted by the angel Gabriel in today’s Gospel with the truly startling news that she had been chosen to become a virgin mother to no less than the Son of God, Mary chose to simply say yes. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary, by virtue of her Immaculate Conception AND her complete and total acceptance, faithfulness, and alignment to God’s will – both at the Annunciation and throughout her life – became the mother of the Church and an advocate for His people

God WANTS us back – to return to him, to stand before him holy and immaculate. He predestined a plan to redeem us from evil, and sent his Son to ransom us from sin. He’s given us an advocate in Mary, Immaculate and Undefiled, to intercede in heaven on our behalf. So it’s only fitting that we celebrate both Mary’s Immaculate Conception and her faithfulness and unwavering obedience to God’s will. Through Mary and her Son, God has shown us the path to salvation – He’s calling us back to Him. Now it’s up to us to do our part.