This
year, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, a holy day of obligation
dedicated to Mary in the midst of our Advent journey, takes on special
significance because it is also the start of the Jubilee Year of Mercy in the
Catholic Church as declared by Pope Francis. In
the Early Church, the Church fathers and mothers developed a devotion to Mary
because they understood that Mary played a unique role in the history of
salvation. Mary's role is essential and fundamental to the salvation and redemption that her son
Jesus Christ gives to us. As
those Early Church Fathers and Mothers reflected upon the motherhood of Mary,
they pondered the words that we hear in the greeting the Angel Gabriel gives
Mary in today’s Gospel: “Hail, full of grace!
The Lord is with you!” Mary
said yes to the message that the Angel brought to her. Mary opened herself to God’s will in her
life. Yet,
as the faithful in the Early Church contemplated the Angel’s visit to Mary,
they wondered: What does it mean for
Mary to be “full of grace?” The
Church decided that through revelation and through faith, Mary was conceived
without sin, that her conception was immaculate.
It is not by chance or coincidence that Pope
Francis chose for the Year of Mercy to start today on the Solemnity of the
Immaculate Conception. St.
Faustina Kowalska tells us that she heard Mary refer to herself in this way:
"I am not only the Queen of Heaven, but also the Mother of Mercy and your
mother" Mary
is not only a model of discipleship, but she is a model of mercy and the Mother
of Mercy who leads us ever closer to her son. The
Pope very clearly is sending us a message that he wants us as Catholics “to
gaze more attentively at mercy, that we may become a more effective sign of the
Father’s action in our lives.” As
Mary reaches out to all of us out of her love and mercy, as Mary accepts the
calling and vocation God calls her to, we are to reach out to those who are
marginalized and oppressed in society, to those who need tenderness, and in a
very particular way, to sinners. In
this Year of Mercy, we will hear God calling us to heal, to pray, to help, and
to forgive. Mary and all the community
of the saints will help us with their prayers and intercessions throughout the
Year of Mercy.
Today’s joyful feast day in the midst of our Advent season of preparation
celebrates Mary’s unique role and the way in which Mary cooperated with God in
the mystery of redemption, in the Word made flesh. We
celebrate Mary’s uniqueness today, the way in which she is conceived without
original sin. God
preserved Mary through the redemption of Christ from the moment of her
conception. May
we pray to Mary, the Immaculate Conception, patroness of our country, to help
us bring God’s mercy and peace to all. But,
let us not stop in prayer. May our
prayers and our relationship with our Blessed Mother and our entry into the
Year of Mercy call us into action, to reach out to others in love and
creativity and mercy.
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