12/8/2016 - Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Luke 1:26-38

      In the midst of our Advent journey, two and a half weeks before we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we celebrate and honor our Mother, Mary, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.  This feast day calls out to us to reflect upon what Mary has to say to us as men and women of faith.  Think about the images we have of Mary beyond the beautiful statues and holy cards and glimpses who have of her in Sacred Scripture.  But Mary is not up there on a pedestal, she is not our Blessed Mother who is at a distance from up in the heavens. Mary has always been there on the ground level with us, the faithful, encouraging us on our journey, through the ups and downs of life. We can see Mary in our world today in many walks of life: in the teachers who gives it their all to teach their students, in the mothers and grandmothers who dream of a better life for their children and grandchildren, in those who work for justice and peace in their community, in the Sunday school teachers and catechists and Eucharistic ministers who teach our children and youth about God, and in those who serve the poor and the elderly and the sick.  We as Catholics are called to recognize Mary and to honor her in the many ways we see her presence in the modern world today and to invite Mary into our lives. 

      Mary calls out to us today out of her reality as a poor Jewish women of faith from Ancient Israel.  She calls out to us as one who cooperated with God’s will in her life, who reveal the constant and compassionate love of God to those around her.  She calls out to us as a bearer of God’s mercy and justice, as the first disciple.  She calls out to us in the midst of the sufferings and struggles that she endured on her journey, on the things that she did not understand right away, that she pondered and reflected upon in her heart.   As we hear the Gospel story of the Annunciation, we know that this was no ordinary pronouncement, no routine summons.  The annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary was earth-shattering, life-changing and revolutionary.  We honor Mary today as our Blessed Mother; as the Theotokos, the God-bearer; as the handmaid of the Lord conceived without original sin.  As always, Mary receives the honor accorded her with a humble heart, leading us always ever-closer to her son.  Mary, Blessed Mother, we unite our prayers to yours in the words of St. Bernard of Clairvaux in Ave Stella Maris  -  Hail, Star of the Sea - 

Hail, bright star of ocean,
God's own Mother blest,
Ever sinless Virgin,
Gate of heavenly rest.

Taking that sweet Ave
Which from Gabriel came,
Peace confirm within us,
Changing Eva's name.

Break the captives' fetters,
Light on blindness pour,
All our ills expelling,
Every bliss implore.

Show thyself a Mother;
May the Word Divine,
Born for us thy Infant,
Hear our prayers through thine.

Virgin all excelling,
Mildest of the mild,
Freed from guilt, preserve us,
Pure and undefiled.

Keep our life all spotless,
Make our way secure,
Till we find in Jesus,
Joy forevermore.

Through the highest heaven
To the Almighty Three,
Father, Son and Spirit,
One same glory be. Amen.