8 December 2025 - homily for the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - Luke 1:26-38

I love how we celebrate Mary in a special way in the midst of our Advent journey in the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. In 1854, Pope Pius XI issued the document Ineffabilis Deus, which declare the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary a dogma of our Catholic faith. The idea of Mary’s immaculate conception was not new, but rather the result of longterm theological consensus by scholars and the Church officials and a longstanding devotion of the Catholic faithful. In fact, the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary was declared to be the patroness of our country by unanimous proclamation of the US Bishop 8 years prior to this in 1846. Pope Pius IX used his highest papal teaching authority to declare this dogma.  

Some Catholics mistakenly believe that the Immaculate Conception refers to Jesus' conception by the Virgin Mary, but it doesn’t. Rather, it refers to the special way in which the Virgin Mary herself was conceived by her parents St Anne and St Joachim. 

In the annunciation, the angel Gabriel declares to Mary, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”  In order for Mary to be able to assent to what the Angel declared to her about being the Mother of God, it was necessary that Mary be borne by God’s grace. Thus, through God, she was redeemed at the moment of her conception. 

In the celebration of Mary’s immaculate conception, she is presented to us as a faithful example of what God can do in our lives and what we can do if we open ourselves to God’s will and to service to God. Like Mary, God calls us to be open to what he asked of us. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception also encourages us to do our best to repent from our sins. 

Although we are all born with original sin and through the grace of Baptism are freed from sin, in the course of our life, because of human weakness, we fail and we commit sin. The Immaculate Conception reminds us that if we cooperate with God ‘s grace, just as Mary did, we can lead a life as free from sin as is humanly possible.

Next week at Holy Savior we are going to have our Advent reconciliation service on Wednesday, November 18 at 6:00 pm. I want to encourage all off you to come to that service and to open yourself to going to confession during the Advent season if you have not already done so. 

May we continue to prepare for the coming of the Lord at Christmas time. May we continue to open ourselves up to Mary’s loving presence at our Mother and the Mother of Christ.