8 December 2017
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On this solemnity we honor Mary. But on a deeper level it is God the Father whom we praise. He chose her to be the mother of his son, and from the first second of her life, he filled her with grace. From that moment on she was totally untouched by sin.
She had a mission to accomplish, the vocation to bring Jesus into the world.
Now in the light of this fact I will contemplate what St. Paul says in the 2nd reading: “In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention” that we may also might sing the Magnificat. Those words belong to Mary, but they also belong to each and every one of us.
Mary was chosen to bring Jesus physically into the world. He was conceived and made flesh in her womb. But we too are chosen to bring Jesus, not physically but spiritually into our world. Our vocation is to be Christ-bearers.
This we can do if we remain united to the Holy Spirit. Let us pray to Mary asking her to teach us, each of us, how, according to our own particular vocation, to say: “Be it done unto me according to thy Word.”