Homily for Saturday 8th December 2018
_“And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’” *Luke 1:38.*_
Today we are celebrating the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. For Catholics, today’s feast easily passes as one of those things, whereas for Non-Catholics, today’s feast is just another example of Idolatry in Catholic worship. It is my sincere hope that whichever category you belong, today’s reflection would have some impact in your relationship with God.
Have you ever been to an eatery or restaurant only to come across the boss (or the owner of the place) talking down on, insulting or disgracing one of her/his employees? Regardless of what the situation may be, you would agree with me that your relations with the boss would be negatively affected. One thing that put a lot of people off about us is how we treat those lower than us. Show me a man or a woman who has no iota of respect even for his or her least paid staff and I will show you a colossal failure waiting to happen.
Do you want to understand who God is? Then just see how He treats His Mother.
Yes, Mary is the woman in whose womb God chose to take flesh. She is by all standards less than God yet, for anyone to say Mary is just a piece of an envelope “used” by God to deliver Jesus to mankind is to say God is some kind of a heartless boss. Whatever honour we give to Mary is given on account of the honour that God himself gave to her which is contained already in the Bible. For instance, our Gospel passage today narrates how the Angel Gabriel was sent by God to seek Mary’s consent about being a God’s Mother and the Angel began by saying: “Hail, full of grace…” To say honour given to Mary is idolatry is to assign to Mary the status of deity dragging power with God and if this is the case, then God himself would be accused of idolatry when He sent the Angel to greet her. Being the Mother of Jesus, all honour given to Mary goes to God.
The only reason why anyone would not honour Mary is if he or she can prove that Mary did not carry Jesus in her womb. So long as you believe Mary actually conceived and carried Jesus Christ, your Lord and Saviour, then you should honour her just as God did. Now, you may start wondering, how did an ordinary woman manage to carry God in her womb since God has no sin and cannot be said to dwell in an atmosphere of sin? The answer is the Immaculate Conception.
In other to prepare Mary ahead for the role she was to play for the salvation of Mankind, God so did it that she was born without the stain of original sin. Mary was conceived without sin in the womb of her parents. Do we have any proof for this? Yes, the proof of Mary’s Immaculate Conception is the fact that Jesus Christ is God. Just as Advent is a time we prepare ourselves spiritually for Jesus’ coming, the Immaculate Conception represents God’s own way of preparing for His coming in the flesh. God could not have been born in a womb except that woman was immaculately conceived.
Like Mary, Adam and Eve were also created without any sin. However, as our first reading, today recants, Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree having tempted by satan. Their action would bring about a negative repercussion on the whole of mankind. After Adam and Eve had fallen, God declared: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed…” The woman God was referring to here was not Eve but Mary and "her seed" refers to Jesus Christ who will bruise the head of satan on the Cross of Calvary. While Adam and Eve failed God by saying “No” to His instruction, Mary for her part said, “Yes, let it be done to me according to your world.” This fiat of Mary marked the beginning of God’s redemptive process to erase the mistake of Adam and Eve.
As St. Paul tells us in the second reading today, each and every one of us just like Mary has been chosen by God for a particular reason, to accomplish a particular good in life. Yet, with every sin that we indulge in, we are simply choosing to take the path of Adam and Eve. St. Paul says we have been “chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world TO BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS before him in love.” Ephesians 1:4.
For those who quote 1st Timothy 2:5 which says Jesus is the ONLY mediator between God and Men, I agree with you, but I also wonder why you keep asking anyone at all to pray for you. Yes, Jesus is the only mediator, so why kneel before your pastor? Explain this and I will explain why I kneel before the statue of Mary to pray the rosary. Nevertheless apart from asking Mary for her Motherly intercession (proof of this is what she did at the wedding feast at Cana), our devotion to Mary gives us an opportunity to reflect on her life, her humility, her compassion for the good of others, her willingness to sacrifice for a higher good, her sinlessness, her acceptance of the sword which pierced her soul and above all, her obedience to God’s will. We don’t honour Mary to worship her, we honour her to learn how to be good Christians.
Dear friend, if Mary could say “Yes”, you too can say “Yes” by living a life that is holy and blameless. Spend time each day thinking about Mary and you would realize that despite being human, you too can obey God to the end.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, keep me pure and holy like Mary. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. Bible Study: Genesis 3:9-20, Psalm 98:1-4, Ephesians 1:3-12 and Luke 1:26-38).
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