08/12/2008 - Immaculate Conception
of Mary
Ist. Reading Gn 3,9-15.20 Psalm 97 IInd. Reading Eph 1, 3-6.11-12 Gospel Lk
1, 26-38
We turn our eyes again on Mary. Today we contemplate her enriched by a gift
to be desired, or better: we are happy that at least she could receive this
gift, as a guarantee of the hope that one day we might receive it too. The gift
is that of the original purity, that which Adam lost and none of his children
has ever found again, if not the Son par excellence, the new Adam. Mary participates
in this great gift of God that shows his immeasurable love. Mary did not inherited
from Adam the disposition of suspecting God, of doubting him, or the desire
to disobey him. That's why to day we rejoice: Mary, chosen to be the Mother,
mother of the Son of God and therefore of all those who are tied up with him
in one body, is immune of sin. The fact that this is a gift that she has received
does not mean that she didn't struggle to live it, that she was not put to test,
that she was not tempted by the evil one. We thank God for the fact that she
is without sin, but we thank her too for her struggle.
Mary is the new Eve. The first Eve listened to the Word of God, but, once put
to test, didn't succeeded to trust the one who spoke to her with love and wisdom:
she decided to listen to her senses which saw the beauty and the goodness where
God had said a straight "no". Mary, the new Eve, true mother of all
the living, receives the Word of God, loves it, and disposes herself to make
it by offering herself to its fulfillment. She doesn't give importance to what
she sees or knows: she knows that God is beyond her capacity. She loves the
one who speaks to her and believes him, and offers herself to the fulfillment
of what he has told her. Mary continues to be enlightened by the light of God!
The stain of sin doesn't obscure the holiness of God in her, holiness that continues
to reflect in her life in Nazareth, where she had to suffer the incomprehension
and the suspects of all, at Capharnaum, where Jesus was admired, but not believed,
at Jerusalem, where her faithfulness and her love for Jesus were put to test
in a unique way. In her sin didn't find a place to hang on, as it finds in us.
We too have been chosen "before the creation of the world to be holy and
immaculate in front of him in love", as the apostle says. Holiness and
purification are given to us through Baptism, our immersion in the divine life,
that happens through our union in the offering of Jesus to the Father. To live
these gifts that are given to us thanks to Jesus, we can look at Mary: the way
she is united with her son is an example for us, is intercession for us, is
strength for us!
Mary "immaculate" is a figure of the Church, as we pray in the preface
of today's feast: "the promise of its perfection as the bride of Christ,
radiant in beauty". That which is of the Church is of Mary! And that which
is of Mary is of the Church. The sinners who form part of the Church, at all
levels, enjoy of the holiness and of the immaculate splendor of Mary: when they
give their love to Jesus, they radiate his same holiness! We need to be healed
from the wounds of the fault of Adam and Eve, a fault that was repeated and
renewed and made bigger by those of our ancestors and by our disobediences to
God. We shall be healed thanks to Jesus, and so even in us will begin to appear
the signs of beauty which is already in its fullness in the face of Mary!
This feast falls two weeks from the Birth of Jesus. Thanks to Mary we have the
desire to welcome the Savior of the World in and pure environment, purified
from pride and evil. Let us prepare ourselves, therefore, looking at the purity
of the Virgin, to celebrate the confession of our sins to continue our conversion.
Let us not be happy to prepare for Christmas only with exterior signs: let us
make sure that these are the sign that something within us has happened. The
Blessed Virgin Mary helps us with her presence in the Church to continue our
way of sanctification: the light of God will shine in the world thanks to us
too!