Immaculate Conception
The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is celebrated throughout the world on December 8. This year, and every few years, December 8 falls on a Sunday. When this occurs, Sunday Masses always take precedence, particularly Sundays in Advent. In this case the Immaculate Conception recognition is moved to the next day.
This year we will have Mass on Monday (tomorrow), December 9 at 9:00 am in church to mark this important Feast of Mary. Our Academy students will help us to honor Mary in a special way during this Mass.
Pope Pius IX brought years of study and reflection by the church to conclusion in 1954 when he stated in a Papal Bull:
“Mary was completely free from any original sin from the moment of her own conception, due to the merits of her future son, Jesus Christ. This is considered a special privilege granted by God to prepare her to be the Mother of God.”
Many people who are not familiar with Church teachings ask, “How can God have a mother?” This is a very good question and the answer lies in our belief that God is three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Because Mary physically gave birth to Jesus, who is the second person of the Trinity and the human manifestation of God, she is given the title Mother of God. This title is another Dogmatic statement about Mary. Dogma is a statement of utmost belief and certainty by the Church. Dogmatic statements take years to form and several of them refer to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
More Mary
The Church also celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12, officially recognizing that Mary appeared to a man named Juan Diego several times on a small hill in Tepeyac, Mexico just outside of Mexico City in December of 1531.
This verified apparition of Mary was arguably the most significant event for the conversion of millions of people to Christianity in South and Central America. It is also worthy to note that this was occurring at the same time the Church in Europe was undergoing a challenging division caused by the ‘protests’ of Martin Luther.
During the fourth Sunday of this Advent, the Gospel of Luke will tell us the story of Mary visiting her cousin Elizabeth shortly after the Angel Gabriel, sent by God, appeared to her. The angel announced that Mary had found favor with God, that she was full of grace and that she was going to conceive and bear a son destined to be the eternal fulfilment of God’s love. He would be a universal King and his kingdom here on earth would never end.
This very special visit ends with Elizabeth affirming the blessedness of Mary because she trusted that God’s WORD to her would be fulfilled.
This WORD is mentioned in our gospel from Luke this weekend. After situating the appearance of John the Baptist in history by mentioning political leaders such as Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Lysanius, Herod and his brother Philip, along with religious leaders such as Annas and Caiaphas, we hear that “…the WORD of God came to John the Baptist in the desert.”
God’s WORD is in the ebb and flow of scripture stories and the stories of our lives. It comes to us in so many ways. The WORD can mean many different things including simply what is happening in life.
I reinforced the importance of connecting the WORD of our lives and the WORD of scripture in my homily last weekend. Greater familiarity with Scripture and actively listening to connect the inspired word of God in scripture with our word will enhance our experience of the Eucharist. Renewal and appreciation for what takes place at Mass is one of the two major pillars of our Be More: Movement of Growth, and growth begins this Advent with the WORD we share with Mary and John the Baptist.