Daily Gospel Reflection
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December 8, 2022
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.
In my hometown church where I was baptized and confirmed, there is a beautiful painting of the Annunciation behind Mary’s altar. I have many fond memories of childhood days spent studying this serene scene of Mary’s “yes” to God’s will.
In my childlike ways, I never considered how impossibly hard it must have been for Mary to offer her fiat to God at that moment. And yet she opened her heart and bent her will to gracefully accept her role in the Lord’s promise of a Savior.
Oh, how I yearn as a mature adult and a long-time wife and mother to emulate Mary and place my unwavering, unyielding trust in the will of our Lord for my life. How I long to experience the complete joy of Mary’s “yes” as I am called daily to trust in God’s purpose for my life.
Yet, my desire to trust and offer my complete self to our Lord is often sidetracked by life’s distractions and longings. I watch my peers seemingly settle into empty nests and fulfilling, carefree new seasons of life, but as a parent of a child with intellectual disabilities, I realize my life will be different. It is tempting to focus on the ongoing responsibility of care and not on the blessing of my child and the good work God may be doing in the world through our lives.
In those difficult moments, when our hands are tired and our hearts feel heavy, may we recall our Mother’s “yes” that brought Mary to the foot of the Cross and ultimately to the triumph of the Resurrection. In our hours of need and moments of doubt, may we, too, find the courage and grace to say quietly in our hearts, “thy will be done.”
Prayer
Heavenly Father, you express the greatness of your love through the Immaculate Conception. May we always rejoice at your Word made flesh in our lives. Continue to send us the fullness of your grace so that we might be transformed to bring about the hope of a Savior in our longing world. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Saint of the Day
Note for 2024: The Church traditionally celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8. However, since December 8 was also the Second Sunday of Advent this year, the Church has moved its observance of the Immaculate Conception to today, December 9.
Two hours before his arrest by the Gestapo in Nazi-occupied Poland in February of 1941, St. Maximilian Kolbe penned a haunting, beautiful question, whose beauty is perhaps only matched in its answer: "Who are you, O Immaculate Conception?"
Today's feast of the Immaculate Conception falls during Advent, the liturgical season in which Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Thus, the feast can mistakenly be thought to refer to the miraculous conception of Jesus in the Virgin Mary’s womb, which the Church actually celebrates on the feast of the Annunciation nine months before Christmas, on March 25.
In fact, the Immaculate Conception refers to the specific grace of Mary's own origin. From the moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, Anne, Mary was preserved from all stain of sin to prepare her for her vocation of bearing the Word of God to the world.
The figure of Mary has always been understood to be a singular example of holiness. One of the Seven Ecumenical Councils of the Early Church was the Council of Ephesus in 431, which formally canonized the designation of Mary as Theotokos—Mother of God—not just Christotokos—Mother of Christ. This title is, understandably, a bit mind-boggling. How can God who has no birth in time, who is eternal, always is and always was have a mother? As mystifying as this title may be, the Church asserted that Mary truly is the Theotokos. From its earliest origins, the Church knew that Mary was a unique figure.
The teaching of the Immaculate Conception was formally proclaimed as dogma, binding on all Catholics, in 1854 by Pope Pius IX in his papal bull, Ineffabilis Deus "Ineffable God." Interestingly, Mary, Immaculately Conceived was named patroness of the United States in 1846, eight years prior. This is a beautiful example of the sensus fidei, or the sense of the faithful—the role of commonly held belief of Catholic faithful in helping the Church hold onto the truth. Pius IX's declaration is a formal proclamation of what every Catholic professes when praying the rosary: Mary is truly “full of grace."
Mariology (the theology study of Mary) not only reveals the graces that God has given to Mary but also reveals what God desires to do for us. In Mary, we see the paradigmatic human vocation: to open ourselves so perfectly to God's love, to God's Word, that that Word takes on human shape. British Carmelite Caryll Houselander reflects beautifully on Mary's unique status as a God-bearer in her book The Reed of God. But, Mary is unique among all the saints because she is the only one we can fully imitate. Houselander writes:
“If we had a picture of Our Lady's personality we might be dazzled into thinking that only one sort of person could form Christ in himself, and we should miss the meaning of our own being. Nothing but things essential for us are revealed to us about the Mother of God: the fact that she was wed to the Holy Spirit and bore Christ into the world. Christ must be born from every soul, formed in every life."
We see Christ shine in the witness of the saints, in the baffling and beautiful authentic uniqueness of each saint's own particular mission and life. We are given very little to know about Mary: but what we know tells us about who God has made us to be.
So what was Maximilian Kolbe's answer to the question: who is the Immaculate Conception?
Kolbe sees Mary, as the Immaculate Conception, as the only human being who has been fully open to God and perfectly in union with God. The Holy Spirit is with all of us, by virtue of our baptism, but the Holy Spirit was perfectly united with Mary. The Holy Spirit is the love of the Holy Trinity. Thus, in Mary's union with the Holy Spirit, Maximilian says: "heaven is joined to earth, the whole heaven with the whole earth, the whole of [God's] Uncreated Love with the whole of created love." Mary is, says Kolbe, a "vertex of love."
The Immaculate Conception is a bold doctrine and can be confusing and mystifying. But what the Immaculate Conception reveals is ultimately what all of the Christian faith reveals: that we are sons and daughters of a God whose love is far greater and desires our love more deeply than we could ever comprehend. Thus, Mary's grace is meant for us, meant to lead us into union with God, as well.
A statue of Mary as the Immaculate Conception stands in the chapel in Alumni Hall (shown in today's featured image). When Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous near a cave outside of Lourdes, France, in 1858, she identified herself as the “Immaculate Conception.” The mural of that scene (below) from Lourdes stands in the Basilica, and of course the cave is replicated on a smaller scale in Notre Dame's famous Grotto. Other relics from Mary rest in the Basilica, including pieces of her clothes and hair.
To pray for Immaculate Mary's protection over the United States, you may take a moment to recite this prayer:
Most Holy Trinity, we place the United States of America into the hands of Mary Immaculate in order that she may present the country to you. Through her, we wish to thank you for the great resources of this land and for the freedom that has been its heritage. Through the intercession of Mary, have mercy on the Catholic Church in America. Grant us peace. Have mercy on our President and on all the officers of our government. Grant us a fruitful economy, born of justice and charity. Have mercy on capital and industry and labor. Protect the family life of the nation. Guard the precious gift of many religious vocations. Through the intercession of our Mother, have mercy on the sick, the tempted, sinners—on all who are in need. Amen.
Mary, the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States—pray for us!
If you'd like to read more about today's feast and the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, read this post from Notre Dame's own Church Life Journal.