John Henry Newman, reflecting on Mary’s nurturing of the child Jesus, wonders in one of his sermons what the mother of the Lord – the one who cares for him, heals his bruises, and encourages him as a child – what she should be like who had such an important function. He says that if John the Baptist was sanctified by the Spirit before his birth, shouldn’t Mary be prepared in a similar way for the birth of her son? From her birth, he says, she was without sin in order that she might surpass all the saints not only in her holiness but in being the first to benefit from the grace of Christ. All of us baptized receive the life of God within us, it means we become the sons and daughters of God, destined for eternal life, members of the Body of Christ, branches on the vine that is Christ.
In today’s solemnity we celebrate the fact that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin. From the very first moments of her existence, she was full of grace. We recall this fact every time that we pray the familiar prayer, the Hail Mary. When we echo the words of the Archangel Gabriel, we remember that Mary was filled with the gift that we call grace. Like us, she did not earn it; God gave it to her. She cooperated with that grace completely even when she did not understand it fully as is evidenced in today’s Gospel passage. Nonetheless, cooperation was her immediate and complete response.
God could have effected the incarnation without her cooperation. The beautiful part of this mystery is the fact that even though God did not need Mary to cooperate, God asked her to do so. God’s respect for human freedom is demonstrated by this request. By her cooperation, Mary became a part of God’s mission of salvation. Her selfless “Yes” brought God’s plan to fulfillment.
At the same time, she gives us an example, demonstrating how we are called to participate in God’s mission of salvation. Our celebration reminds us that we are called to the same selfless response.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator