Gospel & Reflection for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Luke 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
Reflection
Friends, as I have often said, most of the Church’s beautiful feasts are associated with Our Lady. The Immaculate Conception is no exception. It is a wonderful feast, remembering that from the first moment of her existence in her mother’s womb, Mary was kept free from sin through God’s grace and privilege.
In the past, it was this feast that marked the formal beginning of the preparations for Christmas. While anticipated, there was rarely talk of Christmas, no decorations put up, no advertising on display until this time of the year, and much centred on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Unfortunately, Christmas begins now in the summer, if not before; we are tempted with deals and displays of all kinds from September, and the ‘Toy Show’ seems to be the new marker for getting into the Christmas spirit.
While the ‘Toy Show’ appeals beautifully and magically to children and indeed, the child within us all, our feast today appeals to our maturity, keeping us focused on what our faith is all about, and what Christmas should be about.
It is no accident that we celebrate this feast just before Christmas. At Christmas, we remember the coming of Christ into the world, His arrival in time and in history. But that only serves to remind us that as an adult, Jesus would declare His mission of salvation and that He would witness to that salvation by “feeding the hungry… welcoming the stranger…clothing the naked… caring for the needy.”
Yet, where did the Lord Himself first experience all those things that would become such an important part of His adult ministry? From whom did He receive that, which He encourages us all to do as His followers?
The answer of course is Mary.
• The first home Jesus received was in the womb of His mother Mary. It was Mary who welcomed Jesus not just into her life, but into the life and history of the world when she said her “Yes” to God, her yes to be the mother of Christ.
• The first clothes’ given to Jesus was by Mary whom we are told “wrapped Him in swaddling clothes.”
• The first food He received was from Mary’s breast and the care He needed in every other way was provided by Mary also.
Therefore, in His ministry, Jesus only ever reciprocated that which was shown to Him in His own life through His mother Mary, and God, His heavenly Father.
Friends, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, serves to remind us that the love and grace showered upon us all by God, is a love and grace that grows and bears fruit beyond our imagining when we share it with others. The grace of Mary’s life, she shared with Christ. Christ shared His grace with the world and changed the world in the process.
Let us not keep our grace and blessings to ourselves. Let us share them with others. This is our Christian calling, and this is the calling that Advent is preparing us for, as we move towards Christmas and Bethlehem, where it all began, over two millennia ago.
Fr. Richard
