Today is a Holy Day of Obligation for the Catholic Church. It is the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
To better define this day, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops states:
The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, truly full of grace and blessed among women, preserved at very first moment of her conception from the stain of original sin through the foreseen appearance and saving death of the Son of God by a singular privilege of God, which was solemnly defined on this very day by Pope Pius IX as a fixed dogma handed down in truth from ancient times.
How blessed are we to appreciate the fullness of this defining moment in the inception of our eternal life. 🙂
Mary did not doubt the fact that a) she was seeing an angel b) that this angel was speaking to her c) that she was worthy enough to be called ‘full of grace’ and ‘blessed among women’ and d) that she was carrying a the child of God (let alone a babyin generally being that she never had sexual relations and there were no physical signs of a pregnancy). She did not doubt, she believed.
There are so many meditations and reflections that can be done from the Magnificat (also known as the Cantical of Mary is recorded in the Gospel of Luke) and most of the time I’ve personally focused on her ‘yes’. I want to say ‘yes’ to God the way Mary did, without hesitation, regardless what danger and uncertainty is to come. My prayer today is to ‘believe more’. To wear the cloak of confidence as Mary so that I can be proud of what I ‘see’, listen to what I ‘hear’, embrace my worth and accept the call that I know is mine specifically.
Blessed Mary Mother of God – pray for us.
December 8, 2010
Solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Readings: Gn 3:9-15, 20; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be
done to me according to your word.”
Lk 1:38
To reflect upon the Immaculate Conception of Mary is thus
to allow oneself to be attracted by the “yes” which joined
her wonderfully to the mission of Christ, Redeemer of humanity;
it is to allow oneself to be taken and led by her hand to
pronounce in one’s turn “fiat” to the will of God, with all one’s
existence interwoven with joys and sadness, hopes and disappointments,
in the awareness that tribulations, pain and suffering
make rich the meaning of our pilgrimage on the earth.
Message for the Sixteenth World Day of the Sick
January 11, 2008
Blessings
Shannon