8th DECEMBER. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF OUR LADY

1st Reading: Genesis 3:9-15,20

But the Lord called to the man, and said to him, " here are you?" He said," heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." He said, " who told you that you were naked?" Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "  the woman whom you gave to be with me , she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate."

Then the Lord God said to the woman, " What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent tricked me and I ate." The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."

2nd Reading: Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him, in love.

He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us.

With all wisdom and insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.

Gospel: Luke 1:26-38

In the six month the angel Gabriel as sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, " Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said  to her, " Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be on end."

Mary said to the angel, " How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, " The Holy spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will overshadow you; then before the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative  Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a Son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God."

Then Mary said, " Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

REFLECTIONS AND MEDITATIONS ON THE READINGS

Most Highly -Favored One

The feast of the Immaculate Conception reminds us of God's loving power to make us holy. Our Blessed Lady's integrity or holiness right from the moment of her conception is not something she achieved by her own power. It is a pure gift of God, given to her for a saving purpose. It was put in her genes, as we say today, on behalf of us all. For it was supremely fitting that the woman who brought our Savior into the world should be herself totally free from sin and available to do God's work.

As baptized Christians we are called to be people of faith and hope. Belief in the Immaculate Conception of Mary is belief in the providence of God. God provides for the future, who prepares His children for their assigned task in life even before they are born, a God who foresees and equips us with all the natural and supernatural qualities we need to play our assigned role in the drama of human salvation. God anoints them already in the womb those men and women whom he appointed as prophets. Jeremiah was told, " Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." (Jer1:5).

The doctrine of Immaculate conception gives us an affirmation that, Mary was conceived immaculately  in the womb of her mother without the stain of sin. Pope Pius IX infallibly defined the Immaculate Conception, this dogma of our faith in his papal bull Ineffabilis Deus. He said: ".......the Most Blessed virgin Mary in the first moment of her conception was, by the unique grace and privilege of God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ the Savior of the human race preserved intact from stain of original sin, "and " is revealed by God and must, therefore, firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful."

The Immaculate Conception is a wonderful moment of grace for the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is no wonder why Angel Gabriel greeted her so honorably when he brought the news of incarnation of the Savior:  " Rejoice, O highly favored daughter! The Lord is with you." Therefore her entire life was filled with the grace of God. Likewise, this Immaculate conception is a wonderful grace of God for each one of us too. This is a beautiful example of God's continued interaction and intervention in our life.  

How  are we going to respond to God's grace in us? First, we need to believe in God's presence. Although, we were not conceived immaculately, but when we were baptized, all the stains of sins and of evil were taken away from us and became God's adoptive children. What a great blessing on our part to be belonged to God as His children, for in Christ we are destined for holiness and unblemished. We were prepared by God through the power of the Holy Spirit for a holy life and have to be unblemished in this unholy world.

We must seek to cooperate with the grace of God in our lives. The Blessed Virgin Mary had shown us an example on how to do it, a model. Mary became an instrument of God's plans. God needs us to be His instruments in today's world and time. Let us pray to God that we may realize this great privilege and responsibility. And that through Christ we are empowered to resist the snares of evil and to do the will of God and we can place ourselves in the service of God.

For us who have devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is a cause of rejoicing to know that she was God's " master piece" of creation. We depict her today as crushing the devil's head, symbolizing her complete victory over sin and evil. It is encouraging for us to know that our heavenly mother has won. With God's grace and her help, so we can.