Mother of Mercy

Immaculate Conception

December 8, 2015

First reading                                                                                             Genesis 3:9-15,20

After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him. ‘Where are you?’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden;’ he replied ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’
  Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,
‘Be accursed beyond all cattle,
all wild beasts.
You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust
every day of your life.
I will make you enemies of each other:
you and the woman,
your offspring and her offspring.
It will crush your head
and you will strike its heel.’
The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.

Psalm                                                                                               Psalm 97:1-4

Second reading                                                                           Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12 Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ. Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence, determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ for his own kind purposes, to make us praise the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved, And it is in him that we were claimed as God’s own, chosen from the beginning, under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things as he decides by his own will; chosen to be, for his greater glory, the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.

Gospel	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

By Pietro S. Albano

Coinciding with today's feast, Pope Francis will be opening the Jubilee of Mercy.  In our Catechism, we have been taught the seven corporal and seven spiritual works of mercy. Some would sound very easy such as to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked.  But how about to bear wrongs patiently, to forgive offences willingly, or to instruct the ignorant? Nowadays, when you're wrong or happen to be on the 'wrong' side (though no fault of your own), you get the brunt of other's hatred.  Hatred that could be as violent as causing physical harm or even death or as viral such as a nasty post in Facebook or Twitter.  

A few years back, I was invited to speak before a group of college students and I asked them whose conception it was we celebrate during the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Was it Mary's (through her mother St Ann) or was it Jesus' (through His mother Mary). While most raised their hands for the first choice, there were a few who thought it was the second choice.  I made a small detour from what I was supposed to talk just to clarify this dogma. There are also others who thought that today is Mary's birthday. Are we going to simply ignore others' ignorance instead of bringing them to the truth?

In the midst of our follies, Mary comes into the fore.  Mary, the only human being to whom God showed mercy by preserving her from original sin, is presented to us as "the beacon to draw sinners to her Son" (Fr James Sullivan, OP). 

In the Salve Regina, we call Our Lady as Mater Misericordiae (Mother of Mercy).  In the few episodes in the Bible, we notice how merciful she was and, most importantly, how she brought forth Jesus, "the face of the Father's mercy" (Misericordiae Vultus). United with her, let us take time this Year of Mercy to recall God as the Merciful Savior, to reflect on the works of mercy, and to identify the many gaps in our lives where we need His mercy.

Prayer

Merciful Father, You have preserved Mary from original sin so she could become the worthy mother of Your Son.  Through her prayers and example, may we be open to Your mercy and share this with others especially those who need it most. In Jesus' Name.  Amen.