IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

Today’s feast celebrates Mary as one who, from the moment of her conception, let all God’s glory through. A teacher in a primary school once asked the children, ‘What is a saint?’ One of the children, thinking of the stained glass windows in her church, said, ‘A saint is someone who lets the light through’. If saints are people who shine the light of God’s glorious presence, this is especially true of Mary. There was no sin in her to block the light of God’s glorious, loving presence. She was the greatest of all the saints, always totally open to God’s love.

In today’s first reading, God asks Adam a question, ‘Where are you?’ God is seeking Adam who is hiding from Him. In a sense the story of Adam and Eve is the story of every human being. The author was portraying humankind in its relationship with God. We may, at heart, be people who seek God continually. Yet there are times when we hide from God and God becomes the seeker, crying out to us, ‘Where are you?’ In the case of Adam, it was shame and guilt that caused him to hide from God. God had given Adam and Eve all the beauty and goodness of the Garden of Eden. There was only one tree in the garden that God had placed out of bounds, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Yet, the couple could not resist the temptation to eat of this tree, sensing that by eating of its fruit they would become like God. In the immediate aftermath of this act, they hid from God, who had given so generously to them. The sense that all is not well in our relationship with God can cause us to hide from God, too. We are reluctant to face God. Yet, the first reading suggests that whenever we hide from God out of shame or guilt, God continues to seek us out. God continues to pursue us in his love. God’s question, ‘Where are you?’ springs from a heart of love. Jesus, Mary’s Son, revealed this seeking heart of God to the full. He said of himself that he came to seek out and to save the lost. He wanted to find those who were hiding from God out of fear of God’s displeasure. He wanted to reveal to them God’s faithful and enduring love, and to call them back into a loving relationship with God. There are times in our lives when we simply need to allow ourselves to be found by God. God is always calling on us to step out into the light of God’s love and to open our hearts to God’s light, which continues to shine upon us through Jesus, his Son, a light no darkness in our lives can overcome.

Today’s feast celebrates the good news that Mary was always open to the light of God’s love, from the first moment of her conception in the womb of her mother. At no point did Mary ever hide from God, because she had no reason to do so. God never had to address the question to her, ‘Where are you?’ In today’s gospel reading, God seeks out Mary through his messenger, the angel Gabriel. Mary does not hide from God’s messenger. Yes, we are told that she was ‘deeply disturbed’ by Gabriel’s greeting. Yes, her response to Gabriel’s subsequent message was initially a questioning one, ‘How can this come about?’ God’s presence will always be, to some extent, a disturbing experience; it will always leave us with questions. Yet, despite these uncomfortable feelings, Mary stood her ground. She remained open to God’s presence. She surrendered to God’s desire for her life, ‘let what you have said be done to me’, thereby allowing God’s desire for all humanity to come to pass. On this feast of the Immaculate Conception, we ask Mary to pray for us sinners now, so that we may be as open and responsive to God’s presence to us and to God’s desire for our lives as she was.