Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary Read more
Homily
As Christmas draws near, the Liturgy provides us with this feast in honour of the Mother of Jesus. The Virgin Mary becomes an example of how to live in this Advent season; who else could show us how to wait for the Lord? The Gospel of Luke reveals a girl, about 12 or 13 years old, from a little town in Galilee, Nazareth, on the edge of the Roman Empire. She was a girl like any other. And yet, the Lord’s gaze had come to rest on her. It is the mystery that today the Church invites us to contemplate: Mary was conceived by her parents, Joachim and Anna, without sin; that is, she had no original guilt. She was exempt from the dramatic estrangement from God that is the lot of Adam, Eve, and every one of us. The Church has been celebrating this feast for centuries calling it “The Conception of Mary.” But in 1854 when Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the feast took on the name of “Immaculate Conception.” She was conceived without original sin in order to be the worth mother of Jesus: the one who was going to become the mother of the Son of God could not be wounded by sin. She did not merit her “immaculate” birth; it was a grace. The Lord God prepared her to be a worthy dwelling place for his Son. Saint Anselm sings this mystery as follows: “It was right for her to be adorned with a superior purity, greater than which none can be imagined other than that of God himself, this virgin to whom God gave his Son in such a special way.” The Son’s love protected the mother. The words of the Song of Songs may be applied to her: “You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you” (4:7). And this is what the angel says to her at the annunciation, “Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you” (Lk 1:28).
Mary’s mystery is not foreign to the community of believers. Just as God looked on her at the moment of her conception, God has also looked on us as the Apostle Paul notes, “He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love” (Eph 1:4). Like Mary, we were chosen by God before creation, and we were chosen to be holy and immaculate. It is no accident that the Apostle says, “He chose us” and not “We chose him.” Each of our names was spoken by God and we came into existence. We are first of all the fruit of God’s love; His heart thought of us and we came into the light. Parents take part in this process of love. Our existence begins in God’s heart and remains in Him forever. That is why we believe that life is holy, from the beginning and forever. The Lord never forgets our names; woe to those who want to erase them! Every man and woman is in God’s heart.
In today’s feast we contemplate how great God’s love is and what marvels he is able to work through us if we do not betray his predilection. Formed to become Jesus’ mother, Mary fully accepted her vocation. It was not easy, nor was her acceptance guaranteed. When the angel brought her God’s greeting, Mary was perplexed. Contrary to the feelings that generally dwell in our hearts, Mary did not think highly of herself. Pride and self-sufficiency are at the very core of original sin. The origin of evil in the world is in a heart disconnected from God. At the words of the angel, Mary did not exalt herself. Instead, she was perplexed as the evangelist writes. So it should be for us each time we listen to the Gospel. However, the angel comforts Mary, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive a son... and [you] will name him Jesus” (v. 30). To tell the truth, these words upset her even more, in part because she had not yet gone to live with Joseph. But the angel adds, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (v. 35). We cannot know what Mary’s thoughts were at that moment. She could say “No” and go on with her quiet life; if she said “Yes,” her entire life would be transformed. Unlike us, Mary does not depend on her own strength but only on the Word of God, and therefore she is able to say, “Here am I, the servant of the lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Mary, the first to be loved by God, is also the first to answer “Yes” to his call. Today Mary stands before us, before the eyes of our hearts, so that by contemplating her we can imitate her and we too, can receive the tender embrace of the Son that fills our hearts and our lives.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
