Today, as we get ready to enter into the second week of advent, the Church’s liturgical calendar calls us to pause on our headlong dive towards Christmas, with a reflective day to celebrate the Immaculate Conception of the Ever Virgin, Most Blessed Mother of Our Lord and Savior! Do not worry, this feast day does not actually halt our journey towards Christ and His birth, not in the least, because once we understand it better, it will propel us further towards Christ and the truly awesome event of His birth!

The Holy Mother Church teaches that the Blessed Mother had the singular privilege of being the only creature ever created by God to be ‘created’ free of the stain of original sin. This means She was Immaculately Conceived in the womb of her own mother! God’s role for her was so important the He kept her free from the mark of sin that Adam and Eve had passed down to us from their disobedience in the garden of Eden. In order that Mary replace our first mother, Eve, God created her without blemish… without sin. Even though it wasn’t necessary… it was right. Having the ability to do whatever He willed… it is only fitting that He create His own Mother, pure, holy and without sin.

It is what separates her from the rest of the world… She was ‘Spotless’… holy and unblemished… the ‘golden tabernacle’ in which Our Dear would reside… From her fiat, her yes, the Holy Spirit overshadowed Her so that God would be made Man in Christ Jesus… He would become Flesh of her flesh... the Flesh of mankind’s redemption! Her role in the history of the salvation of man could not be jeopardized by having the King of salvation be born to a woman who was marked with the stain of sin! It may seem complicated, but it is really that simple.

As we get closer to the celebration of Christmas, the Holy Mother Church uses this day to remind the faithful all over the world of this fact; that the Blessed Mother remained pure and un-spotted in her nature, from the very moment of her conception so that the womb in which Christ was conceived would be pure and holy.

Amazing! Isn’t it! And because the rest of us are stained by original sin, we tend to distort the Truth, and as a gentle reminder, the Holy Church is there to guide us… to remind us that regardless of what ever  the world will do… whatever man will do in his sinful nature…Mary… the Mother of God… is our Mother... She is pure and holy…  And as the Mother of Jesus…as the Mother of God… She is united to Him in His holiness and She loves us in a way that cannot be separated from God’s love… She is our Advocate… for God’s mercy… for God’s guidance… for God’s grace… She is an advocate for every single one of us…                                                 Rejoice!

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

O God, who through the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin did prepare a worthy dwelling-place for Thy divine Son; grant that, as in view of Thy Son Thou didst preserve her from all taint, so Thou wouldst vouchsafe unto us, that cleansed from all sin, by her intercession we too may arrive at Thine eternal glory. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.