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Homily December 8, 2005, Sollemnity of the Immaculate Conception St. Joseph Parish, Sweetest Heart of Mary
Immaculate Mary, Make us Immaculate with You
Catholics have always believed in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which we celebrate today. But it was in 1854 when Pope Pius IX in an encyclical entitled Ineffabilis Deus proclaimed it dogmatically, supporting the common faith of the centuries with an official Papal statement on the matter. What exactly does the Immaculate Conception mean? In the famous book, that trashy novel that has done so much damage to the faith, to the Church, and to the good name of the Mother of God, the book The Da Vinci Code, the author says it is when mary conceived Jesus in a virginal manner. Well, this author has no idea what he is talking about, and we need to pray for his repentance. The Immaculate Conception deals not with when Jesus was conceived, but when Mary was conceived. Mary was conceived without original sin: this is the Immaculate Conception. Let me repeat that [sic]. Pope Pius IX, in the encyclical I just mentioned, writes, “far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully. “And indeed it was wholly fitting that so wonderful a mother should be ever resplendent with the glory of most sublime holiness and so completely free from all taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over the ancient serpent.” Therefore, the Immaculate Conception is the beginning of the Victory of Divine Mercy over Satan’s malice. It was she who furnished the material of flesh for the incarnation, who nourished him at her breast, and who presented him for sacrifice at the appointed time.[1] Indeed, through Mary, salvation came into the world! Jesus is the Mediator, Mary is the Mediatrix. Jesus is the Redeemer, Mary is the Redeptrix. Mary united herself perfectly to the saving work of Christ. For any of us to triumph over Satan’s malice, for any of us to live under Divine Mercy instead of under sin, let us turn to Mary. Another Pope, St. Pius X, on the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the Immaculate conception (1904), wrote, “There is no surer or more direct road than by Mary for uniting all mankind in Christ and obtaining through Him the perfect adoption of sons, that we may be holy and immaculate in the sight of God?”[2] My brothers and sisters turn to Mary. I myself consecrated my priesthood to her, and, earlier as a teenager, my whole life! If I have done many foolish things in life, this was among the wisest. Pray to her that she keep you from sin, and that she fill your heart with the greatest love of her divine Son. |