The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: The Victory over Sin

 Reflection on Today’s Readings and the Solemnity of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tuesday 8th December, 2020

Texts:  Gen. 3:9-15.20; Ps. 98:1-4; Eph. 1;3-6.11-12; Luke 1:26-38

Today is the solemnity of the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today’s celebration reminds us of God’s effort to restore us to the life of holiness after the fall of our first parent. The immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary recalls the state of innocence in which our first parents were created but fell from as result of disobedience. Their fall from the state of innocence is the subject of today’s first reading. When man fell from the state of innocence he started hiding himself from God. It is said, [After Adam had eaten of the tree,] the Lord God called to him and said, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself’”. God has never abandoned man at any time. Hence, after the fall he made a promise of salvation in which he would preserve the woman through whom the salvation will come from sin. He says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, your seed and her seed”. 

The enmity, here, is being free from stain of sin, the sin that the Serpent has introduced into the world. God achieved this in the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Hence, in the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we celebrate our victory over sin and shame, we rejoice in our rise from fall and reconciliation with God. In the immaculate conception of our Mother, we see our return to God’s presence, no more hide and seek. 

Today we recall the fulfilment of God’s promise and therefore celebrating the faithfulness of God. Hence, today’s psalm says, “O sing a new song to the Lord, for he has worked wonders. His right hand and his holy arm have brought salvation.” Immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a wonder of God, something beyond telling. It is a wonder because it is the Lord’s doing. Hence, in answer to Mary’s question, “How will this be, since I know not man”, the angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God”. The solemnity if immaculate conception of the blessed Virgin Mary is a celebration of the wonder of God. 

 This solemnity is indeed the celebration of the preservation of the Blessed Virgin Mary from stain of original sin at her conception by her parents, Joachim and Anne. Pope Pius IX in Inffabilis Deus, 1854, defines the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary thus: “We declare, pronounce, and define the doctrine which holds the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.” Before this dogmatic definition people had believed in the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the Papal definition only made it official.

In the doctrine of immaculate conception, we see how the remote effect of the salvation wrought by Jesus Christ. Hence, it is said, “in the view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of human race, (she) was preserved from all stain of original sin”.  This reminds us that the redemptive price of Jesus Christ has eternal effect, from the age before to the age to come. Hence, the second reading says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” As we celebrate the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are called to the life of holiness; it is a reminder of our vocation to holiness. Let us, therefore, renew and rekindle the life of holiness

Lord our God, we thank you for your faithfulness and for granting us victory over sin, help us by your grace to always show it in our lives the victory over sin. Amen.

Rev. Fr. Andrew Olowomuke