THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, DECEMBER 8, 2023

MASS READINGS:

Gospel

Lk 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God

to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,

of the house of David,

and the virgin's name was Mary.

And coming to her, he said,

"Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."

But she was greatly troubled at what was said

and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

Then the angel said to her,

"Do not be afraid, Mary,

for you have found favor with God.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

and you shall name him Jesus.

He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,

and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,

and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,

and of his Kingdom there will be no end."

But Mary said to the angel,

"How can this be,

since I have no relations with a man?"

And the angel said to her in reply,

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore the child to be born

will be called holy, the Son of God.

And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,

has also conceived a son in her old age,

and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word."

Then the angel departed from her.

REFLECTION

Today is the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Great was the ruin which was brought upon humanity due to the sin of Adam, for when Adam unhappily lost grace, he brought upon the human race the strong tendency of human nature to sin and many other evils. But God ordained that the Blessed Virgin should be exempt from this common calamity, for He had destined her to be the mother of the second Adam, Jesus Christ, who was to repair the injury done by the first. It is indeed fitting that the Father should preserve the mother of His own Son from all sin. If David, when he was planning the temple of Jerusalem with a magnificence worthy of the Lord, said: "The palace will not be for man but for the Lord God" (1 Chron 29:1), how much greater cause have we to believe that the great Creator, having destined Mary to be the mother of His own Son would adorn her soul with every grace, that it might be a worthy habitation for God.

And in today’s Gospel, we read about the moment which Our Lady was prepared by God for from the beginning of her existence. St. Luke tells us about the moment when Mary became the Mother of God. And since Mary is the mother of Jesus, who is the head of the Church, she is also our mother, since we are members of the mystical Body of Christ. Let us rejoice that we have the perfect and always Virgin Holy Mary as our mother!