OXYGEN

08 Dec – Solemnity of The Immaculate Conception of The Blessed Virgin Mary

On this and the following eight days, the Church celebrates, with particular solemnity, the immaculate conception of the ever-blessed Virgin Mary who, from all eternity, was chosen to be the daughter of the heavenly Father, the spouse of the Holy Ghost, the Mother of the Divine Redeemer, and, by consequence, the queen of angels and of men.

The consideration of these prerogatives convinced the most enlightened fathers and teachers of the Catholic Church that she was conceived immaculate, that is, without original sin. It is very remarkable that among the shining hosts of saints who have, in every century, adorned the Church, no one wrote against this belief, while we find it confirmed by the decisions of the holy fathers from the earliest times.

Pope Piux IX forced, as it were, by the faith and devotion of the faithful throughout the world, finally on 8 December 1854, sanctioned, as a dogma of faith falling within the infallible rule of Catholic traditions, this admirable prerogative of the Blessed Virgin.

It is, therefore, now no longer, as formerly, a pious belief, but an article of the faith that Mary, like the purest morning light which precedes the rising of the most brilliant sun, was, from the first instant of her conception, free from original sin.

- Patron Saint Index
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Genesis 3:9-15.20

After Adam had eaten of the tree the Lord God called to him, ‘Where are you’ he asked. ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden.’ he replied. ‘I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ he asked. ‘Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman replied, ‘The serpent tempted me and I ate.’

Then the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this,

‘Be accursed beyond all cattle,
all wild beasts.
You shall crawl on your belly and eat dust
every day of your life.
I will make you enemies of each other:
you and the woman,
your offspring and her offspring.
It will crush your head
and you will strike its heel.’

The man named his wife ‘Eve’ because she was the mother of all those who live.
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Ephesians 1:3-6.11-12

Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved.
And it is in him that we were claimed as God’s own,
chosen from the beginning,
under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things
as he decides by his own will;
chosen to be,
for his greater glory,
the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.
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Luke 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she wom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.
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What is this that you have done?

My colleagues and I were one day discussing what the Immaculate Conception means. One of us thought that the Immaculate Conception was Jesus being conceived in Mary’ s womb without Original Sin. But we later agreed that since Jesus is God, that doesn’t make sense. So it means that the Immaculate Conception referred to Mary being conceived without Original Sin in her mother’s womb.
Then my colleague said: If Mary was conceived without Original Sin, so that she could bear Jesus who would be sinless, then why wasn’t St. Anne (who was Mary’s mother) conceived without Original Sin as well, since she had to bear Mary who was sinless? We talked about it and came to the realization that it was not because Mary was to bear a sinless Jesus that she was immaculately conceived. It was because she was to bear God in her womb.

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and from the gospel reading, it is easy to see why some Catholics think that the Immaculate Conception refers to Jesus’ conception. But we need to look deeper to understand the significance of today’s gospel reading – we need to compare it with the first reading.

In the first reading, we see Adam and his wife both being questioned by God: What is this you have done? They both tried to blame someone else for choosing to do their own will instead of God’s. They had no excuse, because they were both created without Original Sin. They chose, out of their own free will, to follow their own will instead of God’s, and sinned. Consequently, every generation henceforth has sinned because every generation has carried the stain of Original Sin.

In the gospel reading, we see Mary, a woman preserved from Original Sin. She chose, out of her own free will, to do God’s will, and did not sin. Her choice to do God’s will brought about the new Adam, a man born without sin and spent His entire life following the Father’s will.

Where Adam and Eve brought sin into the world through their disobedience, Mary and Jesus brought redemption to the world through their obedience. In addition, Jesus brought about something better – He brought about the opportunity for us to become His brothers and sisters in the common humanity that we share. In choosing to be His brothers and sisters, we also share in His divinity which is inseparable from His humanity.

My friends, let us today remember who the Immaculate Conception is, and thank her for choosing to align her will to God’s for this choice of hers has brought Jesus Christ into the world.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Daniel Tay)
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Prayer: We pray for all who live in sin, that we might come to know Jesus Christ, the Father who sent Him, and the Mother whose choice made freely brought Him into the world for our sake.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to the Lord for having planned our redemption from the beginning.

Upcoming Readings:
Wed, 09 Dec – Isaiah 40:25-31; Matthew 11:28-30; Memorial for St John Diego, Hermit
Thu, 10 Dec – Isaiah 41:13-20; Matthew 11:11-15
Fri, 11 Dec – Isaiah 48:17-19; Matthew 11:16-19; Memorial for Damascus I, Pope
Sat, 12 Dec – Zechariah 2:14-17; Luke 1:26-38; Memorial for Our Lady of Guadalupe
Sun, 13 Dec – Zephaniah 3:14-18; Philippians 4:4-7; Matthew 11:16-19; Third Sunday of Advent