Genesis 3:9-15, 15, 20, Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12, Psalm 98:2-4, Luke 1:26-38

FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

 

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

Genesis 3:9-15, 15, 20, Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12, 

Psalm 98:2-4, Luke 1:26-38

 Genesis 3:9-15, 15, 20

My Beloved, the sin of willful disobedience cost us paradise. We trusted the voice of deception rather than the  voice of Him who created us and yet the divine love of the Father would not condemn us to the punishment that we deserved. God could not bear to be separated from His children created in His image and likeness. He comes looking for us when we sin saying, “Where are you?” And we, conscious of our guilt wish to hide from Him. Yet He persists and on finding us looks for a way to restore what we lost. His plan of salvation required that another Woman, through perfect obedience, restore what the first lost not only for herself but for her descendants as well. Mary’s fiat to the will of the Father gave us a Savior who would bridge the chasm created between God and man. Satan lost heaven for himself and his minions and he desires to steal heaven from us as well. So the battle continues between good and evil. Good has triumphed on the Cross. The victory is won. It is now up to us to claim what You have obtained for us. Thank You Beloved, thank You Father, thank You Holy Spirit for the Church, the Sacraments, for Mary and the Angels and Saints who help us in this battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. The head of evil is crushed and we are saved.

Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12

My Beloved, we are created in love for a glorious destination. Although Satan tried to rob us of our inheritance, believing that he could steal us from our Creator and Father, he who knows only hate and evil could not conceive of the Father’s love for His children who would be prepared to Sacrifice You so that You could become the willing Victim that washes away our sins and restores us to the dignity God intended for His sons and daughters. Alleluia! Mary is the prototype to which all God’s children must desire to be. God provides the grace through the Church using Sacraments as conduits that channel all that we need to live holy lives. Thank You Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Psalm 98:2-4

 The Lord has made known his victory;
    he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
³ He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
    to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
    the victory of our God.

⁴ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises.

Luke 1:26-38

My Beloved, God is always in control of human affairs and God’s timing is perfect. He waited patiently, setting His plan in motion from the moment our first parents sinned and we lost paradise. He chose a people, He chose a nation and slowly but surely He took them by the hand and led them. He chose a tribe, He chose a king from whose descendants He would choose a young girl on whose fiat would rest His whole plan of salvation for the world.

She was conceived without original sin, in need of a Savior like all human beings, God applied the merits that her Son would win for us and through the merits of His Son whom God intended would be hers as well, she was sinless from the moment of conception. What baptism does for us God did for her in her mother’s womb for nothing unclean can enter the presence of God. There is no human or divine drama as great, as awesome, as splendid as that of the Angel Gabriel visiting this peerless daughter of God and inviting her to become the instrument that gives the world its Savior and Redeemer. She was to provide Him with the only acceptable Victim who would destroy the barriers that sin had erected between God and His children.

The Angel’s greeting, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Tells us exactly how inestimable was this young woman in the eyes of God. No praise of Mary uttered by human lips could ever sufficiently convey the beauty of this perfect daughter of God the Father, Mother of Christ and Spouse of the Holy Spirit. The more we praise her the more we praise God for His masterpiece Mary.

May our response to God’s will always be like hers, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to Your will.”