The Virgin Mary: Tainted Nature's Solitary Boast

How many people here today chose their mother before their birth?

No one!  None of us were able to choose.  Jesus Christ was the only Person in all of human history who has been able to do so.

If we could choose our mothers, we would probably not want them to be different from what we already have. Thank God! But just think for a moment.

How would you want her to be? Kind, gentle, beautiful, wise, pure and with perfect faith in God. Well, God the Father and His Son chose just that type of woman.

As good as our mothers may be, the Virgin Mary is greater than all of them put together.  When she was conceived in her mother Anne’s womb, God granted her a special grace so that she could be conceived without a trace of original sin. Zero!

That is why the angel Gabriel said that she was “full of grace” (Lk 1, 28). We too say this each time we pray the Hail Mary.  She never did anything bad to God or to any other human being.  She loved God and her neighbour completely. 

She was humble.  Mary was never selfish, she never gossiped, she never hated anybody.

The only thing she ever wanted to do was the will of God.  Some protestants say that this is not true. They say that the Virgin Mary also had to be saved. We agree!

The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception says that God saved her before her birth. 

We on the other hand, are redeemed after our birth, that is, once we are baptized.

So why did God do this? God did this because he wanted to prepare a special place for the birth of his only Son, Jesus Christ.  He is the Saviour who came into the world in order to restore the damage that Adam and Eve did.  Jesus came to take away the sin of the world (Jn 1: 29).  

You cannot clean something with something dirty.  It must be clean. This applies to what Jesus did with sin. Our sin could not be removed unless He himself was free from sin. 

Therefore, in this great Marian feast, we honour not only the Virgin Mary but Christ Himself!

So how does this teaching affect our lives?  The impact is greater than we can imagine.

In the same way that God chose Mary to be the Mother of His only Son, He chose us to be his Son’s disciples.  St. Paul tells us that we were chosen by God for the glory of his Son (cf. Eph 1:6).  There is tendency nowadays to place all the emphasis on personal choice.  I remember reading my priestly ordination cards the day after my ordination.  Some very good but misguided people wrote to congratulate me for "my choice" to become a priest.  With all due respect, we do not choose to become priests, religious or Christians. It is God who chooses us.  We only respond "yes" or "no".  Mind you, the answer is not easy to give! Unlike the Virgin Mary who lived for God alone, we have to struggle with self-love and our own self-interests.  
  
In the same way that Mary gave Jesus to us, we too are called to give Jesus to others.  If we allow God to work through us like Mary allowed him to work through her, we too will live a life with an abundance of grace.  As Christians, we have inherited "every spiritual blessing in the heavens" (Eph 1:3) because of what Jesus did for us. Our lives will become a great song that gives glory to the Lord!