Homily
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
8 December 2014
Christ the King Church Topeka
Daily Readings
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. A strange greeting indeed. The strangest of greetings. Mary was troubled by it. For what the angel was saying was somethings absolutely incomparable if not impossible. Let's break these simple words open.
Hail Mary! The angel is giving Mary praise, not vice versa. This is strange. An angel is telling this simple girl that she is more glorious and praiseworthy than the angels. Now there are some beautiful people in the world, but has anyone ever been praised as higher and more beautiful than the angels? Mary was.
Full of grace! Excuse me . . this little girl is full of God's power? This tiny young insignificant girl is full of God's perfections, full of God's life, full of God's love. Again, this had been said of no human person, nor of any angel, that they were full of grace. But it was said of Mary. Wow. Unreal.
The Lord is with you. Of all the places the Lord could be. of all the places he ever was or ever will be, the angel says that the Lord is with this girl. The Lord of all the universe loves being with this girl. Improbable. Mind-boggling. Amazing. What a greeting. What a greeting indeed! Hail Mary. Full of Grace. The Lord is with you!
Mind you, all this is said about Mary before she is told by the angel she will be the mother of Jesus. This is said about her before she is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, before she conceives Jesus. Mary's greeting is indeed strange - Gabriel does not say that Mary from this point on you will be full of grace, for you have found favor with God. No, the angel says that you are already full of grace, you have already found favor with God. The Gospel for the Immaculate Conception narrates the Annunication, and understandably so, because there is no conceivable human narration of Mary's conception in the womb of Anne. But the focus of the Feast is not so much on the Annunication, but on what happened before. The focus is on the strangest and most beautiful of greetings that happened before the Annunication.
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception shows that God chose Mary in a way that only he could choose her, at the moment of her conception. Nobody else knew her or could choose her at that moment. Only God. Not even Joachim and Anne, her parents, knew Mary or could begin loving her at that point. Only God could see her and know her and love her. And of course this is precisely the point of the Feast. Mary the pinnacle of God's creation, is the definition and pattern of what it means to be a human person. We learn how to become a person most of all through her, because we are more like her than Jesus. Mary became a person at the moment of her conception. We become persons when we are known and protected and loved, and God alone can know us and protect us and love us in ways and in places where no one else can. Our personhood is grounded only in God, and the Immaculate Conception reminds us that that personhood begins at Conception.
Our Lady always teaches us something about Jesus too. She always reflects his light. The Immaculate Conception teaches us that Jesus chooses us before we can ever choose him. Mary as we hear in the Gospel, chooses God with all that she is, but this is not nearly as important as His choosing her, from the moment of her conception. The Lord falls in love with our lowliness, and his grace is the ground of our dignity and freedom. We can do nothing apart from Him, who chooses us and knows us and loves at our weakest and smallest point, where only He can. Mary shows us how totally and madly Jesus falls in love with us, and then begs permission to enhance our freedom by acting in us, and with us and through us. What Mary was from her Immaculate Conception we her children hope to become as we grow in the grace of baptism, when Jesus fell irreovocably in love with each of us.
In the incomparably beautiful mystery of the Immaculate Conception, Mary shows that Jesus was already accomplishing his works in her. Mary teaches us how to respond to God's invitation, by surrendering to God's will which is so much bigger and better than anything she could imagine. Yet Mary teaches us something more, for when she says 'let it be done to me according to your word' she gives a foretaste of the surrender of Her son, who says Lord not my will, but yours be done. Mysteriously, it was Jesus speaking and working through his most perfect instrument, his mother, that unleashed the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit that was His own conception. In Mary, Jesus is all in all.
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
8 December 2014
Christ the King Church Topeka
Daily Readings
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you. A strange greeting indeed. The strangest of greetings. Mary was troubled by it. For what the angel was saying was somethings absolutely incomparable if not impossible. Let's break these simple words open.Hail Mary! The angel is giving Mary praise, not vice versa. This is strange. An angel is telling this simple girl that she is more glorious and praiseworthy than the angels. Now there are some beautiful people in the world, but has anyone ever been praised as higher and more beautiful than the angels? Mary was.
Full of grace! Excuse me . . this little girl is full of God's power? This tiny young insignificant girl is full of God's perfections, full of God's life, full of God's love. Again, this had been said of no human person, nor of any angel, that they were full of grace. But it was said of Mary. Wow. Unreal.
The Lord is with you. Of all the places the Lord could be. of all the places he ever was or ever will be, the angel says that the Lord is with this girl. The Lord of all the universe loves being with this girl. Improbable. Mind-boggling. Amazing. What a greeting. What a greeting indeed! Hail Mary. Full of Grace. The Lord is with you!
Mind you, all this is said about Mary before she is told by the angel she will be the mother of Jesus. This is said about her before she is overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, before she conceives Jesus. Mary's greeting is indeed strange - Gabriel does not say that Mary from this point on you will be full of grace, for you have found favor with God. No, the angel says that you are already full of grace, you have already found favor with God. The Gospel for the Immaculate Conception narrates the Annunication, and understandably so, because there is no conceivable human narration of Mary's conception in the womb of Anne. But the focus of the Feast is not so much on the Annunication, but on what happened before. The focus is on the strangest and most beautiful of greetings that happened before the Annunication.
The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception shows that God chose Mary in a way that only he could choose her, at the moment of her conception. Nobody else knew her or could choose her at that moment. Only God. Not even Joachim and Anne, her parents, knew Mary or could begin loving her at that point. Only God could see her and know her and love her. And of course this is precisely the point of the Feast. Mary the pinnacle of God's creation, is the definition and pattern of what it means to be a human person. We learn how to become a person most of all through her, because we are more like her than Jesus. Mary became a person at the moment of her conception. We become persons when we are known and protected and loved, and God alone can know us and protect us and love us in ways and in places where no one else can. Our personhood is grounded only in God, and the Immaculate Conception reminds us that that personhood begins at Conception. Our Lady always teaches us something about Jesus too. She always reflects his light. The Immaculate Conception teaches us that Jesus chooses us before we can ever choose him. Mary as we hear in the Gospel, chooses God with all that she is, but this is not nearly as important as His choosing her, from the moment of her conception. The Lord falls in love with our lowliness, and his grace is the ground of our dignity and freedom. We can do nothing apart from Him, who chooses us and knows us and loves at our weakest and smallest point, where only He can. Mary shows us how totally and madly Jesus falls in love with us, and then begs permission to enhance our freedom by acting in us, and with us and through us. What Mary was from her Immaculate Conception we her children hope to become as we grow in the grace of baptism, when Jesus fell irreovocably in love with each of us.
In the incomparably beautiful mystery of the Immaculate Conception, Mary shows that Jesus was already accomplishing his works in her. Mary teaches us how to respond to God's invitation, by surrendering to God's will which is so much bigger and better than anything she could imagine. Yet Mary teaches us something more, for when she says 'let it be done to me according to your word' she gives a foretaste of the surrender of Her son, who says Lord not my will, but yours be done. Mysteriously, it was Jesus speaking and working through his most perfect instrument, his mother, that unleashed the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit that was His own conception. In Mary, Jesus is all in all.
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*** The painfully slow process of uncovering the child abuse that happened within the Catholic Church continues. The members of the church continue to try and protect the wrong people, at the expense of victims, their families and the American public. ***
The Archdiocese of Chicago has voluntarily released documents related to 36 Archdiocesan priests who have at least one substantiated allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor. These documents are in addition to those released in January on 30 other priests. This release, together with the January release, covers priests who have substantiated allegations of sexual misconduct with minors identified on the Archdiocese's website as of November 2014. Documents pertaining to two priests, former Rev. Daniel J. McCormack and Rev. Edward J. Maloney, are not included, due to ongoing processes that do not permit release.
Inquiries may be directed to the Office of the Protection of Children and Youth, Archdiocese of Chicago, PO Box 1979, Chicago, IL 60690.
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