Homily
for December 8, 2007
Liturgical Year A - Cycle II
Immaculate Conception
By Fr. John Carney Topic:
Say "yes."
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Mary has about 100 titles and one of
the ones tonight that
we focus on, is that she is the new Eve, conceived without original
sin. It’s
important to know that this was God’s initiative with Mary, his
grace.
She did not pre-merit this gift of her
conception. The opening psalm or the
opening prayer said it well, “Mary was sinless from the first moment of
her
conception because she shared beforehand in the salvation Christ would
bring by
his death.” She was redeemed by the
blood of the lamb as we are. Because God
doesn’t live in time, He was able to apply the grace of that redemption
to Mary
even before the historical events occur.
Mary, however, it’s important for us to know, had free will completely,
as did Eve, the first mother. Eve used
her free will to sin. Mary never chose
to sin. She chose only to do good. It makes sense that God
would preserve her
from sin, as she was the Ark of the Covenant, the temple of the Son of
God. We come to celebrate Mary’s glory,
that she is the mother of
Christ. From the very beginning of the
church, she has always been recognized as the Mother of Christ.
As a matter of fact, the first few hundred
years, there were arguments about just who Mary was and how this all
worked. Finally, she was declared a
Saint in the first century, the Theotokus, in Greek means she was in
fact the
God- bearer that she was and is the mother of God. It is sad that so many of Christian
brothers and sisters in
other faith’s traditions, don’t appreciate Mary. Sometimes when
we do something in an
ecumenical gathering, we have to leave Mary home, and I’m never
comfortable
doing that. It’s because we don’t share
this love for her, this understanding of who she is, and her
importance.
The more I think of it, you’ll never get to
know Jesus Christ unless you know his mother.
They often say when a young man is dating, “Check the mother
out.”
There is a lot to know about the child by
checking the mother out. I heard
somebody say; “Now you tell me.”
Really, without an appreciation of Mary, you’ll never fully understand
Jesus and who he is as her son. She was
inseparable from her son throughout her life, throughout his
life.
She walked through the events of his life,
including the cross and the upper room and beyond. Mary, the new
Eve.
I always say this, and it’s so
important. You heard Mary say “yes” tonight. She said, “Let
it be done to me according to
thy word.” We have that same choice to
say yes to the good and no to the bad.
Because of Mary’s yes, He was born.
If she had said no, He would not have been born and we could not have
been saved. Everything depended on the
yes of this young woman. Your life, your eternal welfare depends on
your “yes”
as well. Mary is our mother and we want
to keep her happy. Because if Mama ain’t
happy, ain’t nobody happy. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is
with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is
the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.