Saturday, December 9, 2017

Fully Human - Fully Saved


During the 1980’s, the rock band, Human League, had a hit song called “Human”. The refrain of the song was:

                                    I’m only human
                                    Of flesh and blood I’m made.
                                    Human,
                                    Born to make mistakes.

As fellow human beings, we can all relate to the words of this song. Throughout our lives we often experience ourselves as weak and imperfect. We sometimes want to do the right thing but find it to be too difficult. Sadly, many times we desire to do what we know is wrong. Despite our good intentions, we make mistakes and hurt one another. In our humanity, we experience brokenness and vulnerability.

However, that is not what God intended for us from the beginning. Early in the Book of Genesis,  from which today’s first reading is taken, we read that God made man and woman to be the pinnacle of His creation, with dominion over all the earth. Whereas God called His other creatures “good”, He called Adam “very good”. We were created for immortality, to walk intimately with God and to live harmoniously with one another and with all living things.

What happened? We chose a different path. We disobeyed God. We fell under the illusion that separating ourselves from our Creator would make us freer and more powerful. Instead, sin has only weakened our nature, darkened our ability to reason and harmed our relationships. By choosing to disobey God, we have fallen from the heights of glory He intended for us.

Though we turned our backs on our Creator, He did not abandon us. He sent us a new Adam - Jesus Christ. Jesus is fully human as was the first Adam but also fully divine as the angel Gabriel announces to Mary in today’s gospel: “Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” Because Jesus never sinned, He came to show us what it means to be fully human as God intended. We are not most human when we sin. Rather, we are most human when we are close to God and when we serve one another out of love. By restoring our friendship with God, Jesus empowers us to overcome our fallen natures and live truly good lives.

Not only has our Creator sent us a new Adam. He has also given us a new Eve - The Blessed Virgin Mary. Today we celebrate the mystery of faith that she was kept free from the sin of Adam from the moment of her conception. Like Eve, Mary was created sinless. However, unlike Eve she never disobeyed God.  Her Immaculate Conception teaches us that God wants to restore all humanity to the goodness and glory we enjoyed before the Fall. While Eve is “the mother of all the living”, Mary is the mother of all those who are restored to friendship with God through Jesus Christ.
And so, the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary gives us hope. We continue to be weak and imperfect human beings. However, by the grace of God, our human nature can be healed and elevated. Whenever we hear the word of God with faith, it empowers us to turn away from sin and to practice good works. Whenever we receive the sacraments with devotion, we are strengthened to love God and neighbor. By the work of the Holy Spirit in our souls, we become truly good people despite our human weakness. God accomplished this in Mary at the moment of her conception. If we give our lives to Him, He will also accomplish it in us over time and, then, perfectly after our death.


Without God, we are merely “made of flesh and blood” and “born to make mistakes”. With God, we are raised up above our fallen nature to be truly good people capable of great things. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary gives us that hope - that God intends to restore us to the glory Adam and Eve enjoyed before the Fall. Through her prayers, may we strive everyday for perfection and goodness in the hope that we too will one day be free from sin and stand before our Creator endowed with all the glory He intended us to enjoy from the beginning. 

No comments: