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.
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