Solemnity of the
Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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When Adam and Eve, our first parents and
first representatives of the human race sinned for the first
time, their sin of the origins became our original sin.
Their rebellion, their misuse of their God-given freedom,
was such a tragedy for their descendants that humanity was
thrown off course and was deeply wounded by sin in spirit
and in body. Yet where sin abounded, grace abounded even
more. For even as the mystery of iniquity spread its dark
mantle over the whole earth, there emerged from the
everlasting Light the first promise of salvation. God said
to the serpent who had sown the evil: “I will make you
enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and
her offspring.” And so there was the promise of a new Adam,
Jesus, the Incarnate Son, and of a new Eve, Mary his Mother.
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And Mary was the only descendant of Adam
and Eve to escape that original curse. For this mystery of
the Immaculate Conception tells us that she, Mary, was from
the first moment of her existence preserved from the stain
of original sin in view of the foreseen saving merits of
Jesus Christ her son. In the language of faith, we say that
she was immaculately conceived. To Bernadette, she said: “I
am the Immaculate Conception”. We honour her as the sinless
Mother of God. She is a sign of hope for all of us of God’s
heartfelt desire to save us from the power of sin. The
cunning serpent will always be aiming to strike at Mary and
her son. The devil will never stop trying to tempt us
towards false gods. But Mary Immaculate, mysteriously
preserved from sin by the saving merits of Christ her son,
remains always a sign of hope for the Church that God’s
grace is stronger than our weakness.
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We are in the Season of Advent. We await
the coming of the Lord. The Lord who comes is the child of
Mary Immaculate and he comes with the offer of forgiveness.
He comes to free us from the power of sin and death. We look
on Mary Immaculate as our sign of hope that the Lord will
take away our sin and clothe us in holiness and virtue.
St. Mirin’s Cathedral
8th December 2006
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