Dec 9 – Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On this and the following eight days, the Church celebrates, with particular solemnity, the immaculate conception of the ever-blessed Virgin Mary who, from all eternity, was chosen to be the daughter of the heavenly Father, the spouse of the Holy Ghost, the Mother of the Divine Redeemer, and, by consequence, the queen of angels and of men.
The consideration of these prerogatives convinced the most enlightened fathers and teachers of the Catholic Church that she was conceived immaculate, that is, without original sin. It is very remarkable that among the shining hosts of saints who have, in every century, adorned the Church, no one wrote against this belief, while we find it confirmed by the decisions of the holy fathers from the earliest times.
Pope Pius IX forced, as it were, by the faith and devotion of the faithful throughout the world, finally on 8 December 1854, sanctioned, as a dogma of faith falling within the infallible rule of Catholic traditions, this admirable prerogative of the Blessed Virgin.
It is, therefore, now no longer, as formerly, a pious belief, but an article of the faith that Mary, like the purest morning light which precedes the rising of the most brilliant sun, was, from the first instant of her conception, free from original sin.
- Patron Saint Index
Gen 3:9-15,20
Eph 1:3-6,11-12
Lk 1:26-38
“…for nothing is impossible to God.”
I am sure that we have all experienced asking our parents for something and being denied, whether this is for candy, a later bedtime, or that shiny new robot in the toy store. Yet at other times, our parents have asked us to carry out some difficult task — like a chore or errand that we do not particularly like. In the first scenario, we typically learn to hold off our immediate desire while in the second scenario, it is our tongues that we now hold as we trudge off to do the dishes (or laundry).
In today’s gospel reading, Mary is asked to carry out a most sacred but difficult task — bearing and then giving birth to the Son of God. We are not privy to what goes through Our Lady’s mind in that crucial moment when the angel Gabriel relayed God’s message to her. We only know that she answered with full obedience. Was she prepared to be a mother, not least to the Son of God, at this young age? Did all the challenges and difficulties of motherhood race through her mind in that split second before saying ‘yes’?
I like to think that Our Lady struggled with this difficult task before answering ‘yes’ so faithfully, because I too, struggle with the crosses and challenges that I am constantly asked to bear. I struggle and I cry like a child, but in the end, I always pick myself up and say, “Yes God, I will do this for You.” This is especially the case now, when I am struggling with the relapse of an old illness that requires a rather difficult treatment regime. While I have just begun this journey, I am constantly reminded of Our Lady’s Immaculate Conception and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
As children of God and disciples of Christ, we will frequently be asked to do difficult things and shoulder heavy responsibilities. Like our Holy Mother, we need to find the faith and courage to say ‘yes’. But we should also take the time to sit and pray with our own anxieties and fears. Saying ‘yes’ to God and ‘no’ to these anxieties is akin to rejecting the serpent’s lies, as we saw in the first reading; and accepting God’s role for us as His children through Jesus Christ, as St Paul puts it so much more elegantly in the second reading.
Like good children, we have to hold off our own selfish desires and accept the difficult tasks that God sometimes asks us to carry out. More importantly, we must do so with the confidence that God will give us what we need (and sometimes want) in His time and according to His will, as well as the faith to see that the crosses we are asked to carry can only bring us closer to Him. It was through the obedience of Mary and Jesus that God was able to carry out the seemingly impossible task of redeeming us from our sins. In a similar way, it is only through our obedience that God can work His miracles for us and those around us.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Jacob Woo)
Prayer: We pray for strength and courage to carry the crosses that we will encounter in our lives, as well as wisdom and faith to see God in all the tasks that we carry out in our everyday lives.
Thanksgiving: Lord, we thank you for accepting us as your adopted children through our discipleship to Your Son.
OXYGEN 
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