More Than Just a Name

 

Deacon Dave · More Than Just a Name

Homily for the Solemnity of Immaculate Conception, Dec. 8, 2022. Gospel of St. Luke 1:26-38. Theme: More Than Just a Name 

On February 11, 1858 a 14 year old uneducated girl in a small French town was gathering firewood along a river when she saw a bright light shining out of a rocky cave. Intrigued, she drew closer and beheld the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, dressed in dazzling white with a blue sash belt and a gold rosary in her hands. The Lady would appear to her 17 more times and on one occasion when asked who she was, she replied, “I am the Immaculate Conception.” 

That teenage visionary is now known as St. Bernadette. The small French town has been transformed into the international Marian shrine of Lourdes with its miraculous healing water. And the Lady was, of course, the Blessed Mother. But isn’t it interesting that when asked who she was, she didn’t use her name of Mary? Instead, she identified herself as the Immaculate Conception, meaning she was untouched by sin from the very first moment of life in her mother’s womb. 

And I find it very interesting that in today’s Gospel the angel Gabriel didn’t address Mary by her first name, either. Instead, he called her, “Full of Grace”, which is another way of saying, “Immaculate Conception”. It just approaches it from a different angle. You see, Immaculate Conception means both realities: that Mary is free from sin as well as filled with God’s grace. It’s really just two sides of the same spiritual coin. And that made me think that there must be something more to the words “Immaculate Conception” than simply a name or title. 

I thought a lot about this and found an answer in the words of Pope Francis. He says that the Immaculate Conception is indeed more than just a name. It proclaims a gift specially given to Mary and a promise made specially to each one of us. He follows the ancient Christian tradition which says that what Mary is, we her children and disciples of her Son are called to become. The gift that God gave to Mary was freedom from sin and total holiness because she was to become the Mother of his Son. And the promise he makes to us is that we, too, can become like “spiritual immaculate conceptions” because by Baptism we are set free from original sin and filled with grace. 

Although Mary’s gift and ours are not exactly the same in degree, they are nevertheless very much connected. Pope Francis says that the path for becoming more and more “holy and immaculate” like Mary is found in developing the discipline to say 'no' to evil and 'yes' to God. It means we follow Mary’s total openness to grace and place our freedom in the service of God and others. To succeed in this endeavor he tells us to turn to Mary Immaculate, to learn from her example and lean on her spiritual support. I think that this insight can help us expand the Immaculate Conception from being just a holy day on the Church calendar and apply it as something that has a real meaning in our lives. 

This was the precisely the teaching of one of our great modern saints, Maximilian Kolbe, who died as a martyr at the hands of the Nazis. He dedicated his entire priestly ministry to promoting this link that we have with Mary, the Immaculate Conception. He saw the spiritual connection that we have with Mary as the way for us to most quickly grow in love for God and neighbor and to reach great depths of holiness. And so everywhere he went throughout the world he called Christians to honor Mary as the Immaculate One and to place themselves into her spiritual care, to learn from her example, and trust in her maternal intercession. He called this relationship with the Immaculate Conception “consecration”.

Inspired by St. Maximilian’s insight and devotion, I would like to close with a prayer from Pope Francis about living out our relationship with Mary, the Immaculate Conception: “Take me by the hand, Mother, guide me: with you I will have more strength in the battle against evil; with you I will rediscover my original beauty. Mary, I entrust my life to you, I entrust my family, my work; I entrust my heart and my struggles. I consecrate everything of myself to you”. Amen.