Saints + Scripture: The Immaculate Conception of Mary

Simplex Edition | Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea máxima culpa!

'Tis the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (circa 16 B.C.).

Commentary: Wayback Machine. Quoth Minute Meditations from the Popes:

Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you. Pray especially for the enemies of the Church & those most in need of your mercy.

Scripture of the Day
Mass Readings—Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Book of Genesis, chapter three, verses nine thru fifteen & twenty;
Psalm Ninety-eight (R/. one), verses one, two & three(a/b), & three(c/d) & four;
The Letter to the Ephesians, chapter one, verses three thru six, eleven, & twelve;
The Gospel according to Luke, chapter one, verses twenty-six thru thirty-eight.

Commentary: Gospel reflection by Bishop Robert Barron (Word on Fire):

Friends, today’s Gospel shows how Mary became the mother of all the members of the Body of Christ.

From the cross, Jesus pronounced this word to St. John: “Behold, your mother.” He was giving Mary not only to John, but through John to the whole Church. Mary would be the mother of all the beloved disciples of Jesus up and down the centuries.

Then we recall that, at the Annunciation, the angel declared to the maiden of Nazareth: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” The two persons required for the Incarnation were, in other words, the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Mother.

Now we can make the connection: in becoming the mother of Christ, Mary, by extension, would become mother of all of those members of Christ’s Mystical Body across space and time. Just as the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Mother were required to bring about the Incarnation in history, so those same two agents are required to bring about the birth of Christ in our souls.

Reflect: Are you in tune with the work of the Holy Spirit and of the Blessed Mother in your relationship with Christ? Reflect on their subtle yet powerful influence in the Mystical Body of Christ.

Video reflection by Jem Sullivan, Ph.D. (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): Advent Reflection.

Video reflection by Doctor Tim Gray (Augustine Institute/Formed.org): Advent Reflection.

Papal Quote o' the Day

"Mary Immaculate, she who has been redeemed in a privileged manner, is the sign of the beginning of God's project to make all things new. It is she who unveils, with her singular grace, the new life introduced by God the Father into the most intimate depths of the human person."
—Pope Saint John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)

Mother Teresa Quote o' the Day

"We need to know when we say yes to God exactly what is in that yes. Yes means 'I surrender'—totally, fully, without any counting the cost, without asking, 'Is it convenient?' Our yes to God is without any reservations."
—Saint Teresa of Calcutta, M.C. (1910-1997, feast: 5 September)

Archbishop Sheen Quote o' the Day

"Every earthly ideal is lost by being possessed. The more material your ideal, the greater the disappointment; the more spiritual it is, the less the disillusionment."
—Venerable Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

Saint Quote o' the Day

"In Mary, the new Eve, mother of the new Adam, the Father's original, wondrous plan of love was re-estabished in an even more wondrous way."
—Pope Saint John Paul II the Great (1920-2005, r. 1978-2005; feast: 22 October)