Mary Without Sin

Title: Mary Without Sin

Date: December 8, 1988 - Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Readings: Genesis 3:9-15, 20 / Psalm 98:1,2-3,3-4 / Ephesians 1:3-6,11-12 / Luke 1:26-38

Today we celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a teaching of the Church which has had a long and sometimes controversial history. There are even some contemporary critics of this dogma of faith who would argue that it overly separates Mary from the rest of us. Certainly, it is true that being sinners is a reality ever present in our lives. We seem to find it so difficult to be good. It is ironic that a few of the feminist theologians who criticize this teaching on one hand would then try on the other to argue that Mary has been used as a device of oppression on the part of a male dominated hierarchy. It seems to me that quite the opposite may be true. The witness of Mary as the queen of the saints would emphasize that the greatest person to ever walk the earth next to the Lord, is this woman Mary. Our first reading recalls the first Eve who with her husband turns away from God in disobedience. Our second reading reminds us that if Eve is the mother of all the living, Mary in her faithfulness is the mother of all who are reborn in her Son. She stands as a model of holiness for men and women alike. Her preservation from sin does not create an impassible chasm between her and us. Sin by definition adds nothing to us or to her. If anything, it is a lack of something which should be there -- the grace and presence of Christ. Just as she carried the Lord, now we must avoid sin so as to be filled with his presence and life. Sin is that which divides and alienates. To wish this upon Mary would mean wanting separation from her and the Lord.

Like us, she is totally a creature. The saving grace which washes over us in baptism reaches from the Cross backward to the moment Mary is conceived in the womb. The Messiah whom himself is sinless would enter our world through the sinless portal of Mary. Our feast today also celebrates the beauty and holiness of marital love. Although Mary would conceive Christ through the overshadowing power of the Holy Spirit; today's theme elevates the significance of marital and sexual love as offered between Joachim and Ann. Couples raising families in this age would do well to recall that their children in baptism become as Mary, and if they struggle to remain holy, may even become saints. As Mary is, we may become. That is the most powerful message we commemorate today.