Homily for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Normally on this patronal feast of the church we would be having a big celebration. We would have encouraged as many people as possible to come and would be having a reception afterwards. This year, because of Covid 19, we are smaller number with a rather lower key liturgy and no reception. However, perhaps this time gives us a chance to reflect more upon the meaning of today’s feast.
When this church was built in 1849 the doctrine of Immaculate Conception of Our Blessed Lady was a current issue. In that year Pope Pius IX asked the bishops of the world whether the doctrine should be defined as a dogma and, following a positive response, the doctrine was defined in 1854. It was appropriate, therefore, that the Immaculate Conception should be chosen for the patron of this church.
The doctrine had a long, but not uncontroversial history. Its popularity was heightened by the appearance of Mary to St Bernadette at Lourdes in 1858 and declaring herself to be “The Immaculate Conception”. The Lourdes altar in this church is a popular place of prayer.
What might the doctrine that Mary was conceived without original sin mean for us today? In some ways it is difficult. It causes some ecumenical difficulties as it is not shared with other denominations. Parts of the tradition surrounding it conflict with the more positive view of married love held by the contemporary Church. There is also a danger that it may make Mary distant, not one like us, not in some way a real human being. If that is true of Mary then it makes it more difficult for us to accept the humanity of Christ. However, the key is to recognise that what we celebrate in this feast is God’s action in Mary. As we say in the Hail Mary, Mary is full of grace.
Our readings tell the story of our salvation. The story starts with that “original sin” of Adam and Eve. It finds it fulfilment in the Gabriel announcing to Mary that she will be the Mother of Jesus, the Son of God. The story recounted in our Gospel and depicted above the main altar in this church. This history is God’s work, God’s plan. As the letter to the Ephesians tells us, it was God’s plan before the world was made.
There is a strange word used in the prayers of the Mass today. The word is “prevenient”. I know of nowhere else where this idea of prevenient grace occurs. The grace of God which, comes to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus, is at work even before those events in Mary. Mary is freed from original sin by that same death and resurrection by which we are freed.
This feast is all about Mary being the instrument of God’s grace, God’s love. It is something she freely accepts when she says, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me”. She is able to say that yes and to be able to live that out because the grace of God is at work in her. We are also called to be the instruments of God’s grace. We are called to be open to the Holy Spirit working in us through the grace of our baptism.
This feast is a chance for us to give thanks for the grace of God at work in a unique way in Mary. To remember her place in the story of our salvation as we prepare to celebrate Christmas. It is also a chance for us to recognise that we too are called to be part of God’s plan, even, or perhaps especially in this time when our lives our disrupted and our concerns are often very different from those which normally play a large part in our lives. We are perhaps especially called at this time to let the Holy Spirit be at work in us and to say, with Mary, “I am the Lord’s servant, let what you have said be done to me”.
Fr Chris Pedley SJ