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Opinion

December 8- Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary

PERSPECTIVE - Cherry Ballescas - The Freeman

“Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Patroness of the Philippines, pray for us.”

In the midst of our continuing challenges as a nation, as a people, let us all join hands together and pray to Mama Mary whose Feast of the Immaculate Conception we celebrate this Sunday.

This Feast Day refers to “the conception of Mary in the womb of her mother, St. Anne” celebrated nine months before Mama Mary’s Nativity remembered every September 8.

Pope Pius IX’s Papal encyclical, INEFFABILIS DEUS of December 8, 1854 proclaimed that "from the first moment of her conception, the Blessed Virgin Mary was, by the singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, and in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of Mankind, kept free from all stain of original sin."

In our December 8, 2022 issue we shared:

“Blessed Virgin Mary was granted this “extraordinary privilege because of her unique role in history as the Mother of God. That is, she received the gift of salvation in Christ from the very moment of her conception.”

This doctrine was reaffirmed a few years later.

In 1858, when Mama Mary appeared to Bernadette of Lourdes, she said "I am the Immaculate Conception."

When Bernadette was declared a saint in 1933, the “Immaculate Conception was further solidified as church dogma.”

Today, we are reminded that while unique in all humanity for being born without sin, Mama Mary “is held up by the Church as a model for all humanity in her holiness and her purity, in her willingness to accept the plan of God for her.”

Her ready response to Angel Gabriel’s message, “Let it be done to me according to Thy Word” is an inspiring reflection about how all should respond to God’s will.

Today’s “Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a time to celebrate the great joy of God’s gift to humanity in Mary, and to recognize with greater clarity, the truth that each and every human being has been created by God to fulfill a particular mission that he and only he can fulfill.”

Through Mama Mary’s ready obedience and love for God, Jesus Christ was born to save and redeem all humankind, the reason for this Advent season!

Celebrated weeks before Christ’s nativity, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception reminds us how those who love, obey and follow God will completely be one with God forever.

Blessed among women, Mama Mary was assumed into heaven and was crowned as Queen of Heaven and Earth!

Being born without original sin and as the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ did not entitle, did not exempt Mama Mary from sorrows and pain.

As Fr. Joseph A. Galdon, S.J., in THE ADVENTS OF THE LORD wrote:

“Mary suffered the Seven Swords of Sorrow, and Christ suffered on the cross, but there was love in it. It was far more than pain. It was a tremendous act of love. There is much pain in our lives, but if we find Christ in it, it becomes suffering and an act of love.

“Mama Mary showed us what love for God means.

“With love, human suffering goes beyond pain --it becomes divine.

“Mama Mary always pointed us all to her son, Jesus Christ and to God, our Father.

“Although divine, Jesus Christ became human because of his great love for the Father. Because of his love for us, Jesus Christ showed us how we humans can become divine, with love for God in our lives.”

Mama Mary’s December 8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception is always a timely reminder for us all that the birth of her son, Jesus Christ is a celebration of love, God’s love for us all!

Happy feast day and thank you, our Lady of the Immaculate Conception!

PATRONESS

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